Staff Reporter
Roger Surén and Anri Greeff claimed the men’s and women’s 100 km victories at the Hollard Hearts Foundation Cycling Festival in Windhoek on Sunday, while Marco Thiel and Greeff secured the inaugural Hollard Grand Prix Series titles, each earning N$250 000.
The festival, supported by Hollard and Standard Bank Namibia, brought the five-round series to a close, with double championship points at the final round determining the overall winners across a season of mountain biking, gravel and road racing.
Surén topped the men’s 100 km preliminary results in 2:25:38, finishing 11 seconds ahead of Christiaan van der Westhuizen, who clocked 2:25:49. HB Kruger took third place in 2:26:49.
Thiel finished fourth in 2:26:50, just one second ahead of Martin Freyer, to secure the overall Grand Prix title. He won the opening Moonlandscape and Friedenau mountain bike events.
Thiel finished the series with 89 points, ahead of Freyer on 63 and Ingram Cuff on 58.
In the women’s race, Greeff won in 2:45:04, matching runner-up Rosemarie Thiel. Louise Breed finished third in 2:45:05, and Catherine Kruger finished fourth at the same time. Vera Looser placed fifth in 2:45:57.
The victory also confirmed Greeff as the overall women’s series champion, finishing with 141 points. Rosemarie Thiel took second overall with 81 points, while Catherine Kruger and Looser each finished with 80 points.
The N$250 000 prize awarded to each series champion provides an opportunity to invest in training, equipment and competition opportunities, easing some of the financial pressures associated with competitive cycling.
The advertised prize allocation for the Grand Prix Series and the Cycling Festival totalled N$770 000, comprising N$620 000 for the series podiums and N$150 000 for the festival.
Based at the Namibia Cricket Grounds in Olympia, the festival featured routes that included the Hage Geingob Highway and linked competitive racing with the Hollard Hearts Foundation’s community work.
The foundation supports environmental conservation, the elderly, youth empowerment and emerging community needs across Namibia. The festival aimed to promote these initiatives while encouraging wider participation in cycling.
The series began at Moonlandscape in April, then continued through Friedenau, the Na/a’an ku sê gravel event, and Khomas100, culminating in Sunday’s finale on Windhoek’s roads.
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