One of the newcomers to the realm of competitive endurance cycling is coming to SA and it is bringing with it one MASSIVE pot of prize-money… get cycling!

Alright so with this race happening in December, you probably will not be able to transform yourself from a couch potato or occasional cyclist into a lean, mean cycling machine at a level competitive enough to have a real shot of winning. If, however, you are already a hardcore cyclist or you know someone who is, perhaps it is time to put in a few extra hours of training or buddying up.

South Africa’s Munga race, a newcomer in the world of competitive cycling, is sure to raise eyebrows and excitement levels with its $1million (R10,5-million) prize money – the largest prize in the world for an endurance sport.

By comparison, the arduous eight-day mountain bike race, the Absa Cape Epic, has prize money worth R1.6-million in total, and for the world’s most famous cycle race, the 23-day Tour de France, first prize is à450000 (R6.3-million). The Tour de France teams are made up of at least nine cyclists and over and above the prize money they earn stage money, sponsorships and receive incentives.

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But there’s a catch. Each team has to pay $10000 to enter the non-stop event – 1000km offroad between Bloemfontein and Stellenbosch over five days.

The Munga currently has 120 registrations for the race – it is limited to 450 teams of two.