Du Toit no longer under-estimated at UCI level

Cycling
Andrew Poolman
  • 8 Hours Ago
Hans du Toit's outstanding track record as head coach of Namibian mountain biking (and also road cycling) – and his role in extending the country's proud unbroken sequence of Olympic and Commonwealth qualifiers since the 1990s – has not gone unnoticed by the sport's world governing body, the UCI.

The Namibia National Olympic Committee yesterday proudly announced that Du Toit has been officially appointed as a Member of the UCI Mountain Bike Commission.

This appointment, confirmed by David Lappartient, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and IOC Member, places Du Toit, 53, among an esteemed group of international leaders shaping the future of global mountain biking.

The Namibian joins a commission led by Katerina Nash (Czech Republic) as president, alongside respected members from around the world, an incredible milestone and a testament to Du Toit's commitment, expertise and contribution to Namibian cycling.

Du Toit’s time as head coach of Namibia has seen stars such as Dan Craven, Michelle Vorster, Vera Looser, Alex Miller, Tristan de Lange, Martin Freyer, Anri Greeff, Melissa Hinz, Kevin Lowe, Hugo Hahn and Daniel Hahn as well as the current upcoming youngsters Delsia Janse van Vuuren and Roger Surén (2025 UCI Mountain Biking World Championship silver medallist) and others represent the country competitively at African and world level.

Although Surén and Du Toit were both curiously overlooked as junior sportsman and coach of the year at the 2025 Namibian Annual Sports Awards, their nominations served as recognition of another breakthrough year for both.

For Du Toit, this was his first nomination – evidently not even making the top-three candidates as coach of the year in 2021 when Namibia had four cyclists and mountain bikers (two male, two female) at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The NNOC yesterday said: “We are incredibly proud of this achievement and celebrate Hans for representing Namibia at the highest level of international sport governance.”