The Fundsmith Colin Mayer Tour, now in its 7th edition, kicked off with a Prologue on 6 October, starting from the SPARC sports complex in Cascavelle, which has been transformed into a race village for the competition.
This year the mountain bike race spans over four days, in a two rider team format, that will take the cycling enthusiasts through Mauritius’s most scenic coastal tracks to dense woodlands, breathtaking slopes, beach crossings and traditional salt pans as well as new areas to explore within private game farms. The competition promises a world-class mountain biking experience.
Speaking about this year’s competition, Tom Armstrong, Partner at Fundsmith, as the main sponsor of the event, said:
“Fundsmith has been involved in the race since its second year and 2022 marks our fourth year as the main sponsor. We are keen cyclists who many years ago used to take part in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour in South Africa, so getting involved in a local race seemed quite natural.”
“We see similarities between the worlds of cycling and investing, with our CEO Terry Smith once commenting that “Investment is a lot like the Tour de France. It’s a test of endurance, and the winner over the long term is likely to be the investor who finds a good strategy or fund and then sticks with it.”
“The race has grown to become the largest and, we believe, best organised mountain bike race on the island. At Fundsmith we like to buy good companies and we use the same philosophy when we look at sponsoring events, we like quality.”
Prologue introduced to determine the ranking of participants
A new innovation for this year’s competition has been the Prologue session which began on 6 October at 3pm and took participants on a flat ride of approximately 13 km, where the team BRSC / Computer Mania topped the leaderboard. Explaining the rationale, Tom Armstrong said:
“We have added a Prologue this year so that we can allow the competitive riders a chance to start ahead of the pack on Friday. We are back at SPARC as the facilities for the riders are second to none. The parcours is longer than in previous years to challenge the participants.”
This year there are 270 cyclists (135 teams) registered for the full stage event, with 100 children registered for the Saturday Kids Race and 60 cyclists registered for the Sunday Solo Race.
Remembering a local legend
Colin Mayer was a “one of a kind” sports legend who inspired an entire generation of Mauritian cyclists. Passionate for sports since a young age, and inspired by his uncle Luc Bax de Keating, who was himself a multi-sport icon, Colin only started cycling at the late age of 30 and very soon became a leading figure in the local peloton. His family and close friends commemorate Colin through this event, which serves to inspire riders and aspiring riders throughout Mauritius to push themselves beyond their limits, the way Colin did.
