Phetetso Monese and Tumelo Makae team up at 2018 Lesotho Sky Race

Phetetso Monese is going for gold alongside Tumelo Makae at this
year's Lesotho Sky Race...

Lesotho’s premier cyclists Phetetso Monese and Tumelo Makae are teaming up for this year’s Lesotho Sky Race which started today and ends on Saturday

The ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team cyclists are racing under for Alliance Insurance this week and are part of 33 teams competing at the annual mountain bike showpiece.

This year’s running of the Lesotho Sky is the eighth edition of a race that has grown from strength to strength each year since its launch in 2011 and now carries International Cycling Union (UCI) ranking points.

This year 66 cyclists from 11 countries have registered to take part with South Africa leading with 37 the entrants while Lesotho has eight.

The other competitors come from as far afield as Germany and the USA.

2018 Lesotho Sky participants by country:
Lesotho	8
South Africa	37
Germany	5
USA	3
France	2
Belgium	1
UK	1
Netherlands	1
Belgium	1
Switzerland	1
Austria	1

This year is the first time 2016 Olympian Monese is teaming up with a local cyclist in the race contested by teams of two riders.

Last year Monese paired up with Stuart Marais from South Africa and the duo won silver.

This year Monese is looking to go one better alongside Makae who is now based in Switzerland as part of a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Scholarship.

In total, Lesotho has three teams at this year’s Lesotho Sky. Standard Bank Lesotho has a team comprising Malefetsane Lesofe and Katleho Manasi.

There is also a Vodacom Lesotho women’s team made up of the promising Likeleli Masitise and Botswana’s Bakang Ebudilwe.

Other prominent riders at the Lesotho Sky 2018 include the French Olympic pair of Basile Allard and Rémy Bourdon.

In total, competitors will cover just over 360 kilometres across six days.

The race began today with the 60 kilometre Metolong loop which passed by Thaba Bosiu and Qiloane mountain. Tomorrow cyclists will embark on an 85km ride from Roma to Malealea.

Cyclists will then race in Malealea for two days before the race returns to Roma on Friday. The 2018 Lesotho Sky will conclude with a 42km Roma loop on Saturday.

ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho riders chase dreams in Switzerland

Another one in the bag...
Tumelo Makae celebrates winning the Nedbank Lesotho XC MTB Series two weeks ago

Lesotho’s Tumelo Makae and Bakang ‘BK’ Matshidiso Ebudilwe of Botswana are chasing their dreams at the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland.

The two mountain bike cyclists are part of the ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team and they left for Europe in March on a two-year Olympic Solidarity scholarship.

After just five months, their progress has been staggering.

Makae and Ebudilwe are fitter, stronger and – above all – technically superior, and at the beginning of this month both flew home and easily won their respective national mountain bike championships.

The two athletes are now back at the UCI WCC and this weekend they will tackle their first-ever UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, in La Bresse, France.

The events starts on Friday and ends on Sunday.

Thanks to the UCI points they won at their respective national races Makae and Ebudilwe will have better places on the starting grid, a significant bonus as they try to gain points towards Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification.

UCI WCC coach Charlie Evans says both cyclists have made significant progress.

Both Makae and Ebudilwe, he said, arrived in Switzerland with few technical skills but enormous potential.

Initially they were unable to lift their wheels independently or bunny-hop on the bike but, in a short space of time, they have acquired the required skills to match up to international competition.

“I have been teaching them to be brave, technically good and assertive,” Evans says. “They need to be able to apply technical skills in race conditions. It’s one thing to manage it alone in training but another to pull it off in stressful race conditions when they are already very tired.”

The two athletes are gaining that valuable race experience at different rounds of the high-level Swiss Cup.

“At each race they are stepping forward and I hope their national titles will give them the boost they need,” Evans says.

“We’re still in development stage and we will treat La Bresse as a training camp going into Lenzerheide (UCI Mountain Bike World Championships one week later).

“We will set process goals rather than outcome goals, for example to beat the track rather than other riders, and to do even lap times.”

Tumelo Makae (left) and ACE teammate Bakang Ebudilwe

Last year Makae won the Lesotho National Championships in 2017. This year, he took victory at the Nedbank Lesotho XC MTB Series by an even bigger gap, despite a crash which made him wonder if he had blown his chances.

