{"id":70848,"date":"2024-12-19T08:55:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T06:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/?p=70848"},"modified":"2024-12-28T05:11:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T03:11:20","slug":"tankwa-trek-awarded-premier-uci-shc-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/tankwa-trek-awarded-premier-uci-shc-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Tankwa Trek Awarded Premier UCI SHC Status"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the twelfth edition of the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, South Africa\u2019s premier four-day Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) stage race will be awarded Stage Hors Classe (SHC), the highest status possible for mountain bike stage races. The upgrade from S1 categorisation comes with increased prize money as well as additional UCI marathon category points for the elite campaigners and locates the race in a prestigious class with just three other events globally. This should boost the race\u2019s status internationally, though the focus is delivering an exceptional experience to all participants \u2013 across the elite and amateur categories \u2013 on and off the bike from the 6th<\/sup> to the 9th<\/sup> of February 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A consistently deep and strong elite field has, along with a record of superb organisation, allowed the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, to gain the highest possible Stage Hors Classe status from the Union Cycliste Internationale. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To achieve SHC status an event must meet stringent criteria, set out by the UCI, for a number of years. These stipulations include maintaining organisational excellence; namely upholding high standards of event management, logistics, and safety, as well as compliance with UCI rules and regulations. The event also needs to hold notable prestige within the cycling community and attract top-tier professional teams and riders. Along with those factors deep competition, substantial prize money, in line with UCI SHC stipulations, and media exposure also play a role in the sport\u2019s governing body\u2019s classification criteria. The Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, is the second South African event to gain this status, after the Cape Epic, and is joined in the top tier by the Spanish stage races, the Mediterranean Epic MTB and the Andaluc\u00eda Bike Race. The former takes place at the same time as the South African stage race, while the event in the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain takes place at the end of February and into March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Numerous former and reigning UCI World Champions have graced the trails of the Koue Bokkeveld, including Mona Mitterwallner. Photo by Max Sullivan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor nearly a decade Momentum has had the privilege of working alongside Dryland Event Management to continually uplift the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen,\u201d Carel Bosman, Head of Strategic Business Momentum Health, reflected. \u201cThe award of UCI SHC status is by no means the culmination of those efforts, but rather a milestone along the journey which we can all be exceptionally proud of. It recognises the hard work the organising team, as well as all the sponsors and partners, have put in to attracting a deep international field, year-on-year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The diversity and difficulty of the course also played a role in the UCI\u2019s decision making process. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are certainly looking forward to attracting some big names to the Koue Bokkeveld in 2025 and beyond,\u201d Bosman continued. \u201cThe race has already hosted the likes of Nino Schurter, Henrique Avancini, Manuel Fumic, Sam Gaze, Karl Platt, Urs Huber, Anne Terpstra, Mona Mitterwallner, Annie Last, and Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot. I\u2019ve heard rumours that another former World Champion will grace the trails next year too as she starts her season in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is certainly nice to receive international acclaim and recognition, though our focus will always be on providing a stellar race experience for all the riders, from the fastest elites to those amateurs for whom taking part is a bucket list item,\u201d Henco Rademeyer of Dryland Event Management promised. \u201cThat being said, we are exceptionally proud of the recognition the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, has received and will continue to strive to exceed the expectations of the UCI and more importantly the UCI elite teams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Along with increased UCI points the race will feature nearly R500 000 in prize money, including the King and Queen of the Mountain prize for the first Elite Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s team to reach the summit of the Merino Monster on Stage 3. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The increase in status from UCI S1 to SHC brings with it an increase in UCI Points, which directly impact the global ranking and eligibility of riders for major events, including the UCI World Championships. The points available at SHC races are only trumped by those on offer at World Cup and World Championships, and as such will go a long way to determining the starting positions of riders for those prestigious races. Alongside the increase in points is an boost in prize money. The total prize purse for 2025 increases to R419 960, with the R57 380 * (According to the US Dollar exchange rate at the time of writing) for each of the elite men\u2019s and women\u2019s competition bolstering the R230 000 total prize winnings on offer for the top three men\u2019s and women\u2019s team on the final general classification standings. A further R10 000 will also be paid to the first men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams to the summit of the Merino Monster on Stage 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ghost Factory Racing are among the European team who have chosen to start their seasons at the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the 2025 Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, visit www.tankwatrek.co.za<\/a>. Limited entries are still available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the twelfth edition of the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, South Africa\u2019s premier four-day Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) stage race will be awarded Stage Hors Classe (SHC), the highest status possible for mountain bike stage races. The upgrade from S1 categorisation comes with increased prize money as well as additional UCI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":70849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[918,94],"featured_location":[338],"class_list":["post-70848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-dryland-events","tag-tankwa-trek","featured_location-bottom-row"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70848","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=70848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70854,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70848\/revisions\/70854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70848"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=70848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}