DURBAN – The 2023 Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series welcomes two exciting new events into the fold over the next few weeks when the Tour Durban MTB race joins the roster alongside the series’ first ever stage race, the North Coast Challenger.

The 2023 series kicked off with two double-header events in February and March – the Illovo Wartburg and Shongweni events, which also wrapped up the 2022/23 Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum.

Those results confirmed Hayley Smith and Stuart Marais as the 2022 MTB women’s and men’s champions respectively, while Brett and Sarah Gray were crowned as the trail running champions. The events were also the opening events of the renamed 2023 Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series which brings on board KZN Cycling’s MTB Commission as an official series partner.

The new name and the union with KZN MTB are not the only changes, however, with two exciting new events joining the event roster and adding an extra element to the series.

On April 14-16 the Emilgroup/Ergon North Coast Challenger at Holla Trails will become the first multi-day stage race to be part of the series. The three-day MTB race and two-day trail running event has long and short race options, so caters for all the age groups and thus is able to be used for points for all categories of the series.

Then, in a crowded May, Durban’s most popular cycling event will also join the series when the aQuellé Tour Durban MTB presented by Cycle Lab on May 13^th becomes the fifth event, albeit for mountain bikers only. An old favourite, the New Hanover MTB & Trail on May 6, will be the fourth event.

The aQuellé Tour Durban MTB event will see riders competing for series points on the popular EMBA Trails around Cornubia for the first time and the loyal ROAG Series riding community is excited to be able to join Durban’s favourite weekend of cycling and earn points toward series honours.

The 40km event at Tour Durban will see riders from the youth age group (ages 15 and 16 years) up to grand masters competing while the 20km event will cater for sub-juniors (under 15), nippers and sprogs. The 10km ride will not be used for any series points.

The full Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series is as follows:
1 Illovo Wartburg – Wartburg Kirchdorf School – February 25
2 Hyundai Hillcrest – Shongweni – March 12
3 North Coast Challenger 3 Day Stage Race – Holla Trail – April 14-16
4 New Hanover – New Hanover School – May 6
5 aQuellé Tour Durban MTB – Cornubia – May 13
6 Sappi Karkloof Classic – Karkloof – May 27-28
7 Gooderson Drakensberg Gardens – Drak Gardens – July 8
8 Illovo Eston Trail Challenge – Eston – August 6
9 Sappi Scottburgh – Scottburgh – September 23-24
10 Central Berg (TBC) – TBC – November TBC

The race registration for Tour Durban all events will take place at Cycle Lab at Cornubia Mall on Friday and Saturday May 12th and 13th.

Rdiers can enter at https://roag.org/events/event-info/3995 and see more information at https://tourdurban.co.za/