Cape Argus Cycle Race

The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour (referred to in short as the Argus) is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually 109 km long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike Series.[1]

The race is one of South Africa's three 'largest sporting events' in the world. With as many as 31 000 cyclists taking part, it is the world's largest individually timed cycle race. The other two are the world's largest ultramarathon event, the Comrades Marathon, as well as the world's largest open water swim, the Midmar Mile.

The Argus forms the last leg of the Giro del Capo, a multi-stage race for professional and leading registered riders.[2]

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

Contents

Route

In recent years the race has usually followed a scenic 109 km circular route from Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula and back. The start is in Hertzog Boulevard in the city centre, at Cape Town's main Civic Centre. It then follows a short section of the N2 called Settler's Way, 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, Chapmans Peak, Hout Bay over Suikerbossie hill to Camps Bay and ends in Green Point.[3]

In 2009 and 2010, as well as during previous years until 1999 the race had followed slightly different routes, between 104 and 110 km in length - see the table below.[3]

Records

The course records for the 109 km course over Chapman's Peak are:[3]

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.[4]

The oldest cyclist to complete the race within the maximum allowed seven hours is Japie Malan (90 years old at the time) during the 2010 Cycle Tour[5] in a time of 06:48:52.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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.[3]

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:

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

Details of each event

Key information regarding each of the race events is as follows:[3]

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 Ditto
1980 104 1398 1119 Hennie Wentzel 03:02:18 Sharon Broekhuysen 03:51:00 Ditto
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 Ditto 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 Ditto 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 Ditto
1985 104 3008 2445 Hennie Wentzel Louise van Riet Lowe 03:04:36 Ditto
1986 104 3494 3086 Ertjies Bezuidenhout 02:40:20 Cathy Carstens 02:49:55 Ditto
1987 104 5934 4761 Hennie Wentzel 02:43:05 Cathy Carstens 03:03:24 Ditto Strong northwesterly blowing, Heavy rain, high winds and extreme cold, called 'Siberian' weather by The Argus. Lloyd Wright, on a recumbent, cross the finish line first in 2:33:03.
1988 104 10850 8707 Willie Engelbrecht 02:36:54 Cathy Carstens 02:54:23 Ditto Windless.
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.
1990 105 14427 11235 Willie Engelbrecht 02:41:56 Cathy Carstens 02:53:50 Ditto Safety helmets became compulsory
1991 105 15593 12750 Robbie McIntosh 02:28:46 Rene Scott 02:44:40 Ditto Perfect weather conditions.
1992 105 17274 13334 Willie Engelbrecht 02:50:04 Jackie Martin 03:03:10 Ditto Wimpie van der Merwe raced 2:16:40 on a recumbent.
1993 105 18659 15256 Wayne Burgess 02:33:35 Kim Carter 02:51:46 Ditto
1994 105 20964 17289 Willie Engelbrecht 02:23:22 Jackie Martin 02:49:19 Ditto Windless.
1995 105 25313 20535 Michael Andersson 02:22:56 Jackie Martin 02:45:52 Ditto Near-perfect weather conditions
1996 105 28711 22294 Thomas Liese 02:40:16 Erica Green 02:28:33 Ditto
1997 105 28875 22717 Kurt Asle Arvesen 02:38:47 Erica Green 02:58:37 Ditto Very good weather.
1998 105 34162 25955 Malcolm Lange 02:39:25 Anke Erlank 02:58:27 Ditto
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 Ditto
2002 109 39831 28050 Allan Davis 02:35:34 Anriette Schoeman 02:57:29 Ditto Heat wave: race was stopped at 2:45 at Ou Kaapse Weg when temperatures reached 42 degrees.
2003 109 39668 27841 Malcolm Lange 02:29:29 Anriette Schoeman 02:54:02 Ditto 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 Ditto Winds of more than 40 km/h were recorded at places.
2006 108 40064 28818 Steffen Radochla 02:34:28 Anriette Schoeman 02:59:08 Ditto Cool weather and light rain.
2007 109 41279 29296 Robert Hunter 02:32:36 Anke Erlank 02:48:29 Ditto Near perfect weather
2008 109 28669 Robert Hunter 02:27:29 Cherise Taylor 02:50:51 Ditto
2009 110 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 120 km/h.[10] 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.[11]
2010 110 28745 Malcolm Lange 02:39:55 Anriette Schoeman 03:06:11 Ditto Wind was a problem again, with wind speeds reaching up to 46 km/h - but nothing like the wind of the previous year.

See also

References

  1. ^ Series' official website. However, in 2010 it was excluded from the Golden Bike Series (as shown on the website, retrieved on 27 March 2010).
  2. ^ Cape Argus Cycle Tour event website and Giro del Cabo website
  3. ^ a b c d e f Drawn from Mike Wills The Cycle Tour, 2008.
  4. ^ Cape Argus Cycle Tour website. Her string of consecutive age group wins came to an end in 2010 when she was second in her age group, with a time of 03:32:00. Her best time was 02:48:39 over a 105km course in 1995. Source: Racetec.
  5. ^ Eye Witness News, 14 March 2010.
  6. ^ The Echo, 19 March 2010.
  7. ^ Full Circle, March 2009.
  8. ^ Argus race results, 2006.
  9. ^ Cycle tour website.
  10. ^ Sunday Tribune 15 March 2010, 'The Cape Argus Cycle Tour'.
  11. ^ 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.

External links