KLEIN-KAROO NEWS - The Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer Trek, presented by Biogen, celebrated its fifteenth anniversary this year. Over a decade and a half, the seven-day stage race took riders through the Klein Karoo and across the Garden Route. It traversed high mountains and fertile plains, challenging and rewarding by turns. However, 2024 is the year for change - For rebirth, reimagination, regrowth and renewal.
As such the race will become the Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer, presented by Biogen. A five-day, UCI S1, stage race; complete with longer and more challenging stages, but maintaining the same “race with soul” ethos that made the original Pioneer famous.
“It was always our intention to pay homage to the pioneers of old, who trekked the ancient game paths along the coastal plains and through the mountains into the Klein Karoo,” Henco Rademeyer of Dryland Event Management explained. “
They were not only the founders of our hometown of Oudtshoorn, but also the spiritual guides of the pioneering spirit upon which the race was founded. We desired to share the landscapes with as many people as possible, to immerse them deeply in nature, so that they too can share in this unique countryside and develop a love for it.”
“We initially envisioned a race from Heidelberg, in the west, to Louvain, in the east, following the historic pioneer wagon trails. The dual desire to include geological and man-made features, like the Swartberg and Kammanassie Mountains as well as the Montagu Pass meant we soon diverted from a pure point-to-point layout,” Rademeyer continued. “We thus added an exploration element, as the pioneers would have done themselves, to allow for the taking in of specific sights and challenges. After fifteen years of developing the race’s route, we felt it was time for a change. The 2024 Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer will be a five-day event. It will maintain its UCI S1 grading, which means that elite riders will earn UCI marathon and stage race points by taking part, and it will continue to be built around the Race with Soul ethos which made the first Pioneer famous.”
The 2024 event will take in 380 kilometres of racing with 8 950 metres of climbing.
Entries to the 2024 Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer already opened on 4 December.
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