Lesotho cycling manager Mark West pleased with performance at African Champs

Team Lesotho won two medals at the African MTB Championships

Lesotho cycling team manager Mark West says he is happy with the country’s performance at the African Continental MTB Cross-Country Championships that were held in Mauritius two weeks ago.

Team Lesotho was made up of a five-member squad of Phetetso Monese, Teboho Khantši, Tumelo Makae, Malefetsane Lesofe and Likeleli Masitise.

Monese and Khantsi competed in the elite men’s competition; Makae and Lesofe were in the Under-23 men’s section and Masitise competed in the elite ladies competition.

Lesotho competed against mountain bike specialists from host nation Mauritius as well as South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Morocco in the continental event that took place on May 12 to 14.

The team’s best performers were Makae, who won silver in the men’s Under-23 XCO Olympic Cross-Country race, and Likeleli Masitise who won bronze in the women’s elite race.

2016 Olympian Monese, meanwhile, only just missed out on a bronze medal. He finished fourth in the elite men’s XCO race and fifth in the marathon category. Lesofe also put in a solid display finishing sixth in the Under-23 race.

West said he was pleased with Lesotho’s medals haul and overall performance.

Likeleli Masitise (right) on the podium in Mauritius

“I am happy with their performances. I had hoped for more medals but we still did well,” he said.

“They struggled with the weather conditions but at least we managed to finish in positions five and six in the men’s (elite) category and Masitise finished third in the women’s category.”

West continued: “This shows there was commitment and I am really satisfied. We now need to go back to drawing board and wait for the Lesotho Cycling Association to tell us about our next competition.”

Lesotho is one of the world’s top nations in the mountain bike discipline. The country is ranked 30th in the world by the International Cycling Union ahead of nations such as Great Britain, Greece and China and second in Africa, only behind South Africa.