The 17th annual Outeniqua Cycle Challenge, a wheelchair race which attracts athletes from all over the world, will take place in George on Saturday 14 September 2019.
The Challenge is not only unique as being the first and only event exclusively for the disabled in South Africa, but it is staged in the picturesque city of George, in the heart of the spectacular Garden Route in the Western Cape, situated at the foot of the splendor of the Outeniqua Mountains.
Athletes in racing wheelchairs, adapted bicycles, hand cycles, basketball chairs and ordinary wheelchairs have made this into the premier sporting event for the disabled on the South African sporting calendar.
Apart from the George Municipality, Lancewood and the Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport are supporting the event.
Race director Alewijn Dippenaar says they've overcome the technical challenges which prevented the race from taking place earlier this year and are now anticipating another top-quality field led by South Africa's premier wheelchair athlete Ernst van Dyk.
Stuart McCreadie will also be back this year. He's a long-time supporter of the Outeniqua Cycle Challenge, winning the 42.2 km event in 2016 in a record time of 1:07:41. The other race distances on offer are 5km, 10km and 21.1km.
Dippenaar says the annual visit of more than 700 wheelchair athletes has made George one of the more disabled-friendly centres in the country.
