Capital Bank Botswana in conjunction with Jonmol Cycling Club will on April 29 host the fourth annual Capital Bank Cycling Challenge.

Launching the P75 000 sponsorship for the challenge on Thursday, Capital Bank Botswana chief executive officer, Jaco Viljoen said the event would give cyclists the option to choose from either a 30km, 60km, 120km race category and a 5 km children’s race.

He described the race as part of the bank’s way of assisting the community to keep healthy and to be more than just a financial institution.

“We don’t want to be just a bank that looks after the financial welfare of our customers. We also want to make sure we assist the community in health and wellness,” he said.

Jaco also said cycling had proven that it boosted brain power and brought communities together as it was not just the participants, but also their families who took part in the race.

He further said the bank had also decided to compete by sending four teams of five riders to participate in the 30 km corporate ride.

For his part, Team Jonmol chairperson, Jonathan Moletsane commended the bank for the sponsorship, saying the Jonmol cycling team was the only team in the cycling community that had no sponsors,

but that it did not demoralise them to give up on what they love.

He said since their relationship with Capital Bank which dated back to 2015, the team had been able to send cyclists to compete both locally and internationally.

“We have walked a long way with Capital Bank from 2015 to now. We have managed to race national championships within our team and we still are raising some as we have an athlete now in training for the Egypt Continental Africa Championships,” he said.

He called on the bank to adopt the team as its own as they wished to see the relationship growing.

“I would love to appreciate what Capital Bank is doing for our team, but I would also love to plead that you adopt this team, make it to carry your brand, be a moving billboard and pride yourself with us and we will not disappoint you,” he said.

Race director, Tlamelo Dube said the race would be divided into six categories per gender and that they would comprise of the masters, veterans, youth, elite, under 23 and juniors.

He said the only change they have from last year’s race was the starting point. It has been moved from the Airport Junction to the front of Capital Bank on Luthuli road.

The sponsorship will be split into P46 900 prize money, P17 100 for timing and race management whilst P11 000 will go towards purchasing the trophy. BOPA