Cycle Tour a ‘rolling disaster’ that inspires Cape Town

Cape Town Cycle Tour chief executive Dave Bellairs’ phone pings regularly during the 30 minutes or so he carved out to speak to Daily Maverick about this year’s race.

It’s a week to the race and he is busy – sponsors, riders, city officials, disaster management agencies and his own staff all need him, seemingly all the time.

The City of Cape Town, which benefits hugely from the cycle tour as a revenue driver, actually treats the staging of the race as a “rolling disaster”.

While the race takes place on the roads of the Peninsula, the “brain” of the operation is located at the Provincial Joint Operations Centre (JOC) at Tygerberg Hospital.

This facility serves as the disaster management centre for the Western Cape. All essential services, including the on-the-day race director, Mike Simpson, are based here to monitor every kilometre of the course.

Because the event covers a vast area with 30,000 participants, it serves as the “perfect test case” for the province to trial its emergency systems, call-dispatching protocols and inter-departmental communications.

It brings together a massive network of support, including emergency medical services from the City and provincial government, MediClinic and various private ambulance services.

Being based at the JOC allows leadership to see the “big picture”. Bellairs recalls that the year the race was cancelled (2017) because of high winds, the operations centre in Bellville was calm, while at the start line, “toilets were flying across the road”, highlighting why centralised data from across the route is vital.

That year, Bellairs in conjunction with the authorities, called the race off.

“It was the easiest and the most difficult decision of my career,” Bellairs tells Daily Maverick.

“One of the secrets to the success of the cycle tour is putting the athlete front and centre. It’s all about the athlete.

“And I keep reminding my team when they get upset because people are shouting at them on the phone or somewhere on the course – that this is their journey.

“And we’re trying to make that a special journey. But the minute you put their lives at risk, the call becomes the easiest call you’re ever going to make. We are not in the business of putting people at risk.”

Fabric of the city

Despite the logistical challenges, the cycle tour has, in almost half a century, become as much a part of Cape Town’s story as the Cape Minstrels.

From humble beginnings in 1978 when a few enthusiasts set off in what was a “protest” ride to persuade the City to create safer cycling pathways, this year’s event will see almost 30,000 entrants.

The city itself has grown massively since the 1970s, meaning there is more traffic, more people and more disruptions to residents for the organisers to consider.

Fortunately, Capetonians embrace the race and the spirit of the day, which is about showcasing the city, inclusivity and a celebration of life, health and the open road.

And thanks to Bellairs and his team’s astonishing network of vendors and support crew, the speed with which the 109km course is erected and dismantled would impress any world-class cyclist.

The race winds through national parks, which comes with its own challenges. Bellairs is a stickler that race permits are adhered to throughout the race, but particularly in these environmentally sensitive areas.

Light touch

“We have a massive environmental management plan in place,” Bellairs tells Daily Maverick.

“We have a number of companies and Rotary Club volunteers that come in and clear our wet waste and dry waste. We recycle as much of that as we possibly can.

“Our stated aim is zero-to-landfill. The idea is to process as much as we can. We have a comprehensive sweep-up crew that moves through the event afterwards to ensure that in as much as we can – no gel packets, no bottles – nothing is left on the route.

“There is a clear communication schedule that goes out to cyclists.

“You can be disqualified for littering. We’ve got ‘chuck zones’ where you can throw your litter. Because of Covid, we did away with cups.

“So now you can fill up the bottles you carry at a water station. We don’t need to give you a cup, and you’re certainly not going to have a plastic sachet. That’s been a massive step.”

But the light touch extends further – to the placement of advertising hoardings and other race materials.

The race runs through a large portion of Cape Point National Park. And literally from the time cyclists leave Simon’s Town right the way through until Scarborough and Misty Cliffs, they’re cycling through pristine landscapes.

“We need to be really, really careful. And then you’re on to Chapman’s Peak, which has its own environmental restrictions,” Bellairs says. “You can’t put up branding in certain areas. You can’t peg signs into rocks.

“Vehicles that are standing in certain areas have to have trip trays underneath them in case of oil leaks.”

The “rolling disaster” approach to managing the day, allows for a medical roll-out that is unparalleled in mass-participation sports.

The race deploys advanced medical support at 10 of the 12 water points along the route. These centres allow the medical team to “research [athletes] in situ”, treating incidents immediately on the course rather than just transporting them away.

Inclusivity innovation

It’s a massive logistical undertaking, and some years are more complicated than others. In 2026, the race clashes with Ramadan (as it has done before).

Given Cape Town’s large Muslim community, which in turn has a healthy cycling community, there are challenges.

