Cape Town Cycle Tour

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Race details

Date

Second Sunday in March

Region

, South Africa

Discipline

Type

One-day

Organiser

Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust

Web site

History

First edition

1978

; 48 years ago

Editions

(as of 2023)

First winner

Lawrence

Whittaker

(

RSA

)

Most wins

Willie

Engelbrecht

(

RSA

)

(5 wins)

Most recent

(

RSA

)

History (women)

First winner

Janice Theis

(

RSA

)

Most wins

Anriette

Schoeman

(

RSA

)

(7 wins)

Most recent

Lisa Bone

(

RSA

)

Sun Valley, Cape Town Cycle Tour 2024

The

Cape Town Cycle Tour

formerly known as the

Cape Argus Cycle Tour

is an annual cycle race hosted in

, South Africa, usually 109 km

(68 mi) long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the

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.

The other two are the world's largest ultra-marathon running

event, the

, and the world's largest open water swim, the

The Cycle Tour formed the last leg of the

, a multi-stage race

for professional and leading registered riders which was last run in 2010.

It is traditionally staged on the second Sunday of March and has enjoyed well-

known competitors such as

and

Route

[

]

In recent years the race has usually followed a scenic 109 km (68 mi)

circular route from Cape Town down the

and back. The race

starts at the Grand Parade in Cape Town. It then follows a short section of

the

called

, then the

, and then

Main Road along the

coast to

and Smitswinkel Bay. The

route then crosses the peninsula in a westerly direction, past the entrance to

section of the

(within which

is situated). It then heads north along the Atlantic coast through

over Suikerbossie

Hill to

and ends next to the

In 2009 and 2010, as well as during previous years until 1999 the race had

followed slightly different routes, between 104 km (65 mi) and 110 km (68 mi)

in length – see the table below.

Records

[

]

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

Men: 02:25:48 by

(2025)

Women: 02:44:04 by

(1991).

The record for the highest number of consecutive victories within a competitor's age group belongs to

, who

scored 25 such age group wins.

By far the quickest time ever recorded (and highest ever average speed) was set on the 105 km course in 1993 by

in his fully faired recumbent (02:16:40, averaging 46.1 km/h).

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.

He is the oldest man (90 years old at the

time) to complete the race on a single bicycle during the 2010 Cycle Tour

in a time of 06:48:52.

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.

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.

History of the Cycle Tour

[

]

, Cape Town Cycle

Tour 2019

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 140 km (87 mi), including a leg to

, but was reduced to a

104 km (65 mi) route when authority to enter the then

was refused. The organisers convinced

an initially reluctant

, 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)

(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

, 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

when temperatures reached 42 °C (108 °F)

The 2009 race was stopped at 16:30 at Chapman's Peak due to strong winds, with gusts up to 100 km/h (62 mph) 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.

The 2015 race took place on a significantly shortened route of 47 km to the end of the Blue Route and back,

following a

earlier that month that led to the closure of

Drive and parts of

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.

Details of each event

[

]

Key information regarding each of the race events is as follows:

Key:

Course record

Year

Entrants

Finishers

Men

Time

Women

Time

Notes on

the route

Notes on the

weather and

the race

1978

104

525

446

03:02:25

04:35:00

Started at

the Castle,

Strand

Street.

Ended in

1979

999

760

02:52:38

03:36:46

same as

year

1980

1398

1119

03:02:18

03:59:00

same as

year

1981

1669

1372

02:47:42

03:40:01

Start moved

to Hertzog

Boulevard to

reduce

congestion

at on-ramp

to Eastern

Boulevard.

1982

1698

1372

03:01:25

03:34:54

same as

year

played havoc

with bannering

at start, and

howled

throughout the

day.

1983

2302

1929

02:49:55

03:21:20

same as

year

Very windy.

First bicycle

to cross the

finish line

was a tandem

ridden by

William Smith

and Francois

du Toit.

1984

2373

2023

02:55:07

03:19:14

same as

year

Quickest

overall was

Lloyd Wright

on his

unconventional

bike in

02:43:51.

1985

3008

2445

03:04:36

same as

year

1986

3494

3086

02:40:20

02:49:55

same as

year

1987

5934

4761

02:43:05

03:03:24

same as

year

Strong

northwesterly

blowing, Heavy

rain, high

winds and

extreme cold,

called

'Siberian'

weather by The

Argus.

1988

10850

8707

Willie

Engelbrecht

02:36:54

02:54:23

same as

year

Windless.

