Cape Argus Cycle Race - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour (referred to in short as the Argus) is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, usually 109 km long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike Series

UCI Golden Bike

The UCI Golden Bike is a series of Cyclosportive cycling races. At present it consists of 7 events in 7 countries – 5 in Europe, 1 in Africa and 1 in Oceania – all selected by the International Cycling Union as being the best cycling for all events in the world.The UCI Golden Bike series was...

.

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

Comrades Marathon

The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately 90 km run in the Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race...

, as well as the world's largest open water swim, the Midmar Mile

Midmar Mile

The Midmar Mile is a swimming race held annually in February at the Midmar Dam north of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Each year, it draws thousands of competitors, from serious international athletes and Olympic medallists to purely recreational swimmers....

.

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

It is traditionally staged on the second Sunday of March and has enjoyed well known competitors such as Miguel Indurain

Miguel Indurain

Miguel Ángel Indurain Larraya is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. He won five consecutive Tour de Frances from 1991 and 1995, the first to do so, and the fourth athlete to win five times. He won the Giro d'Italia twice, becoming one of only seven people in history to achieve the Giro Tour...

, Jan Ulrich and Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...

Route

In recent years the race has usually followed a scenic 109 km circular route from Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula

Cape Peninsula

The Cape Peninsula is a generally rocky peninsula that juts out for 75 km into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope...

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

M3 (Cape Town)

The M3 is an expressway in Cape Town, South Africa, connecting the upper part of the City Bowl to the Southern Suburbs and ending in Tokai. For most of its route it parallels - though further to the south and west - the M4 , which was the original road connecting central Cape Town with the...

to Muizenberg

Muizenberg

Muizenberg is a beach-side suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast...

, and then Main Road along the False Bay

False Bay

False Bay is a body of water defined by Cape Hangklip and the Cape Peninsula in the extreme South-West of South Africa.- Description and location :...

coast to Simon's Town

Simon's Town

Simon's Town , sometimes spelled Simonstown; is a town in South Africa, near Cape Town which is home to the South African Navy. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been an important naval base and harbour...

and Smitswinkel Bay. The route then crosses the peninsula in a westerly direction, past the entrance to Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

section of the Table Mountain National Park

Table Mountain National Park

Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on May 29, 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation...

(within which Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape Point is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula, which is a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres at the extreme southwestern tip of the African continent in the Republic of South Africa. Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town...

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

Kommetjie

Kommetjie is a suburb of Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa...

, Noordhoek

Noordhoek, Cape Town

Noordhoek is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, located below Chapman's Peak on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, approximately thirty-five kilometres to the south of the city itself. The name "Noordhoek" was taken from Dutch and literally means "north corner"...

, Chapmans Peak, Hout Bay

Hout Bay

Hout Bay is the name of a coastal suburb of Cape Town, South Africa with a mix of neighbourhoods from the very rich to the very poor. It lies in a valley on the Atlantic Seaboard of the Cape Peninsula and is twenty kilometres south of the Central Business District of Cape Town...

over Suikerbossie hill to Camps Bay

Camps Bay

Camps Bay is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. In summer it attracts a large number of foreign visitors as well as South Africans looking for a beach holiday. It is renowned for its white sandy beaches fringed by palm trees and has a trendy nightlife.-History:The first residents of...

and ends in Green Point

Green Point, Cape Town

Green Point is a neighbourhood of Cape Town, South Africa located to the north west of the central business district. It a popular residential area for young professionals and for the Cape Town gay and lesbian community. Many new mid-rise apartment and mixed-use developments have gone up in recent...

.

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.

Records

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

Men: 02:27:29 by Robbie Hunter
Robert Hunter (cyclist)
Robert Hunter is a South African professional road cyclist, for UCI ProTour team . He became in 2001 the first South African to compete in the Tour de France. In 2006 he rode for the Phonak Hearing Systems team on the UCI ProTour, but after their disbandment he signed for UCI Continental Circuits...

(2008)
Women: 02:48:29 by Anke Erlank-Moore (2007).

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.

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 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

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

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

Cape Argus

Founded in 1857 by Saul Solomon, the Cape Argus is a daily newspaper published by Independent News & Media in Cape Town, South Africa. It is commonly referred to simply as "The 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. Despite the late closure many cyclists were affected, because starting for some groups was delayed by as much as 2 hours, and the cut off time was extended from 7 to 8 hours, due to the strong winds.

Details of each event

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

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 Camps Bay Camps Bay is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. In summer it attracts a large number of foreign visitors as well as South Africans looking for a beach holiday. It is renowned for its white sandy beaches fringed by palm trees and has a trendy nightlife.-History:The first residents of... .
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 Kurt Asle Arvesen Kurt Asle Arvesen is a former Norwegian professional road bicycle racer for . Arvesen is from Eresfjord, Nesset. From 2012 he will be manager of ....	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 Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak is the name of a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, about 15 kilometres south of Cape Town, South Africa. It is opposite the inlet on which the town of Hout Bay is centred.... 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 Allan Davis Allan Howard Davis is an Australian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . Born in Ipswich, Queensland, Davis resides in Bundaberg, Queensland and in Spain. Known for his sprinting ability, he started competitive cycling at the age of 10, and turned professional in 2002...	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 Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak is the name of a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, about 15 kilometres south of Cape Town, South Africa. It is opposite the inlet on which the town of Hout Bay is centred.... again, with the finish line at Green Point.	Sweltering day.
2005	109	39929	28334	Russell Downing Russell Downing Russell Downing is an English cycling road-racer for UCI ProTour team . He was the British national road race champion in 2005. He is the younger brother of fellow cyclist Dean 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 Steffen Radochla Steffen Radochla is a road bicycle racer from Germany, who turned professional in 2001.-Teams:2001: Festina 2002: Team Coast *2003: Team Coast until 9 May...	02:34:28	Anriette Schoeman	02:59:08	Ditto	Cool weather and light rain.
2007	109	41279	29296	Robert Hunter Robert Hunter (cyclist) Robert Hunter is a South African professional road cyclist, for UCI ProTour team . He became in 2001 the first South African to compete in the Tour de France. In 2006 he rode for the Phonak Hearing Systems team on the UCI ProTour, but after their disbandment he signed for UCI Continental Circuits...	02:32:36	Anke Erlank	02:48:29	Ditto	Near perfect weather
2008	109		28669	Robert Hunter Robert Hunter (cyclist) Robert Hunter is a South African professional road cyclist, for UCI ProTour team . He became in 2001 the first South African to compete in the Tour de France. In 2006 he rode for the Phonak Hearing Systems team on the UCI ProTour, but after their disbandment he signed for UCI Continental Circuits...	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. The cut off time was extended to 8 hrs, but the race was eventually stopped at Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak is the name of a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, about 15 kilometres south of Cape Town, South Africa. It is opposite the inlet on which the town of Hout Bay is centred.... at 16:30, both due to extreme weather.
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.

External links

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