Cape Town - The Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust has announced a shorter route option for the much-anticipated 2023 Cape Town Cycle Tour.
The tour will boast a shorter 42km route that will complement the Mother City’s celebration of cycling by taking riders out and back along the M3 freeway, as the full field did in 2015’s fire-shortened Cycle Tour.
Riders will start in the shadow of the iconic Castle of Good Hope in Castle Street and make their way south-bound on Nelson Mandela Boulevard and the M3 until reaching Steenberg Road before turning around to head home the way they came, finishing in Newmarket Street in the city centre.
Both events are expected to take place on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
David Bellairs of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust said the response to the shorter route has been fantastic.
“There was the very real chance that the 2015 event would get cancelled, but the 42km route out and back along the M3 allowed us to put on a show for all the cyclists who had made their way down to the Cape. After the near-cancellation, I think there was a lot of relief that the event went ahead but we also saw a lot of cyclists who were simply happy to ride 42km on the day. We have toyed with introducing the shorter route ever since and now, thanks to our excellent relationship with the City of Cape Town, we are able to bring the concept to life as an official part of the Cape Town Cycle Tour.”
“We are thrilled to offer riders this new option. It's an opportunity for those riders who are maybe not confident tackling the full distance to take part in a great day of cycling, and perhaps encourage them to start small before aiming big,” said Bellairs.
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who is a new cyclist and a first-time rider in the tour, said he was very excited by the prospect of a shorter course.
“Now us beginners, who haven’t yet started training, can also have some prospect of finishing.
“This will open up the Cape Town Cycle Tour to thousands of new participants, like me, and will spur the further growth of cycling in Cape Town,” he said.
For more information and to enter, visit https://www.capetowncycletour.com/cape-town-cycle-tour-short-route/
Cape Times