Steven van Heerden is determined to defend his title at the second edition of the Tour de Windhoek in Namibia this weekend.
Team BCX had success at last year’s three-day five-stage inaugural race, with Van Heerden coming first, his then teammate Calvin Beneke second, David Maree fourth and Nolan Hoffman fifth.
Hoffman and Maree will again be teaming up with Van Heerden this year, along with Chris Jooste. But Beneke will be one of his rivals on this tour, which comprises a total distance of 400km.
Steven van Heerden, pictured here at the Tour of Good Hope this year, is determined to defend his title at the second edition of the Tour de Windhoek this weekend. Photo: Rob Ward
Van Heerden, who won the trapNET 360 in July, said they would like to repeat the standard they achieved last year.
“I need to defend my title,” Van Heerden told In the Bunch today. “The team did great last year and we will be going back for more this time.
“ProTouch will be there and with Jayde [Julius] having finished third last year he will definitely be a threat.
“Calvin will be riding for Luso [AC/DC Dynamics] this season, so he of course will be one to watch out for.”
He added however that not only the South African riders would pose a challenge.
“From what I’ve heard there are many more teams competing this year,” Van Heerden said.
“The local guys from Namibia are just as strong [as the South Africans]. Sometimes it can be challenging in that you don’t know the riders and their teams or their strengths and weaknesses.
“That often makes for some interesting and hard racing.”
Van Heerden said the routes on the tour, which consists of three road races, a team time-trial and a criterium, would be the same as last year.
“Like last year I think the routes play in my favour. The first stage is flat, the middle stages are fast and the last stage is the one with the most climbing,” the track specialist said.
He identified the first stage as the most decisive. “The tour cannot be won on the first stage but it can be lost there.
“We will have to mark all of the moves and spend as little energy there as possible.
“But all the stages are hard in their own right so the trick will be to recover as much as possible between the different days.”
Van Heerden said the training he put in for the tour was different to previous seasons as his main focus was on the rest of the year.
“I’m confident with my form at the moment but I will just need to see how I move along and adjust my riding style accordingly.”
