28 Oct 2024

Regional managing director of inq.Digital Botswana Duncan Pie has linked cycling to a high performance culture in business.

Speaking in an interview following the inq.Cycle4Life club race challenging on Saturday, he said cycling, specifically mountain bike (MTB) symbolises the ethos of high performance that they drive for in business.

He said his company decided to sponsor MTB cycling sport as they have an internal campaign of high performance and therefore they linked the campaign to MTB, which is tough with challenging terrain, where cyclists often ride in the scorching sun.

“To be able to endure that demonstrates high performance, and for my team, this event was also a team building exercise and they are urging for another opportunity next year and even make it a bigger and better race,” Pie said. He said inq.Cycle4Life race was a successful event that gave his team a sense of value as they contributed to the community.

Both winners in the 60km open male and female elite category; Gontse Lethokwe and Lebopo Kono said the route was smooth and flat for them except the mudslide as they approached the Molokwane hill in Kgatleng area. 

“I enjoyed the race and reached my target of 2 hours 30 minutes to complete the race,” Lethokwe said in an interview after his race.

At the start of the race, Lethokwe a consistent MTB champion rode the first 30km with the leading bunch before he made a break away and pedalled the last 30km solo as he chased his target time.

Kono who was among leading bunch at the start and had a good ride, was also on target for her best time, however, she had a slight mechanical, which delayed her time, and she clocked 2hours 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, Cycle4Life chairperson Modiegi Pelaelo called on sponsors to come on board and collaborate with cycling sport to better the code. Pelaelo commended inq. Digital and other sponsors who supported the race saying their involvement benefited the cycling sport, not only MTB discipline.

Botswana Cycling Association secretary general Game Mompe applauded the club for a well organised event and urged them to host more MTB races, saying through the discipline the association select the best riders to compete at the Continental championships.

“We have had our best MTB riders competing at the continentals as in Lethokwe and Kono who were selected to represent the country at the last Continental championships and she performed fairly well, all thanks to races such as these from Cycle4Life club,” Mompe said. 

A technological company established in Botswana 20 years ago, inq.Digital Botswana specialises in connectivity and building software for Artificial Intelligence (AI), video and documentary management. It boasts of a team of 40 employees, with one foreigner and the rest Batswana. It services banks, mining companies and parastatals. Ends