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Raymond Jaravaza, Sports Correspondent
THE Tour de Great Dyke — touted as one of the most gruelling and competitive long-distance cycling races in the country — has been moved to early next year to align it with major regional cycling events, an official has said.
For the past three years, the Tour de Great Dyke — a 500-kilometre race stretching from Darwendale to Zvishavane — has been held in October with the race growing in leaps and bounds in terms of the number of participants and attracting more sponsorship.
The organisers have taken heed to calls by cyclists to move the race to ‘endurance cycling friendly months’, according to an official, Munyaradzi Hwengwere.
“We took into consideration the health of cyclists who have been complaining that it’s too hot to cycle close to 500 kilometres in October and in addition we also wanted to align the Tour de Great Dyke with other major regional events such as the Cape Town Cycle Tour that is held in the first quarter of each year,” said Hwengwere.
Last year the Tour de Great Dyke, a four-day affair, cycled off in Darwendale with 28 cyclists with the first leg seeing cyclists pedalling 135km from Great Dyke Investments to Chegutu via Zimplats in Selous.
From Chegutu the cyclists went through Kwekwe where there was a stop-over before proceeding to Shurugwi and then eventually Zvishavane where the race ended.
Hwengwere said part of the race’s objectives was to educate communities about the Great Dyke.
“We started this race as an educational and wellness programme to raise awareness about the Great Dyke. This came after the realisation that many people were not aware of the Great Dyke and the contribution it makes to the country’s resource base. It’s a geological line stretching 500km and contains immense minerals that include platinum, gold and chrome among others,” he said.
The organisers would review the prize monies for the winners in line with the economic situation obtaining at the time of the race.
@RaymondJaravaza
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