Cape Argus Cycle Race - History of The Cycle Tour

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 140 km, including a leg to Cape Point, but was reduced to a 104 km 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 (kids under 6 years of age)
• Junior Cycle Tour (kids 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)

The race was stopped twice due to extreme weather, although in both cases many competitors had completed the race by then:

• In 2002 due to heat: stopped at 14:45 at Ou Kaapse Weg when temperatures reached 42° Celsius;
• In 2009 due to strong winds: stopped at 16:30 at Chapman's Peak due to gusts up to 100 km/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.