Mountain biking crusade to call Tauranga home

Kiwi Crusade founder and keen mountain biker Darryl Gove is excited to be part of an international multi-day mountain bike stage race which will be held in Tauranga. Photo / George Novak

Tauranga has been announced as the host city for a week-long international mountain biking event involving up to 400 riders with $100,000 prize money.

The Kiwi Crusade will begin and end on The Strand when it arrives in February next year - a proviso made by Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby.

Event founder Darryl Gove said the multi-day mountain bike stage race followed in the footsteps of South Africa's annual Untamed African Mountain Bike Race, considered by many to be the country's version of Tour de France.

"The one difference is we are trying to make it a bit more friendly and more accessible for [recreational] riders. We are concentrating more on the average Jo to the slightly serious rider," Mr Gove said.

"We want to give an experience which is unbelievable, with amazing scenery that only New Zealand can give ... New Zealand is mountain biking Nirvana."

The race involves teams of two spanning about 680km across the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel over seven days.

Mr Gove, a former competitive athlete from South Africa, said all money would be locally spent.

"That was paramount."

Everything involved in the event, from the manufacturing of tents to daily food and crowd control barriers will be made or supplied by Bay of Plenty businesses.

"If we were going to put this in Tauranga, there's no point in getting supplies from Auckland or elsewhere because all that money goes out of the region."

The first day of the event involves a 15km ride through McLaren Falls but no accommodation, "which means they have to find their own accommodation, bringing more money to the region through hotels and B&Bs".

At the end of each other day's leg, riders will be treated to a chilled zone where they can unwind in hot spas and on bean bags ahead of the next day's jaunt.

Entry will cost teams $3600, with meals, tents and other supplies included.

"The price is still a big factor. It's a fair whack of money but saying that, the South African event is $6500 a team and they don't have a chilled zone."

Mr Gove described the original Untamed African as "the grandaddy" of races, which spawned events in countries such as Switzerland, Canada, America and now here.

Sky TV has signed on to film and broadcast the event in New Zealand and internationally.

Mr Crosby said he was delighted Tauranga would host the event and the council was fully supportive.

"For it to begin and finish there [on The Strand] is tremendous. That's what we built The Strand for was events and other uses, but it's especially a fantastic venue for events," he said.

The Kiwi Crusade

What: A fully supported mountain bike stage race, with overnight camping at each stage at rider villages
When: February 28 to March 5, 2016
Where: Tauranga to the Coromandel
Who: Entries are open for Men's, Women's, Mixed, Masters' and Kiwi teams of all levels of ability.

Registration and more information is available at www.kiwicrusade.co.nz