Date April/May Discipline Mountain biking First edition 2010 | Region South Africa Type Stage race | |
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Competition Professional and Amateur | ||
The joBerg2c (also known under current sponsorship as the Old Mutual joBerg2c) is the longest paired mountain biking stage race in South Africa. It takes place over nine days and covers approximately 900 kilometres (exact distances vary from year to year) from Heidelberg in Gauteng to Scottburgh on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
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Race Overview
joBerg's organising team is led by Craig Wapnick, Gary Green and Glen Haw. Green and Haw are responsible for the successful Berg and Bush and sani2c mountain bike stage races respectively. The middle and last three days of the Old Mutual joBerg2c trace the same course as these two events.
The event is fully serviced – each of the two-person teams is allocated a tent and three meals per day at the eight overnight stops or race villages. Additional services such as massage therapists and bike mechanics are also available. An innovation introduced in the 2012 race is the solo entry, aimed at riders who prefer to complete the event without a teammate, or who have difficulty finding one.
Furthermore, top tier amateur and semi-pro riders can now apply for sponsorship on the condition that they are serious contenders for the main prize purse. This is aimed at developing talent in the cycling community, especially riders from a previously disadvantaged background.There are also a number of entries available for media representatives. The voice of cycling, Tour de France commentator Phil Liggett, has ridden both the inaugural and second events as a celebrity guest.
Tour de Farms
One of the differentiating factors of this race is that the bulk of the route crosses more than 90 private farms. Riders traverse a variety of agricultural holdings including game, dairy and cattle country, maize lands, rose and stud farms, sugarcane fields and pine plantations.
Route breakdown
The 910-kilometre route takes riders across the country’s agricultural hinterland – from Heidelberg in Gauteng, through the north-eastern Free State and along the foothills of the Drakensberg to Scottburgh in KwaZulu-Natal.
The route comprises a combination of single track, 4x4 track and private dirt roads, as well as short stretches on district by-ways. Although the basic skeleton of the route remains unchanged from year to year, the exact distances vary as organisers aim to add more and more single track.
Racing categories and prizes
The Old Mutual joBerg2c is one of the richest mountain bike races in the country. There are three racing snake sections (men’s, ladies and mixed) that receive prize money for overall classification, although serious riders in the sub-veteran, veteran and masters categories may compete for the same prizes.