Clover, the leading dairy products and beverage group, has entered into an agreement which sees it becoming the title sponsor of the Clover SA Cycling Road Championships 2013 taking place in Mpumalanga from February 28 to March 3.

The championships, which take place annually, include Elite, Under 23 and Junior categories and feature many of South Africa’s top professional and up-and-coming cyclists, some of whom are pursuing their careers overseas. Around 300 top cyclists are expected to participate in this year’s championships.

This year’s event is being held in Mpumalanga for the second consecutive year, following the success of last year’s championships which also staged their start and finish proceedings at Mbombela Stadium outside Nelspruit.

“Cycling in its various forms has a huge following in South Africa and we are producing some world class cyclists who are doing well on the international stage. We at Clover are very excited about our sponsorship of this year’s cycling road championships and see the event ideally complementing our brand awareness strategy,” said Deon Veldsman, General Manager, Brands Commercial at Clover.

“A special feature of these championships is that they cover a wide range of our best male and female road cyclists, including those who have made names for themselves and juniors who could be the stars of the future.”

According to Veldsman, it is appropriate for Clover to be associating its nutritional and refreshing dairy and beverage products with a healthy and invigorating pursuit such as cycling.

Commenting on behalf of event organisers, tour director Hendrik Wagener said: “We are delighted to have such a well-known national brand as Clover identifying itself with our annual national championships and becoming the title sponsor. I am sure there will be excellent mutual benefit for cycling and Clover from this relationship.”

Hosted by the Mpumalanga Cycling Union, the Clover SA Road Cycling Championships 2013 will be held under International Cycling Union (UCI) rules.