Intelleca brings business and cycling pros together with Wheel2Wheel Cycle Challenge

Intelleca, South Africa's fastest growing contact centre specialist, recently hosted its first Wheel2Wheel Cycle Challenge. Held among the Kromdraai hills of the Cradle area of Gauteng, the ride was aimed at giving leading business people a chance to hone their skills ahead of the Pick 'n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge.

Accompanying the riders were a number of South Africa's leading cyclists, including:

* Andrew McLean, MD of CycleLab and presenter of SuperCycling;
* Greg Minnaar, three-time World Cup Downhill champion ;
* Burry Stander, recently crowned Under-23 World Cup champion, placing fifth overall for the Elite Men's World Cup;
* Cherise Taylor, current South African road race champion, and member of the Ladies Beijing Olympic team;
* Altie Clark and Chrissie Viljoen, team-mates of the MTN Ladies racing team who are dominating the South African racing circuit
* Gavin Kilpatrick, the visually impaired paralympic cyclist who famously fell in the Beijing Olympics and went on to win a bronze medal

"Business and cycling have much in common," says Chad Williams, operations manager at Intelleca and the event organiser. "They both require a commitment to excellence, discipline, long hours of hard work and practice, individual application and the ability to work within a group.

"It was our privilege to be able to introduce a number of top business people to cyclists who have tackled and conquered the sport's most challenging frontiers. We look forward to the Wheel2Wheel becoming a fixture on the annual cycling calendar."

The riders met at Kromdraai's Teak Place, one of the most popular venues in the Cradle, and set out on three legs up and down the hills which test the limits of thousands of cyclists each week.

First, they went out on a group peleton ride where bunch riding and etiquette were practised. They stopped at Ingwenya Lodge, where the cyclists replenished their energy stores for the arduous hill section ahead.

Next, the riders were broken up into small groups of four to six riders, each receiving personal attention on hill climbing techniques and skills. Then finally, they regrouped to form echelons - a specialised type of group riding, aimed at reducing individual effort and cutting the impact of headwinds.

"We were privileged to have such illustrious cyclists assist our invited riders on the day, and we hope that in some small way it has helped them improve their cycling skills," says Williams.