Muslim leaders approached the tour organisers and asked if the race could be moved after or before Ramadan.

“We took the request very seriously, but the problem with moving a major event like ours is that wherever we go, we impact on other events that are happening in the City of Cape Town,” Bellairs says.

“We engaged with a number of role players within the Muslim community. Could we run another event on a different day for our Muslim participants? It wasn’t feasible.

“The cost of hosting a second major event for people to ride is massive and especially on public roads.

“So, we came up with the Virtual Prelude Challenge.”

This is as the name implies, a way to virtually ride the Cape Town Cycle Tour without needing to be on the course on race day on 8 March.

Although it was initially established to accommodate Muslim participants, it quickly became obvious that there were benefits to all racers.

“We have a number of people from around the world who come over regularly and ride but for some reason may not be able to get back in a given year, so they can do it,” Bellairs says.

The challenge starts the week before Ramadan begins, allowing cyclists to complete the 109km distance while they are still able to train and hydrate normally. By the time the fast starts, they have already completed their cycle tour.

Using the cycling app Strava, participants must ride the full 109km distance in a single session within a seven-hour window. The system tracks both overall “elapsed time” (which cannot exceed seven hours) and actual “riding time”.

The ride can be done anywhere in the world – outdoors on the road (some participants did the race riding around Hyde Park in London) or indoors on a stationary bike.

Successful finishers receive a medal, a race number, a goodie bag and crucially – a full credit for having ridden the Cape Town Cycle Tour, which counts towards their historical participation record.

Pro race

While the bulk of the day and attention is with the nearly 30,000 amateurs in the field, the pro race that sets off before the crowd, adds to the glamour of the event.

In the women’s race, professional mountain biker Tyler Jacobs enters the 2026 as a favourite following her strong performance at the South African National Championships.

While her explosive sprint has already bested mentor Candice Lill, she faces a tactical 78km elite women’s course against powerhouses Vera Looser and Kate Courtney.

After Pia Grünewald’s shock 52km solo breakaway last year, the peloton is unlikely to allow another one, setting the stage for a fierce battle among former winners such as Tiffany Keep.

The elite men’s race on features a stacked field of four former winners and top international talent.

Without a clear frontrunner, the contest will likely hinge on the tactical depth of the major professional squads.

Defending champion Tyler Lange (Asap Pro Cycling) returns and will almost certainly rely on the same clinical sprint that saw him shatter the course record last year.

Veteran Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Tshenolo Pro Cycling), a former World Tour pro and 2012 winner, brings immense experience and a powerful lead-out team to challenge Lange.

The tactical nous of 2024 winner Kent Main and world-class sprinter Ryan Gibbons could also win the day, while 2022 winner Marc Pritzen and 2013 winner Herman Fouche also have a chance. There are multiple leaders in the team, and it depends how they tactically approach the battle.

And a dark horse is Gibbons, a former World Tour professional. He is highly motivated to secure the one major local title missing from his resumé having recently proven he has the speed to out-kick both Lange and Janse van Rensburg.

Gran Fondo

In 2026, the Cape Town Cycle Tour makes history by joining the prestigious UCI Gran Fondo World Series, the world’s leading series of Gran Fondo cycling events, which features more than 35 races across the globe each year.

Cape Town participants will now have the opportunity to qualify for the 2026 World Championships, set to take place from 26 to 30 August in Niseko, Japan.

Each event in the series, including the Cape Town Cycle Tour, serves as a qualifying round. Riders who finish in the top 25% of their age group (calculated based on the number of starters in that specific five-year age bracket) earn an invite to the World Championships.

In Europe, qualifying is difficult because events are small, consisting of about 2,000–3,000 entrants. In Cape Town, with 30,000 riders, the top 25% is a much larger pool, making it an attractive easier qualification route for international travellers.

International entries have already seen a 20% jump following the announcement. Bellairs expects nearly 3,000 foreign participants, each bringing significant tourism spend to the city.

“Outside of the elite pros, it’s not about how fast you’re going to finish. You know what, you’ve got seven hours and you’re riding on a road with other cyclists, free from cars. Go and enjoy it.”

While all these factors continue to make the race a world-class event, it remains at its core a celebration of cycling.

Bellairs’ view is that riders must treat it as having seven hours to ride some of the finest roads in the world, in relative safety.

“I’ve got mates that send me pictures of the breakfast they’re eating in Simon’s Town while they’re in the race,” Bellairs says.

“Outside of the elite pros, it’s not about how fast you’re going to finish. You know what, you’ve got seven hours and you’re riding on a road with other cyclists, free from cars. Go and enjoy it.” DM