Cape Town Cycle Tour Explained

Cape Town Cycle Tour
Date:	Second Sunday in March
Region:	Cape Town, South Africa
Discipline:	Road race
Type:	One-day
Organiser:	Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust
Number:	45 (as of 2023)
Firstwinner:
Mostwins:
Mostrecent:
Website:	www.capetowncycletour.com/

The Cape Town Cycle Tour,^[1] formerly known as the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually 109km (68miles) long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the Union Cycliste Internationale's Golden Bike Series.^[2] South Africa hosts some of the largest, by the number of entrants, sporting events in the world with three being the largest of their type. The Cape Town Cycle Tour, with as many as 35 000 cyclists taking part, is the world's largest individually timed cycle race.^[3] The other two are the world's largest ultra-marathon running event, the Comrades Marathon, and the world's largest open water swim, the Midmar Mile.

The Cycle Tour formed the last leg of the Giro del Capo, a multi-stage race for professional and leading registered riders which was last run in 2010.^[4]

It is traditionally staged on the second Sunday of March and has enjoyed well-known competitors such as Miguel Indurain, Jan Ulrich, Matt Damon, Helen Zille and Lance Armstrong.

Route

In recent years the race has usually followed a scenic 109km (68miles) circular route from Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula and back. The race starts at the Grand Parade in Cape Town. It then follows a short section of the N2 called Nelson Mandela Boulevard, then the M3 to Muizenberg, and then Main Road along the False Bay coast to Simon's Town and Smitswinkel Bay. The route then crosses the peninsula in a westerly direction, past the entrance to Cape of Good Hope section of the Table Mountain National Park (within which Cape Point is situated). It then heads north along the Atlantic coast through Scarborough, Kommetjie, Noordhoek, Chapman's Peak, Hout Bay over Suikerbossie Hill to Camps Bay and ends next to the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point.

In 2009 and 2010, as well as during previous years until 1999 the race had followed slightly different routes, between 104km (65miles) and 110km (70miles) in length – see the table below.

Records

The course records for conventional bicycles for the 110 km course over Chapman's Peak are:

Men: 02:27:29 by Robbie Hunter (2008)
Women: 02:44:04 by Renee Scott (1991).

The record for the highest number of consecutive victories within a competitor's age group belongs to Penny Krohn, who scored 25 such age group wins.^[5]

By far the quickest time ever recorded (and highest ever average speed) was set on the 105 km course in 1993 by Wimpie van der Merwe in his fully faired recumbent (02:16:40, averaging 46.1 km/h).^[6]

The oldest cyclist to complete the race within the maximum allowed seven hours is Japie Malan (92 years old at the time) during the 2012 Cycle Tour – on a tandem in a time of 05:49:00.^[7] He is the oldest man (90 years old at the time) to complete the race on a single bicycle during the 2010 Cycle Tour^[8] in a time of 06:48:52.^[9] He is also the oldest man to have ridden the Argus for the first time, which he did in 2004 when he was 84 years old.^[10] The oldest woman to complete the race is Mary Warner (80 years old at the time) during the 2006 tour, in a time of 06:43:38.^[11]

History of the Cycle Tour

In 1978, Bill Mylrea and John Stegmann organised the Big Ride-In to draw attention to the need for cycle paths in South Africa. The Ride-In drew hundreds of cyclists, including the Mayor of Cape Town at the time. The ride was first won by Lawrence Whittaker in September 1978.

This race was originally planned to run over 140km (90miles), including a leg to Cape Point, but was reduced to a 104km (65miles) route when authority to enter the then Cape Point Nature Reserve was refused. The organisers convinced an initially reluctant Cape Argus, a local newspaper and sponsor, to grant the event the right to use its name.

The event now forms part of one of five cycling events which take place over a period of one week starting a week before the Cycle Tour and culminating in the Cycle Tour. The other events include:

Tricycle Tour (youngsters under 6 years of age)
Junior Cycle Tour (youngsters between 6 and 12 years of age)
MTB Challenge (Mountain Bike)
Giro del Capo (5-day pro stage race, the last day of which is the Cycle Tour itself)

Route alterations and stoppages

Between 2000 and 2003, the race followed an alternative route due to the closure of Chapman's Peak Drive, with a return trip via Ou Kaapse Weg and the Blue Route.

