Events

Historic performance at the 2014 Lesotho Sky

· By Press Office · 0 comments

The 4th edition of the Lesotho Sky Race saw 12 different nationalities at the race and Basotho team win a stage for the first time.

The Lesotho Sky 2014 ended on Friday 26th September with the final stage from Roma to Ramabanta. Capping off their overall victory the Contego pairing of Louis-Bresler Knipe and Gert Heyns claimed their fifth stage win for 2014 crossing the line in 03:18:40. Shaun Mackenzie and Simon Zahnd of team My Gas followed in second place in 03:27:38. Team Alliance Insurance 1‘s Teboho Khantsi and Phetetso Monese came home in 03:29:33 taking third place.

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The final overall standings for the 2014 Lesotho Sky are as follows:

  1. Contego – Louis-Bresler Knipe and Gert Heyns – 17:54:36
  2. Alliance 1 – Teboho Khantsi and Phetetso Monese – 18:55:13
  3. MyGas – Shaun Mackenzie and Simon Zahnd – 19:06:00

For the first time in the history of the Lesotho Sky Race a Basotho team won a stage. Day 4, also known as the Malealea Monster loop day saw a team from main sponsor Alliance Insurance Company take the win ahead of Contego. 70 riders from 12 different countries competed in the 4th edition of the event, another record achievement for the event. Click here for complete results and here for pictures and here for videos of the Lesotho Sky 2014 race.

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The efforts of the organisers to take cycling sport in Lesotho to the next level are starting to bear fruit. After last years Lesotho Sky Race Lesotho jumped up in the international rankings and is now ranked 2nd in Africa in mountain biking, behind South Africa and ahead of Namibia. Apart from prize monies, the prize for the fastest team from Lesotho is an entry to Europe’s biggest Mountain Bike Stage Race, the Craft BIKE Transalp, sponsored by our partner SwissBikeTours and Lesotho Sky. This race takes place from 19th – 25th July 2015, starting in Germany, passing through Switzerland and finishing in Italy. The package includes flights, accommodation and all meals for the team from Lesotho. Outside the Lesotho Sky this team is also known as ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team, Lesotho’s first professional UCI MTB team.

Community development is at the heart of the Lesotho Sky Race which lead to the partnership with Sentebale, a charity founded in 2006 by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso from the royal family in Lesotho. With offices in Maseru and headquarters in London, Sentebale is an organisation of global dimensions. Sentebale works in partnership with locally run organisations, government ministers and chiefs to provide healthcare and education to vulnerable children and orphans in Lesotho.

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As of this year individual and corporates are able to buy charity entries to the Lesotho Sky Race. The proceeds of this entry go straight towards Sentebale‘s projects in Lesotho. The first company to purchase a charity entry is SABMiller through their local subsidiary Maluti Mountain Brewery (MMB). Thanks to our charity sponsor as well as the generous donations from riders and crew during the event Lesotho Sky managed to raise R132,500 for Sentebale. Sentebale country director Tumisang Leduma: “The funds will go a long way towards helping us to provide care and support to many more vulnerable children through the build of the Mamohato Children’s Centre, currently under construction in Thaba Bosiu. We are exited about this partnership and look forward to more opportunities with Lesotho Sky”.

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We would like to thank our two main sponsors Alliance Insurance Company as well as Total Lesotho and all other sponsors for their strong commitment to the Lesotho Sky Event.

Entries for the Lesotho Sky 2014 Race open on Monday 6th October at 12pm (SAST). There are only 60 team entries available. The 2015 dates are 20th – 25th September 2015.

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