HCM CITY — Ten years after it was first held, the Sai Gon Cyclo Challenge has been rejigged and will be organised in its new format at the Phu My Hung Urban Area in HCM City on March 12.
Cycle Challenge Version 2.0 aims to raise US$30,000 to help provide education to poor children.
The race at the Crescent will be open only to platinum and gold sponsors under the new format.
There will be eight of them – VinaCapital Group's VinaLiving, Adidas, HSBC, Hoang Long Hoan Vu, Jardines, Megastar, Halliburton, and VNG, the sole platinum sponsor.
It will be a relay race featuring four riders in each team, with the top three teams qualifying for the finals.
"It is like Formula 1 for cyclos," director of Sai Gon Children Charity (SCC), Paul Finnis, told a press conference on Thursday.
"We hope the HCM City community will join us for an exciting morning of racing and, in the process, help provide education for children," Finnis added.
An online campaign was launched on Thursday, with SCC partnering Zing Me, Viet Nam's largest social network, to launch a new version of Parking Challenge, one of the most popular games on Zing Me.
SCC will use the money raised through the race to support disadvantaged children in HCM City and the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, and Binh Phuoc.
Since 2001 it has raised $500,000 for building schools and providing scholarships and vocational training, enabling more than 3,500 children to equip themselves with the skills necessary to work their way out of poverty. — VNS