Moorosi Tsiane
FIVE Basotho will on Saturday join 295 other riders in the battle for places at this year’s Motul Roof of Africa race to be held at the end of the year.
The five, namely, Teboho Moretlo, Mopeli Ntabe, and three brothers Tatuku, Tobatsi and Basia Maseatile will join other riders at the Roof of Africa Bronze qualifier at Lekhalong La Baroa (Bushmen’s Pass) in Thaba-Putsoa on Saturday.
Lesotho Off-Road Association (LoRA) public relations officer, Keketso Malebo said only 150 out of the 300 riders will qualify.
Malebo said the decision to cut down on the numbers in the bronze category was taken to accommodate more people in the silver and gold categories.
“We realised that in previous years many people registered for the bronze category and if the list was full, we ended up leaving out others who were great riders,” Malebo said, adding, “So we decided that since this category is the easiest and has the most registrations, we had to cut down the numbers through this qualification method”.
He said Saturday’s race would be for 100 kilometres from the Bushmen’s Pass through Ha Sempe to Moto Qiloane and back to Bushmen’s Pass.
Malebo said it was encouraging to see an increase in the number of Basotho riders.
“The numbers are not enough but given how expensive this sport is, they are encouraging and that shows we are going somewhere,” he said.
