- successful first year of the three-year deal for Continental Tyre SA as joint title sponsor of The Herald Continental Cycle Tour
- 32nd edition achieved record 3 045 participants, 31% growth over past five years
- 12% year-on-year growth for the Mountain Bike race
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, 9 March 2017 – Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) concluded its first event as the joint title sponsor of The Herald Continental Cycle Tour with record levels of participation across all races.
A total of 3 045 riders competed in the 2017 Cycle Tour, which introduced a new format for the 32nd edition with the action split over two weekends for the first time – a popular move that allowed cyclists to compete in multiple events, including the mountain bike, team relay and road races.
Continental’s presence was highly visible throughout, not only with the extensive branding, but also with a large marquee erected at the Addo MTB race, and then moved to the superb new Pollok Beach Race Village for the road race weekend. The interactive display showcased Continental’s cutting-edge, award-winning tyre range spanning all categories of cycling, motorcycles, cars and 4x4s.
“This year’s Herald Continental Cycle Tour was immensely successful, and we congratulate the entire organising team, The Herald and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for making this a truly world-class event,” said Shaun Uys, managing director of Continental Tyre South Africa.
“It is a privilege for Continental to be part of this rapidly growing sport, and play our part in putting Nelson Mandela Bay and the city of Port Elizabeth on the map as one of South Africa’s best adventure sport and cycling destinations. We’re looking forward to working with the team to grow this event even further next year.”
The mountain bike challenge saw a 12% year-on-year increase in entries. It was held in Addo on Sunday 19 February in extremely wet and muddy conditions. The weather failed to curb the enthusiastic spirit of the competitors, who took on 30km, 60km and the extreme 80km races – with the two longer distance events requiring last-minute changes to the routes due to heavy rainfalls in the area. The children also had a chance to race against each other in the 500m toddler’s dash, and the 5km kiddies challenge.
An exciting new Team Relay Challenge was introduced to the programme and was held on Saturday 25 February, comprising a 23km road section followed by a 17km mountain bike route through the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University nature reserve. This was followed by the 500m and 2km races for the young cycling stars of the future to get a taste of competitive action.
The main road races, featuring the 55km and tough 106km distances, were played out with over 1 200 cyclists taking on variable weather conditions on Sunday 26 February.
There was fierce competition for the men’s and women’s titles, along with the fight for the prestigious Ultimate Quest Challenge for the fastest combined times for riders completing the 80km Extreme MTB race as well as the 106km Classic road race.
Winners:
Mountain Bike:
80km Extreme (Men) – Andrew Hill (2:52:31)
80km Extreme (Women) – Anriette Schoeman (3:28:14)
60km Adventure (Men) – Eben Hartslief (2:05:10)
60km Adventure (Women) – Kelsey van Schoor (2:36:14)
30km Leisure (Men) – Rayé Moolman (1:10:03)
30km Leisure (Women) – Mischka Strydom (1:22:00)
Team Relay:
Bruce Campbell (Road) 41:22 / Ant Daniels (MTB) 37:49 – Combined time: 1:19:11
Road Race:
106km Classic (Men) – Nolan Hoffman (2:30:39)
106km Classic (Women) – Anriette Schoeman (3:00:46)
55km Pursuit (Men) – Cody Coombe-Davis (1:38:00)
55km Pursuit (Women) – Tania Kitching (1:38:22)
Ultimate Quest Challenge (combined 80km MTB and 106km Road Race):
Men – Jason Meaton (6:04:17)
Women – Anriette Schoeman (6:29:00)