2020 Tour Durban announces bold innovations

THE organisers of the aQuellé Tour Durban have confirmed the dates for 2020 along with some bold innovations to the Durban cycle classic.

The road races will take place on 26 April, once again coinciding with the Freedom Day long weekend, and will include a new 115km elite classic, and a new 90km race to go with the popular 45km ride on the M4 on full road closure.

The cyclocross event has been replaced with two new MTB races to be held on Saturday, 25 April, starting and finishing at the Cornubia Mall.

Another new addition to the programme on Saturday, 25 April is a race for the athletes from districts each training centre run by the KwaZulu-Natal Cycling Development programme.

Saturday will also see a new junior race and a kids trike race at Cornubia Mall for the younger riders keen to get in on the action of the weekend of cycling events.

The revised program is aimed at offering an expanded choice of rides for cyclists that have supported this popular event in the past.

New event director Alec Lenferna says the 115km route is aimed at providing a challenge for the elite men’s field that always supports the Durban classic as well as the fitter cyclists.

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He added that the route, designed in close conjunction with the city’s traffic management team, would take riders into a new section of the city.

“It is essentially a reverse of the old 100km route. From the race headquarters at Moses Mabhida Stadium it heads north up the M4 past Mdloti and turning at the Watson Highway circle before heading back towards Durban. Then we turn onto Riverside Road and then along North Coast Road and onto Queen Nandi Drive and cross the Mgeni River on the new Super Highway into Pinetown before descending on the M7 and returning to the finish on the South Coast freeway,” he explained.

The new 90km race would create a new option for riders who had comfortably finished the 45km race in the past and are looking for a new challenge. Both the 45km and 90km races will use the popular M4 lap from Moses Mabhida to Mdloti and back. This is also the route that will accommodate the various racing women’s groups.

The race remains steadfastly geared towards raising money for the Domino Foundation, that runs a variety of programmes aimed at supporting, uplifting and empowering the Amaoti community north of the city.

Entries for the road race are now open at www.cycleevents.co.za/road-events/aquelle-tour-durban-2020/ and the new MTB races can be entered at www.cycleevents.co.za/mtb-events/aquelle-tour-durban-mtb-challenge-2020/

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