Durban - South Africa’s oldest classic cycle race, the Amashova Durban Classic, has been reinvented with the inclusion of a 160km route for the first time. This year also sees the race make an international splash with its inclusion in the Gran Fondo World Tour.
Race director, Annie Batchelder said, “We are really excited about adding the very challenging 160km route to our already popular 106km, 65km and 35km race distances. Not only will Amashova be one of the very few races in South Africa to offer this extreme distance, but the hills and overall profile of the Richmond area will, in its own right, push the limits of the brave cyclists prepared to take on the challenge.”
The new 160km route will have the same starting point as the 106km route in front of Pietermaritzburg’s City Hall but cyclists will do an additional 54km loop via Richmond before re-joining the famous Comrades Marathon route from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
Watch the new route:
The announcement that this popular annual Durban-based race will form part of the Gran Fondo World Tour was met with much excitement. The race will close off the 10-event tour, which takes place over eight months on four continents and offers a substantial prize purse of $25 000. The Amashova will be the first race in the tour to be hosted in Africa.
Batchelder said cyclists and spectators can also look forward to a healthy living and cycling Expo that will see a number of top brands, products and services before race day. The venue for this year’s race number pick up and late entries is now the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel on Durban’s beach front.
Entries are open to anyone with a bike. The race is on October 21. See www.shova.co.za.