The Argus

The Cape Argus Cycle Tour (referred to in short as the Argus) is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually 109 km (68 miles) long. It is known as the most scenic bicycle race.

The Argus is no walk in the park!

South Africa hosts some of the largest - by number of entrants - sporting events in the world with three being the largest of their type. The Cape Argus Cycle Race, with as many as 35,000 cyclists taking part, is the world's largest individually timed cycle race. The other two are the world's largest ultra-marathon running event, the Comrades Marathon, and the world's largest open water swim, the Midmar Mile.

The start line in 2013

The race was first organized in 1977 as a campaign called the Big Ride-In. The purpose was to draw attention to the need for cycle paths in and around Cape Town. Stemming from this idea the Argus Cycle Tour was born. Over the years the race has twice been stopped due to extreme weather, although in both cases many competitors had completed the race by then:

In 2002 due to heat - racing stopped at 2:45pm at Ou Kaapse Weg when temperatures reached 42° Celsius/108° Fahrenheit;
In 2009 due to strong winds - racing stopped at 4:30pm at Chapman's Peak due to gusts up to 100 km per hour/62 miles per hour that blew cyclists off their cycles.

The Argus is traditionally staged on the second Sunday of March. In 2009 Matt Damon participated in the gruelling race while he was in South Africa filming Invictus, in which he played the role of Francois Pienaar - the rugby captain of the Springbok team when they won the World Cup in 1995. My parents managed to snap a photo of Matt and his brother as they cycled by on their tandem bicycle. Another household celebrity name who raced in the Argus in March of this year is Sir Richard Branson, the founder and chairman of Virgin Group.