Cape Town – Organisers of the Cape Town Cycle Tour have announced a change to traditions with the 2016 race scheduled a week earlier than the traditional date, due to unavailability of key venues in the city.
“The Cape Town Stadium has already been booked for a major international show on the same weekend as the Cycle Tour, and after discussions with the City and Province, we agreed to bring the date of the 2016 event forward by a week,” said David Bellairs, a director of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust (CTCTT) in a statement on Thursday.
“As the Good Hope Centre is also potentially not available to host our annual Lifecycle Expo next year, we are considering other venue options for this event.”
The Cape Town Cycle Tour would now take place on Sunday 6 March 2016. Traditionally, the world’s largest timed cycling race was held annually on the second Sunday in March. In its 39th year, the race will now take place on the first Sunday.
“This follows a request by the City that will see a number of events accommodated in the Mother City during the early part of March 2016,” added Bellairs.
This year, the 38th Cycle Tour was reduced from 109km to 47km due to safety issues along the traditional route which had been devastated by runaway fires. Firefighters had battled blazes across the Cape’s south peninsula for a week leading up to this year’s race.
The 2015 race, dubbed the “Show you Care Solidarity Ride”, drew nearly 34 000 cyclists with many wearing red to honour and pay tribute to firefighters and those who had lost their homes in the blazes.
Good news was that the 2016 race would see the return of the traditional format with thousands of local and international cyclists starting off their 109km route on Hertzog Boulevard.
“Entries to the 2015 tour sold out in a record eight hours and we anticipate high interest in the 2016 event,” said Bellairs.
The 2016 entry process was scheduled to open in early-September. – ANA