The race has been stopped three times due to extreme weather, although in the first two cases many competitors had completed the race before the stoppage, and once significantly shortened due to fire. It has been cancelled once:

The 2002 race was stopped at 14:45 at Ou Kaapse Weg when temperatures reached 42C
The 2009 race was stopped at 16:30 at Chapman's Peak due to strong winds, with gusts up to 100km/h that blew cyclists off their cycles. Initially the cut off time was extended from 7 to 8 hours due to the strong wind. Despite the late closure many cyclists were affected, because starting for some groups was delayed by as much as 2 hours due to extreme winds at the starting line-up.^[12]
The 2015 race took place on a significantly shortened route of 47 km to the end of the Blue Route and back, following a major fire earlier that month that led to the closure of Chapman's Peak Drive and parts of Ou Kaapse Weg.^[13]
The 2017 race was cancelled on the day due to extreme weather. Wind speeds in excess of 100 km/h in addition to fires on part of the route caused the event organisers to cancel after the first round of cyclists had started the race. The threat of possible protest action along a section of the route also increased safety concerns. Participants who had started already were turned back at the end of the M3 highway.^[14]

Details of each event

Key information regarding each of the race events is as follows:^[15]

Year	km	Entrants	Finishers	Men	Time	Women	Time	Notes on the route	Notes on the weather and the race
1978	104	525	446	Lawrence Whittaker	03:02:25	Janice Theis	04:35:00	Started at the Castle, Strand Street. Ended in Camps Bay.
1979	104	999	760	Hans Degenaar	02:52:38	Janice Theis	03:36:46	same as previous year
1980	104	1398	1119	Hennie Wentzel	03:02:18	Monika Gasson	03:59:00	same as previous year
1981	104	1669	1372	Ertjies Bezuidenhout	02:47:42	Ann Wood	03:40:01	Start moved to Hertzog Boulevard to reduce congestion at on-ramp to Eastern Boulevard.
1982	104	1698	1372	Mark Pinder	03:01:25	Martina le Roux	03:34:54	same as previous year	Southeaster played havoc with bannering at start, and howled throughout the day.
1983	104	2302	1929	Robbie McIntosh	02:49:55	Heather Smithers	03:21:20	same as previous year	Very windy. First bicycle to cross the finish line was a tandem ridden by William Smith and Francois du Toit.
1984	104	2373	2023	Theuns Mulder	02:55:07	Isavel Roche-Kelly	03:19:14	same as previous year	Quickest overall was Lloyd Wright on his unconventional bike in 02:43:51.
1985	104	3008	2445	Hennie Wentzel		Louise van Riet Lowe	03:04:36	same as previous year
1986	104	3494	3086	Ertjies Bezuidenhout	02:40:20	Cathy Carstens	02:49:55	same as previous year
1987	104	5934	4761	Hennie Wentzel	02:43:05	Cathy Carstens	03:03:24	same as previous year	Strong northwesterly blowing, Heavy rain, high winds and extreme cold, called 'Siberian' weather by The Argus.
1988	104	10850	8707	Willie Engelbrecht	02:36:54	Cathy Carstens	02:54:23	same as previous year	Windless. Quickest overall was Lloyd Wright on his faired recumbent in 02:33:03.
1989	105	12802	10559	Willie Engelbrecht	02:49:24	Cathy Carstens	02:57:55	Finish line moved to Maiden's Cove, adding an extra kilometre to the course	Windy race. Quickest overall was Lloyd Wright on his faired recumbent in 02:37:35.
1990	105	14427	11235	Willie Engelbrecht	02:41:56	Cathy Carstens	02:53:50	same as previous year	Safety helmets became compulsory. Quickest overall was Lloyd Wright on his faired recumbent in 02:40:29 (a hat trick of fastest times).^[16]
1991	105	15593	12750	Robbie McIntosh	02:28:46	Rene Scott	02:44:40	same as previous year	Perfect weather conditions.
1992	105	17274	13334	Willie Engelbrecht	02:50:04	Jackie Martin	03:03:10	same as previous year
1993	105	18659	15256	Wayne Burgess	02:33:35	Kim Carter	02:51:46	same as previous year	Wimpie van der Merwe raced 2:16:40 on a faired recumbent (still the highest ever average speed of 46.1km/h).
1994	105	20964	17289	Willie Engelbrecht	02:23:22	Jackie Martin	02:49:19	same as previous year	Windless.
1995	105	25313	20535	Michael Andersson	02:22:56	Jackie Martin	02:45:52	same as previous year	Near-perfect weather conditions
1996	105	28711	22294	Thomas Liese	02:40:16	Erica Green	02:58:33	same as previous year
1997	105	28875	22717	Kurt Asle Arvesen	02:38:47	Erica Green	02:58:37	same as previous year	Very good weather.
1998	105	34162	25955	Malcolm Lange	02:39:25	Anke Erlank	02:58:27	same as previous year
1999	105	36153	28885	Jacques Fullard	02:31:26	Michelle Lombardi	02:52:55	With finish line still at Maiden's Cove, the carnaval was moved to Green Point	First year of using electronic timing transponders.
2000	109	39864	30081	Morne Bester	02:39:35	Anriette Schoeman	02:57:34	Chapman's Peak closed. Return trip via Ou Kaapse Weg and Blue Route, with finish in Green Point.
2001	109	39715	30785	Douglas Ryder	02:31:57	Anriette Schoeman	02:55:21	same as previous year
2002	109	39831	28050	Allan Davis	02:35:34	Anriette Schoeman	02:57:29	same as previous year	Heat wave: race was stopped at 2:45 at Ou Kaapse Weg when temperatures reached 42C.
2003	109	39668	27841	Malcolm Lange	02:29:29	Anriette Schoeman	02:54:02	same as previous year	Perfect weather conditions.
2004	109	42614	31219	Antonio Salomone	02:32:23	Anke Erlank	02:49:23	Route via Chapman's Peak again, with the finish line at Green Point.	Sweltering day.
2005	109	39929	28334	Russell Downing	02:37:50	Anke Erlank	03:00:19	same as previous year	Winds of more than 40km/h were recorded at places.
2006	108	40064	28818	Steffen Radochla	02:34:28	Anriette Schoeman	02:59:08	same as previous year	Cool weather and light rain.
2007	109	41279	29296	Robert Hunter	02:32:36	Anke Erlank	02:48:29	same as previous year	Near perfect weather
2008	109	37978	28669	Robert Hunter	02:27:29	Cherise Taylor	02:50:51	same as previous year
2009	110	38594	25799	Arran Brown	02:46:32	Jennie Stenerhag	03:06:01	Cyclists diverted over Boyes Drive to avoid construction in Main Road	Dubbed "the Tour of Storms", with the strongest winds ever. Fences at the start blown down and banners ripped to shreds, with gusts of up to 120km/h.^[17] The cut off time was extended to 8 hrs, but the race was eventually stopped at Chapman's Peak at 16:30, both due to extreme weather.^[18]
2010	110	37662	28745	Malcolm Lange	02:39:55	Anriette Schoeman	03:06:11	same as previous year	Wind was a problem again, with wind speeds reaching up to 46km/h – but nothing like the wind of the previous year.
2011	110	36848	28970	Tyler Day	02:32:10	Cherise Taylor	02:49:45	same as previous year	Perfect conditions.^[19]
2012	110		31126	Reinardt Janse van Rensburg	02:36:17	Ashleigh Moolman	02:52:24	same as previous year	Initially good conditions, becoming hot later in the day. Late finishers suffered in the heat, and refreshment stations ran out of water. A pile-up close to the finishing line, involving top women cyclists and others, affected the outcome of the women's race.^[20]
2013	109	?	31700	Herman Fouche	02:39:53	Anriette Schoeman	02:52:54	Route via Chapman's Peak again, with the finish line at Green Point.	?^[21]
	2014	109	34500	31046	Nolan Hoffman	02:39:01	Cherise Stander	02:51:00	Ditto, despite landslides that closed Chappies two months earlier.	Windy, with wind speeds of up to 83km/h recorded at the start.^[22]

