He emerged the overall winner of the championship round one dubbed Kopong200 held on Saturday just 30km north of Gaborone.
The biker, who had spent almost two years off the saddle owing to injuries, was impressive on the bike in the OR1 class.
Den had interesting duels with 2022 rider of the year, Kosmas Mamaloukos, with the youngster finishing the first 50km loop of the 200km in front.
Den was, however, closing and gained the lead just before the third loop and held on to claim his first win in over two years.
Mamaloukos settled for the second spot in the season opener while former Dakar Rally competitor, John Kelly, completed the podium places with a third finish. Euan Harmse finished first in the OR3 class while Cyle Pretorius continued his fine form on the bike from last season to bag the high-school class. Tadiwa Tafa also picked where she left last season to win the ladies class.
Speaking to Sport Monitor, Den hopes a win in the season opener will be a start to a successful campaign. “We have a long season ahead; we are going to South Africa for the third round of the championship there. Last year we were unfortunate with injuries so we are trying to use this year as a building year for next year. We are trying to build off.
Obviously we were off two years due to injuries and we are trying to catch up. So there is still a lot in the tank to do. We are trying to take it easy rather than go flat out and end up crashing and getting injuries,” Den said. The bikers will have a two week break until the Khawa Dune Challenge that is to be held early in May.
