Sports

All set for Lesotho Sky ride

Published

12 months ago

September 27, 2022

MASERU – The 2022 Lesotho Sky is here, but this time around the annual cycling showpiece is different. The event, which was first held in 2011 and had become renowned as a gruelling six-day race which tested riders from all over the world to their limits, is instead more of a tour ride this year.

The Lesotho Sky’s organisers decided to make the change a few months back when they realised that a large number of riders who showed interest in entering this year were more interested in coming to the event for its experience and not to compete.

Although unexpected, the change has allowed organisers to source services such as mechanical assistance, massage services and medical rescue exclusively from Basotho providers for the first time.

The overall distance this year, 250 kilometres, is also shorter than the previous 430km distance, but that does not mean the ride is now a walk in the park.

The ride started on Monday and Tuesday with two full days in Ha Ramabanta.

Yesterday, the riders made their way to Malealea and made a stop at the Morija museum to take a tour of one of Lesotho’s most historical sites. Three more loops will be held in Malealea before the final day which will be a public day.

In an interview with thepost before the ride started, Lesotho Sky Events founder Chris Schmidt said even though there is no timing from start to finish, organisers are timing different segments each day using Strava which is a tracking application designed for amateur and professional endurance athletes in running, cycling and water sports as well.

“We can still offer timing, but we have decided to time different segments of each day. Day one, we have a very long climb out of Ha Ramabanta and Nkesi Pass or Lekhalong which we are going to time on the uphill, but only that segment. If you have Strava, you turn it on that morning and we will see exactly how fast you were on that climb,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the Lesotho Sky had not been to Ha Ramabanta in five years and this year new sections were added to make up two new loops.

On Monday, the route took the riders towards the rural areas of Ha Raleqheka through to Ha Tlali and then to Ha Ramabanta.

Day two, is the toughest, Schmidt reckoned. The 55km is not the longest loop but it saw the riders cross the Makhaleng River not twice but three times.

“That’s our toughest day, it’s 55km, it’s not the longest but it’s the toughest,” Schmidt said.

“Last season we had a lot of rain so we have seen all the footbridges that we used to cross Makhaleng washed away, so it has resulted in river crossings and they are harder than bridges,” he said.

“We hope for favourable weather so that we can cross safely. It’s 250km overall, it has become a bit shorter than the race route but it has not become easier. We have also taken out tar roads and a lot of gravel roads have been shortened to incorporate more foot paths (and) the animal tracks.”

For nearly a decade, Schmidt has seen the Lesotho Sky race grow from strength to strength and become a popular calendar event with riders attending from all over the world.

It was not only the natural terrain that attracted the riders but it was also an opportunity to compete for points.

The difference between a race and a ride is that in a race you can only enter as a team and the team has to stay together throughout the race. Putting together a race is also costly because of the logistics involved as well as prize monies, licensing fees and other costs.

Schmidt said they look back at Lesotho Sky’s racing years as a success because they have managed to build a brand and a reputation for mountain biking in Lesotho as being very demanding but beautiful at the same time.

He said Lesotho is now known as a unique experience that is unlike competing in other parts of the region, including South Africa.

“We thought about it last year on how do we continue to host the Lesotho Sky in a way that allows us to take advantage of what we have here in terms of infrastructure, this includes the bike shop and other services to the event and we have decided that as of this year we are no longer calling or offering the Lesotho Sky Race but Lesotho Sky Ride or Tour,” Schmidt said.

“What we have seen through the years is that without good mechanics, without a bike shop, it is very difficult for the cycling culture and cycling events to grow and emerge in Lesotho,” he added.

It’s almost two years now since the bike shop moved from Roma to Ha Thetsane and Schmidt says they have gotten to know the domestic market better in that time.

Schmidt said organisers have seen that Basotho are interested in bicycles as a means of recreation and to have fun. He said the goal is to get kids and talented riders into the sport early and to compete from a young age.

Tlalane Phahla

Sports

Mohlolo rescues point for LDF Ladies

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2023

The Post

A last-gasp strike by Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) Ladies striker ‘Maseriti Mohlolo rescued a point for the Women’s Super League (WSL) champions against Malawi’s Ntopwa in the opener of their CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA Qualifiers yesterday.

Mohlolo’s goal keeps LDF Ladies in contention to progress to the next round with two teams from the four-team group set to qualify for the semi-finals.

