To view the spectacular footage of the 2011 event and to get a glimpse of the sheer fun that was had on the day don’t forget to watch

The 2011 Aquelle Tour de Krantz

The Tour De Krantz is one of the events in the Super Classic series that will be staged on Saturday, 20 August 2011 in Harburg, KwaZulu-Natal. There will be 45km, 25km and 10km cycle races with spectacular routes through pine and sugar plantations and, fantastic scenery overlooking a waterfall and a gorge. The routes will maintain the winning formula that has proved so popular in the past – single track, fast winding downhills, a couple of hard climbs with breathtaking views as your reward. For everyone, the German hospitality with a craft market, a tea garden serving German cakes, delicious catering and beer garden and a processed meat and cake sale will add to the experience.

Thank you to all the cyclists and their families who braved the overcast conditions to come and ride the 12th Tour de Krantz Super Classic.

Saturday 20 August dawned overcast and cool with no rain forecast, heralding perfect riding conditions for the 12th running of one of KZN’s original Super Classic MTB events. The ROAG managed registration tent was soon doing brisk business as the record pre-entry field of over 750 riders started streaming through. As usual, registration went smoothly and the pre-entrants collected a goody bag that contained a race branded polar fleece beanie, perfect for the cool conditions. Besides the many pre-entrants more than 200 people entered on the day ensuring a record field in this iconic event.

The 45km event kicked off at 8:30 with the field divided into 6 batches to ensure smooth riding through the single tracks. Brandon Stewart saw off all rivals to win the premier event by 2 minutes over Brendon Davids with Andrew Hill hanging on for third. The ladies event was won in fine style by Julia Kate Colvin with Nedene Cahill and the evergreen Bridgette Stewart rounding out the podium. The 25km event also hosted the sub-junior series which set off 15 minutes before the rest of the field. The racing was hot, especially in the girl’s event where Kayla Edwards was adjudged to have beaten Katherine Pellow-Jarman after a sprint finish saw them being given the same time. The boy’s event was won by Julian Jessop. The main 25km event got underway at 9:15 and was also batched to spread out the large field. Bradley Stevens and Robyn Blackbeard took the honours in the men’s and ladies’ races respectively.

The route had been changed from previous years in order to allow cyclists to spend more time riding on the lip of the krantz, however the notorious hills were still in play, ensuring that riders in the longer 45km event had to pay in sweat to enjoy their views. The revised route meant that the 25km riders also got to appreciate some stunning views over the valley of a thousand hills. The cold, cleared the air, ensuring that the views were crisp and clear with the waterfalls running in spate. Some good rains earlier in the month followed by a few days of sunshine ensured that the track was in perfect condition. The sun had not been hot enough however, to completely dry out the course and some delightfully muddy holes saw some chocolate coated cyclists crossing the finish line.

Feedback after the event indicated that riders really enjoyed the revised route, with many commenting that this was THE event of the year so far.

The cyclists returned to the race village in time to join in the Harburg Fest, a traditional German farmer’s bazaar complete with fresh farm produce and home baked goodies. Traditional German cold meats were also snapped up by the enthusiastic fest goers. The local brass band entertained the crowd as the lunch tent did roaring trade and the on tap bar slaked thirsts as the sun came out and warmed the day up.

A big thank you to aQuelle who came on board as the new title sponsor this year and without whom this event would have been history. Thank you to all the other sponsors as well who contributed in some way or other towards this event. And lastly, thank you to all the members of the Harburg Neuenkirchen congregation and the wider community who worked so hard to make the Tour de Krantz such a great success once again.