17 April 2008
FOLLOWING his return from the Tour of East Java in Indonesia, Erik Hoffmann last weekend won his first race on German soil this season.
At the Tour of East Java Erik showed good form with a sixth place in the overall classification, a second place in the mountain classification and top ten finishes in the last three stages.
A third place in stage three was well deserved after a hard, hilly criterium.
The following day was characterised by a 30-kilometre climb, rising from sea level to 2000 metres, on which Hoffmann not only finished sixth, but also secured his second place in the "King of the Mountains" classification.
On the final day the Namibian proved that he can also sprint, when he was narrowly beaten in the dash for the line, finishing second.
A week later Hoffmann, again gave a good account of himself.
In Backnang, a city close to Stuttgart in Germany, the experience Hoffmann had gained, both at home and abroad, in recent years paid off.
"I race very differently these days," he says and believes that this is improving his racing tactics considerably.
Rather than going with every attack in the early part of each race, he conserved his strength until the end.
With ten of the 34 laps remaining, he put the hammer down and only two competitors were able to hang on.
On the finishing straight he showed his sprinting ability again, leaving the other two no chance and winning comfortably.
Erik returns to Namibia next week for some altitude training and to prepare himself for more events in Asia and the Beijing Olympic Games.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