Quickest

overall was

Lloyd Wright

on his faired

recumbent in

02:33:03.

1989

105

12802

10559

Willie

Engelbrecht

02:49:24

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

14427

11235

Willie

Engelbrecht

02:41:56

02:53:50

same as

year

Safety helmets

became

compulsory.

Quickest

overall was

Lloyd Wright

on his faired

recumbent in

02:40:29 (a hat

trick of

fastest

times).

1991

15593

12750

02:28:46

02:44:40

same as

year

Perfect

weather

conditions.

1992

17274

13334

Willie

Engelbrecht

02:50:04

03:03:10

same as

year

1993

18659

15256

Wayne

Burgess

02:33:35

02:51:46

same as

year

Wimpie van der

Merwe raced

2:16:40 on a

faired

recumbent

(still the

highest ever

average speed

of 46.1 km/h

(28.6 mph)).

1994

20964

17289

Willie

Engelbrecht

02:23:22

02:49:19

same as

year

Windless.

1995

25313

20535

02:22:56

02:45:52

same as

year

Near-perfect

weather

conditions

1996

28711

22294

02:40:16

02:58:33

same as

year

1997

28875

22717

02:38:47

02:58:37

same as

year

Very good

weather.

1998

34162

25955

02:39:25

02:58:27

same as

year

1999

36153

28885

02:31:26

02:52:55

With finish

line still

, the

carnaval was

moved to

Green Point

First year of

using

electronic

timing

transponders.

2000

109

39864

30081

02:39:35

02:57:34

closed.

Return trip

via

and Blue

Route, with

finish in

Green Point.

2001

39715

30785

02:31:57

02:55:21

same as

year

2002

39831

28050

02:35:34

02:57:29

same as

year

Heat wave:

race was

stopped at 2:45

when

temperatures

reached 42 °C

(108 °F).

2003

39668

27841

02:29:29

02:54:02

same as

year

Perfect

weather

conditions.

2004

42614

31219

02:32:23

02:49:23

Route via

again,

with the

finish line

at Green

Point.

Sweltering

day.

2005

39929

28334

02:37:50

03:00:19

same as

year

Winds of more

than 40 km/h

(25 mph) were

recorded at

places.

2006

40064

28818

02:34:28

02:59:08

same as

year

Cool weather

and light

rain.

2007

41279

29296

02:32:36

02:48:29

same as

year

Near perfect

weather

2008

37978

28669

02:27:29

02:50:51

same as

year

2009

110

38594

25799

02:46:32

[

]

03:06:01

Cyclists

diverted

over

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 120 km/h

(75 mph).

The cut off

time was

extended to 8

hrs, but the

race was

eventually

stopped at

at 16:30, both

due to extreme

weather.

2010

37662

28745

02:39:55

03:06:11

same as

year

Wind was a

problem again,

with wind

speeds

reaching up to

46 km/h

(29 mph) – but

nothing like

the wind of

the previous

year.

2011

36848

28970

02:32:10

02:49:45

same as

year

Perfect

conditions.

2012

31126

02:36:17

02:52:24

same as

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.

2013

109

31700

[

]

02:39:53

02:52:54

Route via

Chapman's

Peak again,

with the

finish line

at Green

Point.

2014

34500

31046

02:39:01

02:51:00

Ditto,

despite

landslides

that closed

Chappies two

months

earlier.

Windy, with

wind speeds of

up to 83 km/h

(52 mph)

recorded at

the start.

2015

~ 34000

32129

01:01:49*

01:17:52*

Route

shortened

due to

fires

2016

109

28751

2:35:31

02:51:26

2017

35000

Cancelled

Cancelled on

the day it was

to take place

due to safety

concerns

following very

high winds

reaching

speeds of over

100 km/h

(62 mph).

Other reasons

also cited for

the

cancellation

were fires on

part of the

route in

and the

possibility of

protest action

on a section

of the

route.

2018

109/78

(M/F)

35000

26384

02:37:30

02:11:50

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.

2019

23136

2:39:42

02:16:11

2020

22500

2:30:04

02:07:48

2021

18000

02:37:12

02:13:17

Postponed 17

October 2021

2022

16000

2:37:54

02:08:44

2023

Chris

Jooste

2:36:14

2:13:20

2024

109/72

(M/F)

2:31:22

2:12:02

2025

109/78

(M/F)

28000

2:25:48

[

]

2:05:18

2026

109/78

(M/F)

2:33:06

2:06:26