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.

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