“After the third lap, I decided to attack,” Makae says. “When I crashed I thought it was the end of my race, but it wasn’t.”

In 2017, the 21 year-old Makae won silver in the men’s Under-23 race at the African Continental Mountain Bike Championships in Mauritius.

Makae also competed in the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April, finishing 19th, one lap behind the winners: “It was a good experience racing against world class riders,” says the young rider who will turn 22 on Friday.

“Since I have been at the World Cycling Centre, I have progressed physically and technically. I am better than before,” Makae says.

“Here we are not disturbed by outside things. We just train. I really enjoy it. I never did gym work at home and that has helped me. But I what I love most is going on the trails.”

In the words of Makae’s coach: “Compared to BK, Makae is more of a ‘bring it on’ rider who likes nothing more than to race and is very competitive. He never gives up and stays in race mode right to the finish line. He has responded extremely well to core skills since training at the UCI World Cycling Centre.”

After the UCI World Championships the duo’s Olympic campaign will continue. The next major goal will be the African Continental MTB Championships next year in Namibia where Makae and Ebudilwe will be able to earn more qualification points on their road to Tokyo 2020.

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.

Maseru Warriors crowned Lesotho Rugby Independence Championship champions

The FLR's rugby development programme in Leribe

Maseru Warriors have been crowned the inaugural Treasure Investment Rugby Championship champions after beating NUL Spears 17-0 on Saturday afternoon in Mazenod.

The victory meant Warriors remain unbeaten and now have an unassailable lead at the top of the four-team championship.

The Treasure Investment Rugby Championship was introduced by the Federation of Lesotho Rugby in September to commemorate Lesotho’s 50th independence anniversary.

The four teams contesting the championship are Warriors, NUL Spears, Mabote Beavers and LCS and the tournament is scheduled to end on the 3rd of December.

Staying with rugby and the Lesotho Federation of Rugby has stepped up its countrywide development programme. Over the past week the programme has been in Mazenod and Berea and this weekend it touched base in Leribe.

The programme intends to introduce the game to different parts of the country and identify young rugby talent. The initiative is targeting primary and high school pupils and FLR public relations officer Litšitso Motšeremeli said the programme will enhance the future well-being of local rugby by identifying and developing future stars.

He said FLR also wants to ensure budding prospects begin competing in the game at an early age.

FLR development director and national coach Roy Zhou-Nyasha said the programme is also about equipping the kids with life skills.

Nyasha said FLR wants to “develop and instil creativity, character, connection, confidence, competence in young people”.

“We are having life skills sessions at each and every school we visit,” he said.

Finally to cycling and the ACE-Sufferfest mountain bike duo of Teboho Khantsi and Phetetso Monese ensured a successful end to their highly positive season by dominating the popular Cherry Festival MTB race in Ficksburg, South Africa on Saturday.

Ultimately it was Khantsi who claimed honours as he pipped Monese on the line in an exciting sprint finish. It has been a noteworthy year for the pair.  In July they teamed up to compete at the prestigious International Cycling Union MTB World Cup in Switzerland.

In August, Monese then made history by becoming the first Lesotho cyclist to compete at the Olympic Games when he raced at Rio 2016 in Brazil.

Monese departs for debut Olympics

Phetetso Monese (left) ready to fly the flag

Lesotho’s number one cyclist Phetetso Monese leaves today for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Rio Games will be Monese’s debut at the global showpiece and he will compete in the mountain bike cross country discipline. His event is scheduled for August 21 meaning he will have two weeks to acclimatise and get ready for the race.

Monese arrived back in Lesotho last week from a month-long trip to Europe where he competed at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and the BIKE Transalp stage race.

The ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team rider will be looking to continue his good form in Rio. The 31 year-old received special dispensation from the International Cycling Union (UCI) to compete at the Olympics as a result of his strong performances over the past year and Lesotho’s solid ranking.

Monese finished third at the African Continental MTB Championships in April in Butha-Buthe while Lesotho is ranked 33rd in the world.

Monese is rated 111th in the world and a good Olympics showing could see him crack the top 100 for the first time.

The Rio Olympics are Monese’s second major sporting event. He competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Monese has been sponsored with a new M100 000 bike by Giant Bicycles South Africa.

