For two decades, the Berge en Dale cycling event on the West Rand has been a must-do on South Africa’s road cycling calendar, and this year’s 20th edition, on Saturday, 23 February, promises to be no different.
Under new sponsors, Takealot.com, and with a new race venue at Silverstar, the race organisers, ASG Events, are anticipating a surge of interest before entries close on Wednesday, 13 February for the race in Krugersdorp.
Erick Oosthuizen said with the 108km distance proving highly popular, they were anticipating another huge entry. He said further that in addition to the feature race, there will be a 60km distance on offer.
“We are pretty much at the total number of entries we had at the same stage last year, but there is definitely space for more cyclists and we are looking at a really sizeable entry once the deadline comes,” Erick said.
He added that the offering had increased in popularity over the years, having started as a race of just 30km in the inaugural edition.
“Since then it has grown in distance and stature to become one of Johannesburg’s toughest road races. We believe the date for the race is perfectly positioned on the cycling calendar because it provides a big incentive for riders to get back into shape after the festive break.”
The Berge en Dale is also a premier seeding event for the Cape Town Cycle Tour, but Erick said he had no doubt it could stand on its own as one of the country’s road classics.
“It is preparation for the Cape Town Cycle Tour but, increasingly, many riders are seeing the Takealot Berge en Dale as their own pinnacle on the cycling calendar.
Erik said cost has become a factor in the lives of the competitors – it’s no secret that the economy is not where we all want it to be.
“We believe cyclists are doing fewer events these days and are starting to cherry-pick their races. The months of January and February in Johannesburg have produced many quality races during the past 20 years and we believe we are one of them.”
He said even though there is a huge cycling community in the region, they were aware that, as event organisers, they needed to cater for what the cyclists want.
“In this regard we feel the new race venue at Silverstar is much safer and more convenient and, overall, a better fit for the event. We want to invite cyclists to experience the thrill of doing this West Rand classic for the first time. And if they have done it before, come and see what we have to offer this year.”
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at randfonteinherald@caxton.co.za (please remember to include your contact details in the email) or phone us on 011 693 3671.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
