Continental, the German tyre manufacturer, has launched a Cape Pioneer Trek edition tyre in recognition of the international mountain bike stage race’s fifth anniversary edition this year.
The Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek has some of the most challenging terrain for riders and equipment, a key motivation for Continental to launch a Cape Pioneer Trek edition X-King ProTection model tyre.
Photo credit: Oakpics.com
The fifth Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek takes place in South Africa’s Western Cape province from 20-26 October. It is a seven-day international mountain bike stage race that covers a total of 549 kilometres and climbs a total of 11 657 metres, covering a wide variety of terrain.
“Continental takes a serious interest in mountain biking in South Africa. Our terrain here is very varied and offers some challenging surfaces and conditions for mountain bike tyres,” said Ray Earl of Interac, the South African distributor of Continental bicycle tyres.
“The Cape Pioneer Trek is one event that covers probably more surface variety than any other race in the world. Riders using Continental tyres won every stage of both the men’s and women’s open categories without a single tyre failure at the 2012 edition of the race,” added Earl.
“Much of the tyre development work was the result of a flow of information on terrain conditions from the Cape Pioneer Trek over the past three years to Conti’s R&D team in Germany. The factory regards South Africa as a key research point due to the high quality of our internationally recognised MTB stage races like the Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek.”
The Conti X-King 29er 2.2-inch ProTection model will go on sale nationally in South Africa with a “Cape Pioneer” logo on the sidewall. This tyre was chosen due to the surge in demand for this format in recent times and the numerous successes achieved on these tyres both locally and internationally.
The Continental X-King ProTection Cape Pioneer tyre.
Earl also confirmed that Continental will enter a two-rider team in the 2013 edition of the race.
“We’re honoured that Continental, such a major international brand, has chosen to recognise the value of the Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek in this way. We’ve always said our race offers the most varied terrain of any stage race and is not only a challenge to riders, but to their equipment too,” said Henco Rademeyer of Dryland Event Management, the company that organises the Cape Pioneer Trek.
“That Continental is doing a special Cape Pioneer edition X-King tyre, combined with the rising number of international teams entering the race each year, confirms the growing stature of the race.It’s a great way to celebrate our fifth edition,” added Rademeyer.
Limited entries are still available. Visit www.capepioneer.co.za for more information.
........soooooooo, the only difference is the label?