2015	47	~ 34000	32129	Nolan Hoffman	01:01:49*	Lynette Burger	01:17:52*	Route shortened due to fires^[23]
2016	109		28751	Clint Hendricks	2:35:31	An-Lin Kachelhoffer	02:51:26	^[24]
2017	109	35000	Cancelled	NA	NA	NA	NA		Cancelled on the day it was to take place due to safety concerns following very high winds reaching speeds of over 100km/h. Other reasons also cited for the cancellation were fires on part of the route in Hout Bay and the possibility of protest action on a section of the route.^[25]
2018	109	35000	26384^[26]		02:37:30	Kimberley Le Court De Billot	02:11:50^[27]	Start line moved from Hertzog Boulevard to the Grand Parade.	Elite women raced a shorter route starting in Fish Hoek to avoid their race being influenced by other groups.^[28]
2019	109/78		23136	Sam Gaze	2:39:42	Cherise Willeit	02:16:11	^[29]
2020	109/78 (M/F)		22500	Travis Barrett	2:30:04^[30]	Cherise Willeit	02:07:48
2021	109/78 (M/F)		18000	Nolan Hoffman	02:37:12^[31]	Kimberley Le Court De Billot	02:13:17	Postponed 17 October 2021
2022	109/78 (M/F)		16000	Marc Pritzen	2:37:54	Kimberley Le Court De Billot	02:08:44	^[32]
2023				Chris Jooste	2:36:14	Kimberley Le Court De Billot	2:13:20	^[33]
2024	109/72 (M/F)			Kent Main	2:31:22	Tiffany Keep	2:12:02	^[34]

