THE organisers of the aQuellé Tour Durban road confirmed plans to stage the elite races over a familiar, fast 101km route on the M4.

The race will be held on Sunday, November 28.

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The elite men and women will start with an 11km loop to the Swapo Road interchange in Durban North before they head back to the start venue at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Competitors will then complete two full 45km laps of the M4.

Director, Alec Lenferna said 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. 

“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 the city’s authorities,” said Lenferna.

The day’s races will start before 06:00. This will give the elite riders cool, early morning conditions for the 101km race.

“The racing vets race is a new innovation and will see all riders grouped into one seeded race group, regardless of their age, allowing for the strongest riders to come to the fore. This group will be limited to 150 riders,” said Lenferna.

The elite women, 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 for a race distance of 90km, as per the regulations.

Once the competitors in the three races have started their final 45km lap on the M4, the club and recreational riders will start the 135km race. This will be followed by the 90km riders and the social 45km 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.