Cyclists at the Loop Vipingo ridge/HANDOUTMore than 600 cyclists will battle for Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) points when the LOOP Safari Gravel Series makes its Nanyuki debut on October 17.
The fourth-leg of the series will feature 11km Chui Route, 45km Duma Route and a 90km Simba Route for the elite.
It gives riders an opportunity to earn UCI points towards the annual world ranking after being elevated to a UCI-approved National Championship.
Troy Barrie the Coordinator of The Amani Project expects Nanyuki to be as interesting as the rest of the destinations.
“Nanyuki gives us a completely new setting for the LOOP Safari Gravel Series and we hope it will be interesting," he said.
“Getting UCI-approval makes it more appealing and of great use to cyclists who want to improve their world rankings. We have seen the cycling community grow tremendously and we are happy to have made it possible in the series for the third year in a row.”
Limuru hosted the season opener in March before paving the way for the UCI-accredited leg in Naivasha in June and then the Vipingo Ridge stop in August.
Uganda’s Jordan Schleck retained his Vipingo crown after clocking 3:31:59 in the 105km men’s race, holding off Kenya’s Bernard Njoroge (3:36:44) and Billy Mangwana (4:08:07).
Mary Aleper from Uganda defended her title in the women’s 105km race, completing the course in 4:42:24, ahead of Kenya’s Alice Miring’u (5:24:19), while Mercy Eregae was third in 5:51:51.
Schleck leads the men’s overall individual standings for the season with 270 points. Stanley Ngugi is second with 267 points while Njoroge rounds off the podium places with 254 points.
Kendra Masiga leads the women's leaderboard with 250 points followed by Dinnah Safari (236) and Monica Jelimo (235).
Black Mamba Development Squad tops the team standings with 1306 points, followed by Ariya Finergy Solar Cycling and Joy Riders with 1025 and 864 points, respectively.
The top five finishers in the elite 90km race (men and women) will bag cash prizes of between Sh20,000 and Sh5,000.
The winning team will take home Sh125,000, dropping to Sh100,000 and Sh70,000 for second and third place, respectively.
