Rapha celebrate Rio 2016's least likely hero with limited edition Namibia jersey

Perhaps the least likely hero of this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio was Namibia’s Dan Craven, who was featured in the press around the world after he apparently live-tweeted the road race – while riding in it. Now, you can buy the striking Rapha kit that the British firm produced for him.

> Twitter abuzz as Namibia’s Dan Craven ‘live tweets’ Olympic road race – while riding it!

It turned out that it was the 33-year-old’s girlfriend who had taken over his Twitter account, posting a stream of witty and engaging tweets that helped enliven the race for those following it on TV as well as social media.

Ahead of Rio, where Namibia also had competitors in the women’s road race and mountain biking events – Craven, who rode for Rapha-Condor-Sharp from 2009-11, and took part in the road race at London 2012, turned to Rapha to source kit. 

The resulting jersey is based on the colours of the Namibian flag, and also has on its back the golden sun emblem that appears on it, and has now been released by Rapha as a limited edition jersey, with a cap also available. Some of the proceeds will be donated to the Namibian Cycling Federation.

Craven, who in 2012 blogged a three-part training diary for road.cc, has also written an engaging post for Rapha detailing his adventures in Brazil this summer, which didn’t finish with the Olympic road race.

With several riders pulling out of the time trial four days later, Craven was invited to take part and did so after canvassing his followers on Twitter, despite not having a time trial bike or aero equipment with him. He was the last of the 35 finishers, but spent time in the ‘hot seat’ before the big guns, including eventual winner Fabian Cancellara, came out.

The jersey costs £130, while the cap is £25, with a cut of the proceeds being donated to the Namibian Cycling Federation.