![\"ccs-62657-0-00951400-1444900843.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-00951400-1444900843.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The iconic Swartberg Pass will feature in not one, but two stages in 2015, with competitors tackling it from both directions on Stages 4 and 5. Stage 4 will be a mountain-top finish, which is exceptionally rare in mountain bike stage racing. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\nRiders from 15 nations and four continents will contest the 541km race over seven days with the top men and women competitors not only chasing generous prize money and global media exposure, but also significant UCI points, which will help nations and individuals in their quest to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games next year.<\/p>\n
The main race focus is on the two-rider teams, but there\u2019s also a solo division for men and women.<\/p>\n
The seven-day race will start with a short, but intense 13km prologue time trial dubbed #PointPursuit, which takes the riders through the town of Mossel Bay and along the coastline, passing local points of interest that include Point High School, St Blaise Lighthouse and Santos Beach.<\/p>\n
Although short, the prologue will allow the leading competitors to gauge their form and that of their rivals as there\u2019s a fairly telling 320 metres of vertical ascent to be climbed. It will also give Mossel Bay residents a chance to experience a world-class mountain bike race up close.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s Stage 1 takes the riders take on the #DiazDash leg from Mossel Bay, along the beach and into the indigenous forests of the Outeniqua Mountains to the finish in George. From there the riders will head to Oudtshoorn on the #MontaguMettle stage via the historic Montagu Pass and Chandelier Game Reserve.<\/p>\n
Days 3 sees the riders tackle a new approach through the rugged Kammanasie Reserve, and a never before ridden section through the unspoiled Kapteinkloof and Madi-Madi Game Reserve. The #KammanasieKanon stage from Oudtshoorn to De Rust will offer some of the most relentless terrain in mountain biking as the riders get to grips with the merciless character of the Klein Karoo, a semi-arid biosphere.<\/p>\n
Days 4 and 5 will see riders tackle the iconic monster climb over the Swartberg Pass, first from De Rust to the summit on the #SwartbergShowdown stage and then from Prince Albert to Calitzdorp on the #SwartbergSequel leg. These two days will ask riders to climb a total of 4450 vertical metres in 174km, a significant ascent-to-distance ratio that\u2019s likely to differentiate the pretenders and contenders.<\/p>\n
At 68km, the #RedstoneReward stage from Calitzdorp to Oudtshoorn is relatively short, but is unlikely to draw any complaints from weary riders as they bookend a week of high quality mountain bike racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the early days we tried to make the Cape Pioneer Trek stages as long and hard as possible. Then we realised that wasn\u2019t what mountain bike racers wanted. They want proper mountain bike trails and varied, challenging terrain with distances that make for an exciting daily contest. It\u2019s not a survival test, it\u2019s a race,\u201d said Cape Pioneer Trek co-founder, Henco Rademeyer of Dryland Events.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very excited about this new route, which is undoubtedly the most varied mountain bike stage race route you will find anywhere. From the beaches, through both indigenous and planted forests, over big mountains, through lush valleys, across deserts \u2013 variety is the Cape Pioneer Trek\u2019s greatest treasure. The support of the local government and communities has been incredible and it\u2019s truly a privilege to be able to host a mountain bike event in this region,\u201d added Rademeyer.<\/p>\n
The first riders will start the prologue stage at 10h00 on Saturday with the last team setting off at 13h21. The start seeding places the stronger riders on later start times. The start and finish of the Prologue will be at the Point, with recommended spectator spots at Delfino\u2019s Restaurant and Santos Beach.<\/p>\n
For those that can\u2019t be at the race, there will be a 45-minute live-streaming show called Soul Search, hosted by acclaimed cycling commentator, Gerald de Kock on www.capepioneer.co.za on Sunday 18 October (Prologue), Thursday 22 October (Stage 4), and Saturday 24 October (Stage 6).<\/p>\n
2015 Cape Pioneer Trek<\/strong> Sun 18 Oct<\/strong> \u2013 #PointPursuit: Prologue, Mossel Bay \u2013 13km; 320m Total distance: <\/strong>540.3km For more detailed event and route information as well as prologue start times, visit www.capepioneer.co.za<\/a>. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow @CapePioneerTrek<\/a> on Twitter; and for daily photo galleries, Like the Cape Pioneer Trek page on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race will herald a new era when the eighth edition gets underway in the coastal town of Mossel Bay in South Africa\u2019s Western Cape province on Sunday. A new route configuration and fresh, never-previously-ridden trails combine with iconic geographic and historic regions in three different biospheres to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[30],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-19154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-cape-pioneer-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19154","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=19154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19154"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=19154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
18-24 October 2015<\/strong>
Western Cape, South Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n
Mon 19 Oct<\/strong> \u2013 #DiazDash: Stage 1, Mossel Bay\u2013George \u2013 106km; 2300m
Tues 20 Oct<\/strong> \u2013 #MontaguMettle: Stage 2, George\u2013Chandelier Game Lodge \u2013 86km; 1550m
Wed 21 Oct<\/strong> – #KammanasieKanon: Stage 3, Oudtshoorn\u2013De Rust \u2013 94km; 1950m
Thurs 22 Oct<\/strong> \u2013 #SwartbergShowdown: Stage 4, De Rust\u2013Swartberg Pass \u2013 66.3km; 2150m
Fri 23 Oct<\/strong> \u2013 #SwartbergSequel: Stage 5, Prince Albert\u2013Calitzdorp \u2013 108km; 2 300m
Sat 24 Oct<\/strong> – #RedstoneReward: Stage 6, Calitzdorp\u2013Oudtshoorn \u2013 68km; 950m<\/p>\n
Total ascent:<\/strong> 10 250m<\/p>\n