Van der Schyff crowned Xco Champ

Rudi Bowe

Walvis Bay cyclist Luanne van der Schyff was crowned Namibia’s national mountain bike champions when she won the Elite women’s title at the Nedbank National Cross-Country (Xco) Championship in Windhoek last weekend.

It was the first time that Van der Schyff won the national title which until last year belonged to the formidable two-time Olympian Michelle Vorster. Van der Schyff won the Elite women’s race as she finished more than two minutes ahead of Nicola Fester and won the four-lap race in one hour 20 minutes 22 seconds, with Fester second in 1:22:50 and Marion Shonecke third in 1:28:18.
Van der Schyff said to compete at high altitude is always challenging especially if you are from the coast. “I am super happy to walk away with the title of woman’s elite Namibian Cross-Country champion. I have been a regular on podiums, but this is my first national title-so that in itself is very special.

In the first lap and a half I was just managing my effort and I was sitting tight in 2nd position when Nicola Fester fell in front of me. I passed her and in lap 3 and 4 I extended my lead to take the win. It was a challenging track but also a lot of fun.  It was my first XCO race since the 2018 National championships where I had a crash and suffered a concussion and broken sternum and was unable to finish that race. My coach, Michelle Vorster, who also held this title for the past 6 years was crucial in helping me prepare and reaching this goal”, she said.

According to her, there is still plenty of room for improvement and she is looking forward to putting in the work as she will be participating in all the XC races next year.
The complete results are at the race day events.

Elite men: 1 Alex Miller, 2 Hugo Hahn, 3 Xavier Papo
Elite women: 1 Luanne van der Schyff, 2 Nicola Fester, 3 Marion Shonecke
Women U23: Cindy Rowland
Junior men: 1 Bergran Jensen, 2 Ethan L’Estrange, 3 Anton Engling.
Junior women: Monique du Plessis
Subveteran men: 1 Ananias Tamati, 2 Axel Foerster.
Veteran men: 1 Jacques Celliers, 2 Mannie Heymans, 3 Hans du Toit.
Masters’ men: 1 Nick du Plessis, 2 Stefan Bohlke, 3 Carl Hahn.
Veteran women: 1 Elanor Grassow.
Grandmaster’s men: 1 Roland Graf, 2 Renier Taljaard, 3 Thomas Soutschka.
Girls Under 16: 1 Ada Kahl (RSA), 2 Lotte Beulker, 2 Danika Wiese, 3 Laura Engling.
Boys o.16: 1 Kevin Lowe, 2 Daniel Hahn, 3 Adrian Key.
Girls u.14: Delsia Janse van Vuuren, 2 Rosemarie Thiel, 3 Kylie Dickerson.
Boys o.14: 1 Roger Suren, 2 Sean Lowe, 3 Marco Thiel.
Girls u.12: 1 Bianca Nell, 2 Nicole Suren, 3 Xane Meyer.
Boys u.12: 1 Julius Braun, 2 Mike Baartman, 3 Theodor Janse van Vuuren.
Girls u.10: 1 Qara Volschenk, 2 Cari van der Westhuizen, 3 Joandri de Beer.
Boys o.10: 1 Micah Chase, 2 York Ahrens, 3 Christo Nell.