Events company Lesotho Sky will stage the ninth edition of the action-packed and adrenaline-pumped mountain bike racing league which will run over six days starting Monday next week.
The 328km race – which will include 8913m of vertical climbing – will start at Roma and proceed to Malealea before returning to the finishing line at Roma.
Lesotho Sky founder, Christian Schmidt, says the nerve-wracking and endurance-testing annual race has since its inception eight years ago, drawn participation of more than 600 bikers and riders from Africa and as far afield as the Americas, Scandinavia and Down Under.
This year, a total of 70 participants from 11 countries – Lesotho, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, USA, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia – will take part in the race which is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
“Most of our riders are under the age of 16. Our vision is to expand the race to all 10 districts of Lesotho; we are doing this as a youth development initiative to support talented young riders,” he said.
Schmidt indicated that season 2 of the Sky League will be held in October, with the first scheduled to take place on October 26.
“One of our participants of the past races Mosito Mohapi will be representing Lesotho in the Red Bull Pump Track World Champion Final in Switzerland next month and we are very proud; we support him all the way,” he said.
Lesotho Sky race’s main sponsor is insurance company Alliance Insurance. The company’s sales and marketing manager Limakatso Mokobocho says they would like to see more female riders taking part in the race, in future.
“It would be very refreshing to see female riders, so to all women let us take this as a challenge and enter these type of races because they will benefit us,” she said.
