Classic plans for aQuellé Tour Durban racers
Cyclists will endure the fast 101km course on the M4.
ORGANISERS of the aQuellé Tour Durban road races have confirmed the elite races will be staged over a familiar route.
The confirmation follows as entries start to pick up steam for the Sunday, November 28 event. As previously done, the elite men and women will start the race with an 11km loop to the Swapo Road interchange in Durban North.
They will head back to the start venue at the Moses Mabhida Stadium where they will then complete two full 45km laps of the M4.
“The 100km distance is well established as a popular format for the elite men and women, and has been a key part of the history of the aQuellé Tour Durban,” said race director, Alec Lenferna.
“It also complies with the requirements for the race to serve as a Cape Town Cycle Tour qualifier and fits in well with our plans to make optimal use of the full road closure on the M4 on the day of the race, as agreed with city authorities.”
He added that the highly unusual and late November date for the races was part of a congested calendar that forced events to think differently. This follows the nation’s emerge from the series of pandemic lockdowns. This year’s tour falls on the same weekend as the Double Century in the Western Cape, which will divide the elite national racers
“The Tour Durban has a proud history as a great South African classic, and we have been able to preserve this with the 100km race distance for the elite races, despite the difficult conditions. At the same time we are placing a lot of emphasis on sharing the joy of being able to stage this major event as a chance to #CelebrateTogether as we start to emerge from the tough almost two years of Covid lockdowns,” Lenferna said.
The day’s races will start before 06:00, giving the elite riders cool early morning conditions. The first start will comprise the elite men, U23, and junior men categories.
The second start is for all the competitive veteran and master riders, effectively for men over 30 who are keen to race competitively in one race. The elite U23 women and racing vets women will start just behind them in one group.
The junior women will join this race after the 11km start lap to give them a race distance of 90km as per the regulations. Once the competitors in the three races have started their final respective 45km lap on the M4, the club and recreational riders will start the 135km race followed by the 90km riders and the social 45km riders.
“The racing vets race is a new innovation and will see riders grouped into one-seeded race group regardless of their age thus allowing for the strongest riders to come to the fore and this group will be limited to 150 riders. That means that we will start the three non-elite racers at around 08:00, and we anticipate that everyone will have ample time to finish before we have to re-open the roads at 14:00,” said Lenferna.
For more information, visit www.tourdurban.co.za.
