Mountain bikers urged to support South Africa's first World Cup round

By BikeRadar

South Africa's UCI World Cup round is set to be spectator-friendly (Gary Perkin)

Organisers of this year's first Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup round in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, are determined to make the event a success. They are promising low ticket prices and great spectator access in a bid to attract similar high-profile events in future.

Fans will be offered uplifts on all-terrain vehicles to various points on the courses, and prices will range from 30 rand (approx £2.07) for a single entry, one-day ticket with no uplift to R440 (approx £30.39) for a three-day family ticket with uplift and event programme.

Denzil Ulyate, from the organising team, said: “The pricing is significantly lower than other events in the World Cup series... as we’d like to see as many people at the event as possible. The packages deliver value for money – especially the uplift opportunities – and this will allow people to get close to the action at the best vantage points possible each day.”

More than 750 top mountain bike racers from 40 countries will be in Pietermaritzburg to compete in the cross-country, downhill and 4X titles races on 10-12 April.

Alec Lenferna, event director for organisers Treble Entertainment and Real Events Management, said: “We really hope to see as many of the mountain bike enthusiasts in the country as possible coming to the event to support the first ever triple Mountain Bike World Cup event on the African continent.

"I know there's a lot of excitement out there among the mountain biking community, and if the course is full of people, then it makes it so much easier for the International Cycling Union (UCI) to justify automatic inclusion of a South African round of the World Cup in future years.

“Obviously, we also want to see as many non-mountain bike enthusiasts from the communities in and around Pietermaritzburg also attending the event, as this will only grow the love and support of the sport."

Tickets are on sale now. For more information or to book your place, visit www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za.