Lyrca and lucre for Durban as Amashova hits town

It's not just lycra that will flood into Durban during the Amashova cycle race‚ but also cold hard cash.

As the 2017 edition of the race was launched in the coastal city on Wednesday evening‚ organisers have said that the event will prove to have big economic spin-offs for Durban and for KwaZulu-Natal. A Tourism KwaZulu-Natal study revealed that the 2016 race injected as much as R93.2-million into the province’s coffers.

“The race continues to grow in appeal and popularity every year and we are proud that it has become a catalyst for economic growth in the province‚" said race organiser Annie Batchelder.

The Amashova - or‚ in full‚ the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic - is now 31-years-old.

It follows a similar route to the Comrades Marathon‚ starting in Pietermaritzburg and finishing in Durban. The first race in 1986 had just 180 riders‚ but organisers now expect more than 10‚000 cyclists to take part in race day on October 22.

“This amount of people has a profound impact on the areas in which we operate‚” said Batchelder.

The 2016 Amashova attracted about 207 international participants with about 59% coming from outside KwaZulu-Natal. The race saw people from countries such as the UK‚ Czech Republic‚ Australia and Canada. From Africa‚ cyclists came from the Seychelles‚ Mozambique‚ Namibia among others.

There was a 19% increase in visitors from Gauteng and the Tourism KwaZulu-Natal study also revealed that most visitors stayed two nights or more.

The average spending of non-KwaZulu-Natal residents was about R5‚000 during the race period with the total economic impact estimated to be up to R93.2-million‚ race organisers said in a statement.

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal CEO Ndabo Khoza said: “This event generates close to R100-million for the economy of the province‚ which makes this one of our flagship events. We would like to see the event grow from strength to strength and attract more international participants in the future.”

Online entries close on September 21 at 11pm‚ with late entries being open over registration weekend from October 19 to 21.