![\"ccs-62657-0-51918700-1528354782.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-51918700-1528354782.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, has added a 4th stage to the 2019 event which will provide the elite riders \u2013 like Centurion Vaude by Goldwurst Power\u2019s Nicola Rohrbach & Daniel Geismayr (pictured) \u2013 with an additional opportunity to gain time on their rivals. Photo by www.zcmc.co.za.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re really excited to add a new opening stage to the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen,\u201d Henco Rademeyer of Dryland Event Management enthused. \u201cSince the inception of the Tankwa Trek in 2013, there has been an explosion of trails around the race village at Kaleo Manor. But we\u2019ve never really been able to use them in the race; which is a real shame as Ernst van Dyk and his team have done a superb job building the trails.\u201d<\/p>\n
For 2019 the UCI have changed their rules regarding stage races slightly and to maintain the Tankwa Trek\u2019s S1 status \u2013 which ensures international stars like Manuel Fumic, Henrique Avancini, Maxime Marotte, Helen Grobert, Alban Lakata, Kristian Hynek, Nicola Rohrbach, Daniel Geismayr and Urs Huber are motivated to take part \u2013 an extra stage had to be added.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, the addition of the extra stage does not affect the event entry fee. The additional 32 kilometres of racing \u2013 and all that entails including full medical support, a typically well-stocked Dryland water point and media coverage is therefore essentially free.<\/p>\n The compact nature of the new Stage 1 route and the success of the 2018 live broadcast also has the Tankwa Trek\u2019s media partners Bigshot Media exceptionally excited. \u201cWe are looking at the possibility of live streaming the short punchy stage as it would be a great teaser to showcase the strength of the world\u2019s most prestigious four day UCI MTB stage race\u201d said Mark le Roux, the owner of Bigshot Media.<\/p>\n 2018 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, runner-up and current South African marathon champion, Robyn de Groot, is thrilled by the addition of an extra stage. \u201cIt will add a great dimension to the race\u201d the Ascendis Health star said. \u201cA stage in and around the Kaleo area will certainly add for some exciting spectatorship and a nice burn in both the legs and lungs for the pro\u2019s. The rock formations and trail network will most certainly contribute to a spectacular backdrop. We need these UCI status races in South Africa, so special thanks to Dryland for adapting and ensuring their events meet these criteria,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n Team Bulls\u2019 Swiss ace, Urs Huber, has been crowned champion of the race twice and has also won the solo men\u2019s category, so he knows exactly what it takes to succeed at the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen. \u201cI don’t think that a short opening stage will affect the general classification too much after four days,\u201d Huber said. \u201cThe other three stages, we know from the past years, are still too selective and will make the classification, I believe. But for sure, the new opening stage will make the race more interesting in the beginning and more open. Maybe some more teams now have the opportunity to take the leaders\u2019 jersey after day one,\u201d he elaborated.<\/p>\n The 2019 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, is set to take place between the 7th and the 10th of February next year. To accommodate riders traveling from further away Dryland Event Management will be offering the option of an additional night\u2019s accommodation, dinner on Wednesday evening and breakfast on Thursday. These extras can be booked through the online entry portal. For more information on the race, including the Stage 1 route details, please visit www.tankwatrek.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dryland Event Management \u2013 the organisers of the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, the only UCI S1 category stage race in South Africa \u2013 are proud to announce the addition of a 4th stage to the 2019 Tankwa Trek. The new stage will take place on the afternoon of Thursday the 7th of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":30872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[94],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-15925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-tankwa-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15925"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=15925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>The new Stage 1 see riders starting in category batches, allowing them to directly race their general classification rivals on the trails surrounding the race village. Photo by www.zcmc.co.za.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The Kaleo singletracks, which have been largely unused by the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, will form the base of the new stage\u2019s route. Photo by www.zcmc.co.za.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>To ensure the stage is spectator friendly, the route will remain within close proximity to the race village at Kaleo Manor. Photo by www.zcmc.co.za.<\/span><\/p>\n