Although LDF Ladies were not outplayed in the game, they missed many chances and their set-pieces left a lot to be desired.
Maybe that can be attributed to a last minute coaching change that saw Pule Khojane replace Lengana Nkhethoa as head coach of a side that won the WSL unbeaten last season.

Speaking after the game, Khojane said even though he realised early on that the Malawian team were tough physically, he still wanted LDF Ladies to play their normal passing game.
In the end, Khojane was left to lament the number of chances his side created but couldn’t convert.
Khojane said that will be a point of emphasis before LDF Ladies step onto the field again tomorrow against Botswana’s Double Action.
Tomorrow’s tie is probably a must-win with the group’s other team being defending champions Green Buffaloes of Zambia and LDF Ladies will need to convert their chances.

“We play with four at the back but with two attacking full backs, most of the time if a team plays long balls like (Ntopwa) we struggle a lot but we don’t change our game. We want to play; we want to go forward.
“That’s why sometimes we made a lot of mistakes when the ball was played high behind our backs but we still wanted to play our game and win. We were just unfortunate not to score more goals but we were playing (well),” Khojane said.

LDF conceded a late goal in the first half and were perhaps lucky to go into the half time break just a goal down.
Before Ntopwa took the lead they were awarded a penalty for a reckless foul in the box but they missed the chance to open the scoring.
LDF recovered in the second that but could not find a way into the goals.

It looked as if Lesotho’s representatives at the regional showpiece would begin their campaign with a defeat. However, Mohlolo rescued the Lesotho champions when she latched onto a poor back pass from a defender. She stole the ball and levelled matters with less than three minutes to go.
There was no time for the LDF to get a winner and they had to settle for a point in their opening group game.
They will now be looking to improve and sharpen their scoring boots for tomorrow’s showdown against Double Action of Botswana.

LDF Ladies fixtures:
August 30
LDF Ladies 1-1 Ntopwa
Friday
Double Action vs. LDF Ladies
Monday
Green Buffaloes vs. LDF Ladies

Tlalane Phahla

Sports

Makepe quits Likuena duty

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2023

The Post

Likuena captain Basia Makepe has retired from international football after leading the senior national team to silver at the recent COSAFA Cup tournament held in Durban, South Africa.
This was the first time since 2000 that Likuena had reached the final of the regional tournament where they lost 1-0 to Zambia.

The Leribe born defender will go down as one of the most decorated defenders in the country having represented his country 87 times and winning several accolades in the process.

Makepe’s leadership skills were spotted from a young age, where he was appointed captain of the national U-20 team, Makoanyane XI by Leslie Notši.
He led by example as Makoanyane XI qualified for the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in 2011, which in those days was knowns as the African Youth Championship, where the side eliminated countries like Mozambique, South Africa and Kenya to qualify for the tournament.

Makepe won his first Likuena cap in a 2-1 victory over Eswatini during an international friendly match played at Setsoto Stadium in October 2012 and went on to make the squad for the 2013 COSAFA Cup in Zambia.
However, Makepe was an unused substitute at the tournament as Notši went for the tried and tested defenders such as Moitheri Ntobo, Tlali Maile and Thabo Masualle as Likuena reached the semi-finals.

He would later be appointed the Likuena captain as coach Moses Maliehe went for a younger generation at the 2016 COSAFA Cup in Namibia, where Likuena won all their group stage matches but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Shakes Mashaba-coached Bafana Bafana.
Makepe has not only enjoyed success with the national team but won several domestic trophies at Lioli, where he was also handed the captaincy after joining from boyhood club and now defunct Joy FC.

After leaving Lioli, he joined the police outfit, LMPS FC, where he is employed as a police officer and believes he still has a few years left in his tank playing for Simunye, as the police outfit is affectionately known.

“I think I have had a career that you can say was decent and can be accepted as satisfying to the football fraternity,” Makepe said.

“For me I can say it was a good career that has had challenges here and there as well as successes here and there, which started way back with the Under-20 team.

“With Makoanyane XI, we became the second team to qualify for the Africa Youth Championship and fortunately I had the honour of being the captain of that team.”

The 32-year-old, who has come up against the best forwards on the continent from the young Mohamed Salah during the 2011 Under-20 Africa Youth Championship to the likes of Victor Osimhen, Riyad Mahrez, has singled out former Burkina Faso striker Jonathan Pitroipa as the most troublesome opponent he has faced.