A learning experience in Botswana

To netball and Lesotho’s Under-21 netball team has missed out on the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup after going winless at last week’s qualification tournament in Gaborone, Botswana.

Lesotho finished last in the eight-nation competition won by South Africa. The top three nations – South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda – qualified for the Netball World Youth Cup next August.

Botswana, as the hosts of next year’s global finals, will also represent Africa at the championships. Lesotho will be looking to use the experience gained in Gaborone to build for the African Union Sports Council Region 5 games which will be held in Angola in December.

Final Standings

		Points
1	South Africa	14
2	Zimbabwe	12
3	Uganda	10
4	Zambia	8
5	Malawi	6
6	Botswana	4
7	Namibia	2
8	Lesotho	0

Lesotho's Monese qualifies for Olympic Games

Rio bound... Phetetso Monese

Mountain bike rider Phetetso Monese has qualified for next month’s Rio Olympics taking Lesotho’s tally at the Games to eight.

Monese’s place at Rio 2016 was confirmed last week by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and he becomes the first ever cyclist from Lesotho to qualify for the world’s biggest sports event.

Monese joins track athletes Mosito Lehata, Nomakoe Nkhasi and Tšepang Sello, marathoners Tšepo Mathibelle and Lebenya Nkoka, and boxers Inkululeko Suntele and Moroke Mokhotho on the plane to Brazil.

The 31 year-old rides for the ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team and is the highest ranked black African rider on the UCI rankings with a rating of 111th in the world.

Monese clinched his place in Rio largely thanks to his third place finish at the 2016 African Continental MTB Championships which were held in April in Lesotho. The championships carried Olympic qualifying points which gave Monese an outside chance of qualifying for Rio.

He was also helped in his cause by Lesotho’s strong ranking in the mountain bike discipline. Lesotho is rated second in Africa and 33rd in the world by the UCI.

The Rio Games will be Monese’s second appearance at a global sporting event. He placed 21st at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014.

To taekwondo and the duo of Moloisane Marumo and Ramosoeu Nkuebe are in South Korea for a month-long competition and training stint.

Marumo and Nkuebe together with national coach Du-Khwi Lee will be based in South Korea until the end of July. The trip is part of the Lesotho Taekwondo Association’s on-going efforts to revitalise the sport and to start prepping for future tournaments. As things stand, Lesotho will have no taekwondo athletes at this year’s Rio Olympics.

The LTA will also hold a general tournament for children and juniors at Sefika High School on Saturday, July 23.

2016 African Mountain Bike Championships ready for launch

AfriSki 2016

The 2016 African Mountain Bike (MTB) Championships start tomorrow at the Afriski Mountain Resort in Butha-Buthe.

The MTB championships will run from tomorrow until Sunday.

The African MTB Championships carry Olympic qualifying points and several African countries that are yet to qualify for Rio 2016 will compete. It is the first time Lesotho will host the continental event which was held in Rwanda last year.

The venue for competition will be at Mahlasela Pass. The African MTB Championships cover different events under the two main MTB disciplines – cross-country and downhill. 

The events scheduled for the championships are the Cross-country Marathon (XCM), Cross-country Team Relay (XCR), Olympic Cross-Country format (XCO), Cross-country Eliminator (XCE), Downhill (DHI) and Enduro.

Lesotho is yet to qualify for the Olympics. However, the country still has an outside chance to make it to Rio since it is ranked second in Africa and 41st in the world International Cycling Union (UCI).

Afriski Mountain Resort is situated above 3000 metres. It is renowned for snow sports in winter, with mountain biking and other adventure sports taking place the rest of the year.

The African MTB Championships are coming to Lesotho

2016 African Mountain Bike (MTB) Championships

Event Programme

Wednesday, 30th March:    

15:00 – Official Opening Ceremony

16:00 – XCR International Team Relay

Thursday, 31st March:

09:00 – XCM – 60km Marathon (Men/ Women)

14:00 – END – Enduro

Friday, 1st April:

10:00 – XCO – Youth and Young age

14:00 – XCO – Veteran and senior age categories

Saturday, 2nd April:

10:00 – XCO – Woman Elite, U23 and Junior

14:00 – XCO – Men Elite, U23 and Junior

Sunday, 3rd April:

09:00 – Downhill – Official Seeding

11:00 – Downhill – Final Run

13:00 – Closing Ceremony