Durban – Cyclists and trail runners are taking their first pedal strokes (and steps) toward the 2025 aQuellé Tour Durban as entries have started trickling in for all 10 events that will make up the action-packed weekend on April 26-27 next year.

The aQuellé Tour Durban MTB powered by Cycle Lab and aQuellé Tour Durban road race entries were opened last month, and last week the aQuellé Tour Durban Trail event details were finalised allowing runners to also book their places on the start line for the second year. Last year close to 3 000 participants took part in the various events and organisers are expecting a slight increase in entries for 2025.

There will be no less than 10 events spread over two days of action-packed participation sport. The four road cycling races will take place on Sunday April 27 from Moses Mabhida Stadium, while the three mountain bike events and three trails runs on Saturday April 26 will all start and finish on South African Sugar Association land near Cornubia Mall.

The roadies can choose from the main 110km event – a three-lap ride mostly on the M4 and M41 between Moses Mabhida and Umdloti – while the new 68km distance and the traditional 42km and 28km events are all shorter variations of the same stretches of road. The 110km event has been designated the official KZN Club Championships for 2025, which should mean some fascinating team tactics as the various club battle for bragging rights as the KZN’s top cycling club.

The off-road cyclists can enjoy one of the 40km, 20km or 10km rides that take mountain bikers through the predominantly cane area to the north of Cornubia. The rides are an interesting mix of cane breaks, Jeep track, single track and district roads.

Trail runners will start the weekend action early on Saturday with 20km, 10km and 5km events on similar terrain to the mountain bikers.

Race registration for the cycling events will take place on Friday and Saturday April 25-26 at Cycle Lab in Cornubia Mall, while the trail runners will need to check in at the start venue on the morning before their races.

In an effort to ensure the aQuellé Tour Durban remains on of the best value-for-money events on the cycling calendar, the race organisers have opted to keep entry fees the same as for the 2024 event. The first 2 000 cyclists to enter will all receive a custom-designed sublimated race shirts and all cyclists will also get a R100 voucher from Cycle Lab. As an extra bonus for the early entrants, there are a limited number of discounted entries for all events longer than 10km.

All events will be timed in 2025 and the Domino Foundation is once again the designated beneficiary, so entrants know they can enjoy their cycling or running with the knowledge that they are doing it for a worthwhile cause.

All cycling entries are open on MyActive at www.events.myactive.co.za or https://bit.ly/TourDurban2025 and trail running entries are at www.kzntrailrunning.co.za.