Notes and References

http://ewn.co.za/2014/09/24/Cape-Argus-renamed Cape Argus renamed to Cape Town Cycle Tour
http://www.ucigoldenbike.com/Templates/UCI/UCI5/layout.asp?MenuID=MTg1MQ&LangId=1 Series' official website.
Web site: 2024-03-06 . Hisense South Africa Pedals into the 2024 Cape Town Cycle Tour as an Official Partner . 2024-04-25 . Yahoo Finance . en-US.
http://www.cycletour.co.za/history.aspx Cape Town Cycle Tour event website
http://www.cycletour.co.za/theEventInterest.aspx Cape Town Cycle Tour website
http://results.racetec.co.za/results_by_person.aspx?PID=2 Results For: Van Der Merwe, Wimpie
Cape Times, 12 March 2012.
Web site: Eye Witness News, 14 March 2010. . 28 March 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722025953/http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=34684 . 22 July 2011 . dead .
The Echo, 19 March 2010.
http://www.fullcirclemag.co.za/html/mags/2009/03mar/mar09_24.htm Full Circle, March 2009.
Web site: Argus race results, 2006. . 28 March 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120305101953/http://www.racetec.co.za/results.asp?Post=true&RiderID=71386 . 5 March 2012 . dead .
Web site: Cycle tour website. . 25 March 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100314132007/http://www.cycletour.co.za/history.aspx . 14 March 2010 . dead .
Web site: Bamford. Helen. Cost of fighting Cape fire hits R6m. Cape Argus. 7 April 2015. 20 March 2015.
Web site: Cape Town Cycle Tour 2017 cancelled as a result of extreme weather . 12 March 2017 . Cape Times.
Drawn from Mike Wills The Cycle Tour, 2008; and re years 2008 to 2012 from 2012 Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour magazine, p 72-73.
http://results.racetec.co.za/results_by_person.aspx?PID=972 Results For: Wright, Lloyd Bernard
http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20100315093009147C525656 Sunday Tribune 15 March 2010, 'The Cape Argus Cycle Tour'.
On time extension and early race closure: Cycle tour website. For a comparison between competitors' target racing time and their equivalent "storm time": Interesting facts: 2009 tour .
http://www.capetown.travel/blog/entry/cape_argus_2011_results_tyler_day_edges_malcolm_lange/ Cape Argus 2011 results: Tyler Day edges Malcolm Lange
Cape Times, 12 March 2012; Cape Argus, 16 March 2012; Cape Argus Cycle Tour website. Video of the pile-up close to the finishing line.
http://results.racetec.co.za/results_by_event.aspx?RID=2013&EN=Sun%2010%2F03%2F2013%20Cape%20Argus%20Pick%20n%20Pay%20Cycle%20Tour%20%28109km%29 Results For: Sun 10/03/2013 Cape Argus
http://www.cycletour.co.za/index.php/news/nolan-hoffman-wins-gold-in-2014-cape-argus-pick-n-pay-momentum-cycle-tour Cycletour website.
Web site: Campbell-Gillies. Victoria. CAPE TOWN CYCLE TOUR 'DRASTICALLY SHORTENED' DUE TO FIRES. EWN. 8 December 2015.
Capetowncycletour.com: Clint Hendricks claims 2016 Cape Town Cycle Tour 6 March 2016
Web site: Safety is our first priority – CT Cycle Tour director . 12 March 2017 . Sport24 . Cape Town.
Web site: Results.
Web site: Hoffman, le Court win Cape Town Cycle Tour.
Web site: Women's Elite Invitational Race | Cape Town Cycle Tour.
Web site: Cape Town Cycle Tour results: New Zealander Sam Gaze sprints to victory – in the Bunch.
Web site: Cape Town Cycle Tour results: Travis Barrett sprints to victory – in the Bunch.
Web site: 'THE HOF' MAKES IT FOUR WINS AS THE WEATHER GODS CELEBRATE POSTPONED 2021 CAPE TOWN CYCLE TOUR. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20211103150243/https://www.capetowncycletour.com/blog/the-hof-makes-it-four-wins-as-the-weather-gods-celebrate-postponed-2021-cape-town-cycle-tour/ . 3 November 2021 .
Web site: Win Number Three For Le Court De Billot While Pritzen Takes Maiden Men's Title. 13 March 2022 .
Web site: 2023-03-13 . 2023 Cape Town Cycle Tour Category Winners - Cape Town Cycle TourCape Town Cycle Tour . 2024-01-04 . en-ZA.
Web site: 2024-02-19 . Live Results - Cape Town Cycle TourCape Town Cycle Tour . 2024-05-08 . en-ZA.