It’s time again for Sri Lanka’s premier mountain biking challenge, SriLankan Holidays’ Rumble in the Jungle 2016, a grueling four-day battle with nature for bikers of many nations from 14-17 June, being held for the second time.
Captain Suren Ratwatte, SriLankan Airlines’ CEO, said: “SriLankan Airlines salutes the men and women who are taking up the tremendous challenge of SriLankan Holidays’ Rumble in the Jungle 2016. Our airline has a long history of supporting sports and adventure tourism events throughout the island, and we are pleased to be fully involved with this exciting event once again. There is a tremendous potential for sports and adventure tourism in Sri Lanka which has yet to reach its full potential, and this event will go a long way towards publicizing this aspect of our tourism product.”
Rumble in the Jungle 2016 (theyakattack.com/rumbleinthejungle) is organized by international mountain bike race organizer The Yak Attack (theyakattack.com), in association with title sponsor SriLankan Holidays (srilankanholidays.com) and Sri Lanka’s best known professional adventure sports promoter Lanka Sportreizen (lsrtravel.com).
Phil Evans, Founder and Managing Director of Yak Attack, said: “We are delighted to once again present the Rumble in the Jungle. It was highly successful in its inaugural year, and the enthusiastic response of international participants has encouraged us to make this an event which will be a permanent feature in the global mountain biking calendar.”
The exciting race starts from Kuda Oya on Tuesday 14th June, with the trail winding through the mountains to Haputale, Kalupahana, Horton Plains, Nuwara Eliya and Ramboda and ending in Kandy. This year will see the participation of 38 riders, men and women, from 14 countries – Nepal, UK, Germany, Australia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the United States – who will brave mountain roads and off-road trails amid the lush tea plantations, roaring waterfalls and tropical forests of Sri Lanka’s central highlands.
Thilak Weerasinghe, Founder and Chairman of Lanka Sportreizen, added: “We are delighted to welcome all the participants of Rumble in the Jungle. LSR has worked very hard for many years to bring international events to Sri Lanka, and we believe we have firmly placed our island on the global sports map with successful annual events such as Rumble in the Jungle, and the LSR Colombo Marathon.”
Day one will see the race flagged off on the flat plains at Kuda Oya in the Monaragala District, with riders heading north for a grueling climb up to Haputale. Day two involves a challenging ride at high elevations through the lush tea plantations of the renowned Lipton’s Seat with its swirling mists and breathtaking views. On day three, participants will race past Sri Lanka’s highest waterfall Bambarakanda, through the cool climes of the astonishing Horton Plains at high altitude, to Sri Lanka’s ‘Little England’ mountain resort town of Nuwara Eliya. The final day involves a race around the plantations from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy.
Participants also get the opportunity to explore the ancient cultural city of Kandy and the beach resort town of Negombo. The event will close with a gala awards ceremony on the beach at Negombo on Saturday 18th June.
Rumble in the Jungle is one of the premier events in Yak Attack’s World Challenge Series mountain bike races, which includes Yak Attack Nepal and Alpac Attack in the Patagonian region of South America. The first edition of Rumble in the Jungle was held in November 2014.
SriLankan Holidays is the leisure arm of SriLankan Airlines, and promotes all type of inbound and outbound travel to and from Sri Lanka and throughout the National Carrier’s global network of destinations.
Lanka Sportreizen (LSR) is one of the country’s largest tour operators and promotes all types of adventure tourism to Sri Lanka including water sports, mountain biking, marathons and golf events. It operates several hotels throughout the island, and is also one of the main transport providers for the tourism industry.