Towerbos XC Dirt Festival launched 

A two-day mountain bike bonanza, the Towerbos XC Dirt Festival that will be held at Towerbos on 30 and 31 May, was recently launched in Windhoek. 

The festival which is being organised by Mannie Heymans of Mannie’s Bike Mecca will combine various events at the Towerbos Trails, about 12km outside Windhoek on the Daan Viljoen road, starting with a Dual Slalom ‘adrenaline ride’ and a Night Ride on Friday, 30 May. 

The action continues the following day with a Corporate Marathon and the main event of the festival – a UCI XCO and Junior Series MTB race.

Heymans said the junior series is sanctioned by the International Cycling Federation (UCI) with the result that some top international junior cyclists can be expected to compete as well. 

“This will be our second UCI Junior Series after the first one at the IJG Trails that started a few years ago. The Namibia Cycling Federation approached me last year and asked if I could prepare another course so that we can have a second one. The NCF then applied to the UCI governing body for another UCI event, and it was granted, so now we have two UCI events,” he said

“Prior to the Olympic Games, people are flying all over the world, going to UCI events to accumulate points, because to qualify for the Olympics depends on your world ranking. There are not too many junior UCI events in the world, so I believe we’ll have at least 15 juniors and elite riders coming from South Africa,” he added. 

Heymans said the event will also offer opportunities for top upcoming juniors like Namibia’s Roger Suren to be signed up by international cycling teams

“Namibia’s top junior rider Roger Suren is currently ranked number one in the world, so this will further boost his ranking, while international teams will also be looking out to sign up these top upcoming juniors,” he said.  

The Dual Slalom will work on a knockout basis with two riders racing against each other on a dual slalom course, with the fastest one proceeding to the next round, through to the final. 

The Night Ride will be held on a 3km loop that will be illuminated while spectators will be able to follow the riders from the top of a hill. 

The Corporate Relay will be held over a 6,5km relay route while teams will consist of five riders of which one must be a woman. 

The president of the NCF, Tauko Shilongo said a lot of work had gone into the preparation for the event. 

“We’ve been working closely together with Mannie and I can attest that he has put a lot of work into this. Seeing that it’s also a junior UCI event, and with the Commonwealth Games and the Los Angeles Olympics coming up,  these are the type of events that you want to have so that you can prepare athletes like Roger for these international events,” he said. 

He said that the Towerbos XC Dirt Festival is one of several UCI-sanctioned events that Namibia will host this year which will further enhance it’s standing on the international cycling scene. 

“We’ve got the Tour de Windhoek which is on the UCI calendar and it’s quite a big feat to get an event on the internatioal cycling calendar because you are inviting all the international teams. We’ve also got the Khomas100 coming up, which will also be the first African Gravel Championships, and the Towerbos event is another big event coming up, so it shows that we are putting Namibia’s name out in the cycling world,” he said. 

More information can be obtained at the official website, towerbos.com