Cape Town Cycle Tour

In recent years the race has usually followed a scenic 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 and in length – see the table below. ==Records==

The course records for conventional bicycles for the 110 km course over Chapman's Peak are: 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). 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 , including a leg to Cape Point, but was reduced to a 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 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. • 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: }||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 . 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. == See also ==