South Africa’s big stage race, the Giro del Capo, will go ahead after all in 2010 after a sponsor was found to save the event.
The co-director of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust, David Bellairs, recently announced that the race would be suspended due to a lack of funds, but since then a backer stepped forward.
"The Giro has been cast a lifeline by Pick n Pay,” he said, according to the South African website Cyclingnews.co.za. “They will provide some of the financial support required in order to ensure this much-loved event remains on the 2010 cycling calendar.”
The four day race will start in Wellington on Tuesday March 9th, then continue with stages starting and finishing in Durbanville and Paarl. It will be settled with a final-day time trial at Signal Hill.
Twenty teams will take part in the race, 17 of those being local and three international. It will be run under a very tight budget and so the number of visiting teams will be small.
Bellairs explained another restriction. “The 2010 Giro will not enjoy international status because we missed the UCI's deadline to register the Giro on their international cycling calendar, as we were unable to do so without a sponsor,” he said.
“We will however continue to explore all possible avenues in order to secure a title sponsor for the Giro del Capo. I am determined for the Giro to again be recognised by the UCI in 2011.”
This year’s event faced a similar battle to find backing and ultimately took the form of four 1.2-ranked races. Barloworld took three out of the four, with Robert Hunter, Chris Froome and Steve Cummings triumphing.
Arran Brown (Medscheme) won on the final day.