“I have come up against the best from this continent from the likes of Salah and others, but I think Pitroipa of Burkina Faso was the most troublesome forward I have come up against,” he said.

“I think the successes with the senior team especially as the captain are many having reached the COSAFA semi-finals a number of times with Likuena and twice going unbeaten in the group stage in Zambia 2013 and Namibia 2016 respectively.

“Being the captain of the team was the cherry on top and getting bronze medal in 2018. I end my chapter with Likuena having played a role in helping the team get to the final for the first time in 23 years,” he said.

Makepe admitted that the 2016 edition of the COSAFA tournament was very special for him as it was the first he captained the side and they won all their group stage matches.

“The COSAFA tournament in Namibia in 2016 stands out for me especially that game against South Africa, which unfortunately we lost on penalties, but it was a good tournament overall,” he said.

“All in all, I think it was a very satisfying career with the national team though you always want more as a player. I’m happy to bow out having helped Likuena re-write history. It’s a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.

“I’m very grateful to all who have supported me throughout my career, my teammates, coaches, administrators and the supporters, who were always by our side and of course the Lesotho Football Association for giving me the opportunities to lead the national team,” he said.

Mikia Kalati

Sports

Notši picks squad for Ivory Coast tie

Published

2 weeks ago

September 12, 2023

The Post

Lesotho interim coach Leslie Notši has named a provisional 27-man squad for the side’s final 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Ivory Coast which is scheduled for September 9.
By virtue of being the hosts of next year’s showpiece, Ivory Coast have already qualified for the tournament while Likuena no longer have a chance of joining them after back-to-back defeats with Zambia in June.

With nothing to play with but pride, Likuena can draw inspiration from their performance when the sides met in their first Group H encounter last June which ended in a goalless draw.
The match was played in Soweto and Lesotho’s memorably dogged display against their much more fancied opponents is something Notši’s charges can look to for inspiration.

Several new faces could feature in that return game in Ivory Coast.
Fresh off last month’s COSAFA Cup final display, Notši has called up some fresh blood to bolster the squad such as Khubetsoana Kamela, Tšeliso Botsane and Teboho Letsema who have each represented Lesotho’s junior teams but are yet to make the leap to the senior side.

Notši’s squad also includes the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) trio of Morena Moloi, Lebesa Lebesa and Victor Ferreira who have been called up to the national team set-up for the first time in their careers.
The most surprising inclusion is perhaps that of Ferreira who spent the majority of last season making cameo appearances from the LDF substitutes’ bench.

Speaking with LEFA’s media team, Notši said the new faces are intended to give him depth going into the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN) qualifiers which start in September and are reserved only for locally based players.
It means the handful of Likuena players plying their trade outside the country will be ineligible to play. The first round of the 2024 CHAN qualifiers is set to begin from September 22 to 24.

“We all know that AFCON qualification is out of our reach and the bigger picture is to prepare the team for the CHAN qualifiers, which are coming very soon,” Notši said.
“Most of these boys have come through the ranks playing for our junior national team and it’s the association’s investment that needs to be given a chance to grow,” the Lesotho mentor added.

The 27-man Likuena squad will be trimmed down to a manageable size towards the side’s departure to Ivory Coast, but the core of the players that went to the COSAFA Cup in July are expected to retain their places in the team.
Likuena have a busy schedule ahead with the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers also in the pipeline this year. Notši needs to have as strong a team as possible to compete in all the competitions.

Likuena provisional squad:
Goalkeepers:
Sekhoane Moerane, Teboho Ratibisi, Mosoeu Seahlolo.
Defenders
Rethabile Senkoto, Motlomelo Mkhwanazi, Mohlomi Makhetha, Rethabile Mokokoane, Rethabile Rasethuntša, Lebesa Lebesa, ‘Mellere Lebetša.
Midfielders:
Lisema Lebokollane, Khubetsoana Kamele, Tšeliso Botsane, Lehlohonolo Fothoane, Thabo Lesaoana, Tumelo Makha, Koenehelo Mothala, Tšepang Sefali, Victor Ferreira, Tshwarelo Bereng, Teboho Letsema, Neo Mokhachance, Tšepo Toloane, Morena Moloi.
Forwards:
Thabiso Mari, Jane Thabantšo, Motebang Sera, Katleho Makateng.

Tlalane Phahla