Cape Town - It was a frantic photo finish as the top three cyclists sprinted across the line in the 36th Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour. For five confusing minutes, no one knew who had won.
But then a grin broke out on the face of Team Bonitas’s Herman Fouche as he heard his name being called out.
The winner came home in a time of 2:39:55, centimetres ahead of Team Westvaal-BMC’s Tyler Day. Team Bonitas’s Christoff van Heerden was third.
“It felt like a win for me – it’s like a game of football, we play as a team, and for (Fouche) to take first place just felt great,” said Van Heerden.
In the women’s race, Anriette Schoeman clinched a record seventh title, also in a sprint finish, just beating fellow South African Cherise Stander and Sweden’s Jennie Stenerhag, who came in third.
But a perfect race day of blue skies and cool breezes was marred when a cyclist had a heart attack.
The Cycle Tour Trust’s director, David Bellairs, said the 53-year-old man was resuscitated on the scene and transported to hospital, where he died.
Another upset came when top rider Briton Sharon Laws crashed near the finish in Sea Point, injuring her shoulder and collarbone, and putting in question her ride in the Cape Epic mountainbike stage race, which starts next weekend.
Schoeman was ecstatic about winning her seventh Cycle Tour title, after her race ended in a crash last year.
Schoeman, who finished in 2:52:53, just centimetres ahead of the others, embraced Stander on the podium before accepting her trophy.
Acknowledging the death of Stander’s husband Burry in an accident in January, Schoeman said: “I know Cherise also really needed this victory, and this one’s for Burry.”
With the elite groups out of the way, 34 500 weekend warriors, fit families and casual cyclists began to filter over the finish line.
Grimacing and smiling, every rider seemed to be relieved to have made it through 109km of steep climbs and hairpin bends.
For most riders the day started at the crack of dawn as tandem riders, uni-cyclists, hand-cyclists and the more conventional road bikers lined up outside the civic centre.
They came dressed as pirates, ballerinas, fairies, bees and rhinos, although most stuck to their figure-hugging spandex suits.
Crossing the finish line, some lifted their fists in victory, shared high fives, held hands, saluted the crowd or just let out a long sigh of relief.
“All things considered, it was an extremely successful day. We had some wind but it died down.
“We had a lot of people doing a lot of good (in the name of charity) whether by simply supporting or participating, allowing us to help beneficiaries,” said Bellairs.
By the 5pm cut-off time, 509 people had been treated at the medical tents during the day.
As the last cyclists crossed the finish line, 52 of those people were still in hospital being treated for minor injuries, abrasions and shoulder injuries. – Additional reporting by Zodidi Dano
Cape Argus