Diverge Podcast: CTCT & Champions Race Reflections

In Episode 6 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast we look back at trilling editions of Cape Town Cycle Tour and the songo.info Champions Race, presented by fibertime. The world’s largest timed bicycle race played out in near perfect weather conditions on Sunday, 9 March, and this helped both the elite men and women to new course records. Pia Grünewald went on a 53 kilometre solo break to win the 78 kilometre women’s race in an entirely new way. In so doing she knocked over 2 minutes off Cherise Willeit’s 2020 previous best time. Tyler Lange followed in his father, Malcolm’s, footsteps in the men’s race sprinting to a historic victory. The elder Lange is a three-time CTCT winner, and at 22 Tyler Lange put in a mature performance to power to victory from a chase group which made contact with the leaders within the final kilometre.

The songo.info Champions Race, presented by fibertime, then brought the mountain biking world’s attention to Kayamandi, just outside Stellenbosch. The charity’s annual invitational event saw Samara Sheppard add her name to the illustrious list of women’s winners, as she held of Alexis Skarda and Vera Looser. South Africa’s Luke Moir, who had been fifth in the CTCT on Sunday, raced to the win aboard his brand-new Mondraker F-Podium on just his third ride on the machine. Moir held off the New Zealand brothers, Craig and Ben Oliver, as well as Matt Beers and Arno du Toit.