Tour de Great Dyke Leaves Kwekwe for Gweru After a Hot, Hard Opening Day

Sixty seven riders rolled out of Kwekwe on Friday morning, heading for Gweru, as the 2026 Nedbank Tour de Great Dyke moved into its second day. They had earned the rest. Thursday's opening stage took them from Selous through Chegutu and Kadoma to Kwekwe in punishing heat.^[1]

A long, hot first day

The ninth edition started at Zimplats' Selous Metallurgical Complex on Thursday morning, with Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Caleb Makwiranzou as guest of honour.^[2] The official route puts the first stage at 148 kilometres, the longest of the three, with 469 metres of climbing.^[3]

The weather was on everyone's mind before a pedal turned. Zimplats general manager Lewis Mabhiza kept his speech short at the launch, saying the season's weather was against the riders and that he wanted them on the road as early as possible.^[4] By the time they reached Kwekwe, the heat had turned the opening day into a test of endurance.^[1]

That evening in Kwekwe, the tour also launched The Great Dyke Book: Beyond the Rock, written by Minex chairperson Munyaradzi Hwengwere, at King Solomon Hotel. It covers the geology, history, economics and tourism potential of the Great Dyke.^[2]

Day two, the climbing stage

Friday's stage runs 105 kilometres from Kwekwe to Shurugwi, shorter than Thursday's but with the most climbing of the tour, 579 metres.^[3] Through the morning the riders passed the Gweru tollgate, were cheered on by Regina Mundi, stopped to refuel and then left Gweru for Unki. Three students from Chrome High School joined them on the ride into Shurugwi.^[1]

There is a gap in the numbers. ZBC counted 130 cyclists taking part when the tour began, while the departure from Kwekwe was put at 67.^[5][1] Neither report explains the difference, and the organisers had not published stage results when we went to press.

Saturday's final stage is the shortest, 84 kilometres from Shurugwi to Zvishavane.^[3] It will go ahead without Nkulumo Dube, the former five-time champion who has been the face of the tour since it began and who fought to have the last leg opened up as an 80 kilometre race for elite riders. He is in Botswana on cycling business and is still dealing with an injury from last year.^[2]

Why a mining company tour

The tour is as much a showcase for the Great Dyke as a bike race. The roughly 550 kilometre formation holds platinum group metals, chrome, nickel and gold,^[6] and the sponsor list reads like a who's who of the industry, from Zimplats and Mimosa to Zimasco and the Mutapa Investment Fund.^[4] Makwiranzou made the ambition plain: "We hope that this will grow into a big race; we've seen the Tour De France and all those ones; we want this to be as such."^[5]

The money goes to children. This year's theme is Cycle for a Cause, and proceeds support the Gifted Children Foundation, which pays school fees for gifted pupils from poor families.^[4][5] Tour director Nobuhle Mahlahla put the number helped so far at 157,^[2] while Hwengwere said at the launch it was now more than 159. He framed it as a fix for a mining paradox: "The contradiction in mining is that you can be so rich but so poor, and that is what we want to do away with."^[5]

What it means

For the towns along the route, the tour is a rare moment when the mining corridor makes news for something other than output figures, and roadside welcomes like the one at Regina Mundi show the interest is there. For the organisers, the opening day raised two practical questions. A November tour is going to be hot, which puts early starts and water stops at the centre of rider safety. And a field of 130 riders or fewer is a long way from a Tour de France, so growing the race will mean drawing in more clubs, juniors and elite riders, not just more sponsors.

The riders finish in Zvishavane on Saturday.