Durban – With a huge field of road and mountain bike riders entered and weather forecasts pointing to almost perfect weather for the weekend, the organisers of the aQuellé Tour Durban are urging local residents to support the event and to plan their movements on Sunday around the closure of some of the city’s roads.
The event has seen significant growth in entries year-on-year, partly due to the race’s new status as a seeding event for the Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour but also because it guarantees the cyclists total road closure and the rare opportunity to ride in safety on the city’s highways.
The three routes all start and finish at the Moses Mabhida stadium, with the 105km road race starting at 6:30am, the cyclo-cross MTB race starting at 8am, and the 45km road race starting at 8:15am.
The lead peloton skirts Durban harbour at the start of the aQuellé Tour Durban last year. The race organisers have urged Durban residents to take note of the road closures and to plan their movements on Sunday 28 April accordingly.
Anthony Grote/ Gameplan Media
In co-ordination with the Metro Police and municipal authorities, the roads to be used for the race will be fully closed to vehicle traffic, and will be re-opened once the race officials are satisfied that the last rider has passed through that point.
The major change to the race route returns to the descent from Pinetown using the M19 to Springfield Park, which will result in less inconvenience to residents in the Pinetown, Cowies Hill and Westville areas through which the 105km road passed last year.
“This is a landmark event for the City of Durban, and riders come from every corner of the country to take advantage of the opportunity cycle many of the cities attractions in the security of total road closures,” said race director Stu Berry.
“The safety of cyclists on our roads is a major issue, and the closure of some of our roads for a few hours on Sunday morning is very important to the cycling community,” he added.
“The people of Durban through whose suburbs this race passes have been very supportive over the years. They understand the rationale behind it and pro-actively plan their travel plans on that day around these road closures, for which we are very grateful.”
“I trust it will once again be a successful event for the City of Durban, and one that every resident of the city can proudly take ownership of,” he said.
The main roads that will be affected are:
• NMR – North and South
• Esplanade – West
• M4 – South
• Edwin Swales – West
• M7 – West
• Shepstone Road – Pinetown
• M19 – East
• Inanda Road – Springfield
• Riverside Road
• M4 – North and South
• Argyle Rd – Bottom End
The race organisers have advised the use of the following alternate routes:
• Umhlanga Rocks Drive
• Northway
• Umgeni Road
• Old Fort Road
• N2
• N3
• Lagoon Drive
• Forest Drive
• Marine Drive
• Waterkant Road
Road closure and re-opening times:
The aQuellé Tour Durban road races takes place on Sunday 28 April. More information can be found at www.tourdurban.co.za
The route for the of the 105km aQuellé Tour Durban road race.
The route for the of the 45km aQuellé Tour Durban road race.
Detail of the off-road sections of the new 55km aQuellé Tour Durban MTB cyclo-cross race.
