Sunday, 9 March 2025, will see nearly 28 000 cyclists take to the streets of the Mother City for the 47th edition of the Cape Town Cycle Tour. Founded in 1978, it remains the world’s largest timed bicycle race and is often called the unofficial Fun Ride World Championship by cycling clubs from across the city. The elite men’s and women’s races carry significant prestige too, however, with the champions gaining more acclaim than the winners of any other road race in the country.
Legends of the Cape Town Cycle Tour
Legends have been built from Cape Town Cycle Tour success. Cherise Willeit (5 wins), Willie Engelbrecht (5 titles), and Anriette Schoeman (7 victories) all became household names in South Africa through their prolonged dominance on the second Sunday of March. Now defending champion Kent Main, 2023 winner Chris Jooste, 2022 victor Marc Pritzen, and 2012’ Reinardt Janse van Rensburg will all be looking to join the multiple winners club and in doing so elevate themselves above their competition. In the women’s race Tiffany Keep lines up to defend her title too, though she will face stiff competition from the newly crowned South African champion S’annara Grove; as well as from perennial Cape Town Cycle Tour contenders Hayley Preen, Emma Pallant, and Vera Looser.
Tactics & Key Contenders
In 2024 Main escaped from a select group to power to an unexpected solo victory. A year on and Main’s path to victory would likely need to be similar in 2025. With Chapman’s Peak Drive and Suikerbossie providing launch pads for small groups of powerful rouleurs to go clear and contest a reduced group sprint finish. This type of finale would suit three of the past race winners lining up for Sunday’s 109 kilometre circumnavigation of the peninsula. Jooste and Pritzen would equally fancy their chances from a group of 10 or so riders. Though that is far from the only way the event could be won.
Matthew Beers will be making his one and probably only road racing start of the year and could be a contender for a long-range solo attack. Without the kick to beat the more accomplished sprinters in a fast finish, the mountain and gravel bike phenom is under no illusions that he will have to play his cards early. Any aggression from Beers could help his Toyota Specialized teammate, Travis Stedman, or set up one of a group of less fancied riders for a surprise move. Men like Mauritian Aurelien De Comarmond, the highly experienced Jaco Venter, and Siyanda Gumede could benefit from flying slightly below the radar.
Former World Tour professional Janse van Rensburg, is among those who would prefer a larger group finish. Now racing for Tshenolo Pro Cycling the man whose maiden title came at the beginning of his long career will be serving a dual role, helping guide his talented young teammates through the chaos of a 140 rider strong elite field. The same learning experience is likely the primary goal of the World Cycling Centre’s 21 rider squad for the Cape Town Cycle Tour. Kenya’s Khalmax Leshan is the only elite man alongside 14 U23 and 6 Juniors, and is probably the UCI’s African cycling development set-up’s best hope of a top result.
Women’s Race Showdown
In the women’s race, the narrative, heading to Fish Hoek for the start of the 78 kilometre course, could be framed as a rematch between Keep and Grove. In 2024 Keep won in a bike throw to the line, edging out Grove by a wheel width. Since then, Grove has won South Africa’s second largest road race, Ride Joburg, and claimed her first elite South African road title. Keep has however always featured prominently in the Cape Town Cycle Tour and has shown herself as someone who likes to dictate the racing over Chapmans Peak and Suikerbossie. This front foot approach should serve her well in 2025.
Another woman who is itching to see her name etched on the Carrol Boyes designed trophy is Hayley Preen. The former South African road and gravel champion has been edged out in sprint finishes on Helen Suzman Boulevard before. She will likely need to rid herself of Keep, Grove, and Vera Looser in order to win the race, which has eluded her; but may find an ally in Emma Pallant. However, the event plays out, fans can be assured that Preen will have done all she could to seize the initiative.
Looser is another who has regularly made it into the final group which contests the finale in the women’s race, but has yet to turn a string of podiums into a victory. 2025 could therefore be her year. Though a less well known challenger may step up to the plate too. The German LKT-Team-Woman squad has 9 starters who fit this bill, with Nele Laing being the team’s best performer over the first two months of the year thus far. Her skill as a time trialist who excels on hilly courses bodes well for a strong Cape Town Cycle Tour debut.
Further down the list of favourites, Layla Schwellnus is an outsider for a strong result, as is the 2024 junior women’s race winner, Errin Faye Mackridge. The latter is still only 18, but finished 19th overall last time out. A year stronger and wiser, she should be challenging the top 10 on Sunday.
To watch the racing action, tune in to the live broadcast on the Cape Town Cycle Tour Facebook and YouTube channel, from 06:00 to 11:00 on Sunday, 9 March 2025. Regular updates from the course can also be found at @CTCycleTour on Twitter, while the @ctcycletour Instagram and Cape Town Cycle Tour Facebook pages will share highlights from throughout the day.
