South Africa has a stage race scene unmatched around the globe. Topeak-Ergon pro Erik Kleinhans even guessed that he could probably race a stage race almost throughout the year, from weekend events to week-long events. One of the most prominent marathon stage races, The Cape Pioneer Trek, kicks off on Sunday the 16th of October at 10:00.
Unlike many new stage races, the Cape Pioneer Trek runs over 7 days, taking racers through the Garden Route and Klein Karoo region of the Western Cape. Starting with a 13km prologue along the cliff-top trails and urban paths of Mossel Bay, the race concludes on Saturday the 22nd of October with a 57km final stage from the antelope trodden trails of Chandelier Game Reserve to the historic streets of Oudtshoorn and the finish line at the Queens Hotel.
The Cape Pioneer Trek will once again start with a prologue along the trails and urban paths of Mossel Bay. Photo by Ewald Sadie.
The elite racing action will be live tweeted by ex-pro mountain biker Oliver Munnik. Munnik’s infectious enthusiasm is shaped by his personal experiences racing the Cape Pioneer Trek, and countless other South African mountain bike events, so expect insightful and captivating blow-by-blow updates on the Cape Pioneer Trek’s Twitter handle: @CapePioneerTrek.
The 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek will once again boast comprehensive media coverage. Photo by Ewald Sadie.
The considerable photographic talents of Zoon Cronje and the Oakpics photographers will be on hand throughout the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek to capture the race in all its visual splendour. Cronje will be shooting the leaders as they race for UCI points, prize money and bragging rights. You can view the fruits of their labour, uploaded daily, on the race’s Facebook page: Cape Pioneer Trek.
The 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek starts on Sunday the 16th of October at 10:00. Photo by Ewald Sadie
Capturing the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek in the glory of high definition will be the Bigshot Media television production crew. The Cape Pioneer Trek will once again be showcased in a 52 minute SuperSport production and an insert on SuperCycling. But if you’re following the race from home you won’t have to wait for the shows to air on SuperSport, you can watch the daily racing highlight videos on the Cape Pioneer Trek’s Facebook and Twitter pages and catch the daily, light-hearted, “rider highlights” on Facebook.
The Cape Pioneer Trek will also be broadcasting live from the finish venues three times during the 2016 race. The live Pioneer Spirit wrap-up shows will showcase the beautiful areas the race visits, focus on the elite racing, talk to some of the event’s biggest personalities and highlight why the Cape Pioneer Trek is known as the Race with Soul. The Pioneer Spirit chat shows will be broadcast live from www.capepioneer.co.za at 18:15 on Monday the 17th, Wednesday the 19th and Friday the 21st of October.
We will also be publishing daily results and highlights right here on MarathonMTB.com, so you can catch up with the race from your mobile, tablet, laptop… or work desktop.
If you’d like to join in the conversation you can do so on your favourite social media platform by including the official Cape Pioneer hashtags, #CPT2016 and #racewithsoul, in your post, tweet or photo. And keep an eye out for the daily, stage specific hashtags, which highlight the spectacular new route.