Cycle Tour History

The Circle was formed almost eighteen years ago by Mike Underwood the then Managing
Director of International Distillers Mauritius. The Circle consists of fourty businessmen
who meet once a month for fellowship and to organize fund raising events for
the benefit of charities in Mauritius.

In 1999 Barry Haarhoff a member of The Circle and Patrick Piat The President
of the Mauritius Cycling Federation proposed the idea of a 100 km cycle tour
as a fund raiser and for the promoting of cycling in Mauritius. The idea
of the tour was based on a very successful cycle tour held in Cape Town
South Africa each year which started off very modestly and has now
grown in into a major event with 36000 cyclists participating last year.

In November of 2000 the first tour took place starting at Deep River
Beau Champ and finishing at Le Morne. 275 cyclists entered the tour
with the first cyclist finishing the tour in 2.25 hours and the last
person finishing in 5.38 hours.

The next year the route was changed from starting at the airport,
proceeding up the east coast and finishing in Port Louis. 368
cyclists entered with the first placed cyclist crossing the
finishing line in 2.13 Hours.

In 2002 the same route was used with a total of 489 cyclist
entering, with over 30 foreign cyclists taking part. Last year the
number of cyclist participating to the race was 680.

In 2003, the route was changed to the starting point at the airport and
going up the east coast, finishing at Mon Choisy beach in the north. This
route has been used for all cycle tours since 2003 and is the same route
for 2008.

The cycling Federation has had a large increase in the number of cyclists
joining their clubs around the island and many charities in Mauritius have
benefited from the funds raised from the event. The cycling committee is
pleased that the goal of the Cycle Tour is been achieved and we hope to
keep the event growing each year.