Videos: Crazy scenes as world's biggest bike race cancelled as riders battle 100kph winds

Two questions;

1) Did the weather conditions really deteriorate so rapidly that it was a sensible idea to start the event? It says in the article that some riders were 20 km in when it was abandoned which suggests that these conditions were very close to the start time?

2) According to Wikipedia, 8.25% of the South African population are white. Ok, so not everyone in the event is South African, but is it just coincidental that I can only spot 2 non-white people in all of the videos? Yes, segragation isn't just cycling's problem, but it is cycling's problem!

I rode the Cape Town Cycle Tour (formerly "The Argus") seven times but, as I've got more titanium in my back than most bikes, this year I was part of the Start crew helping check in the elite riders (and direct them to the two loos that had not been blown away).

I've never experienced wind like it - a colleague measured 103 km/h. My wife, also a volunteer, was tossed to the ground like a paper bag and sustained heavy bruising.

Even though a few hundred riders were already 20k down the road, the only responsible decision was to cancel as a serious incident could have jeopardised the City of Cape Town's support for future events. Despite massive disappointment, especially amongst the 4,000 overseas riders including hundreds of Brits, there was general acceptance that the organisers had made the right call.

The regular post-event review will consider changing the location of the start and/or the date, though it would be a shame to move it away from the city centre - maybe not pretty, but the sights and sounds of 35,000 riders congregating as the African sun comes up over Table Mountain are truly memorable.

Well done to those who made the trip. Enjoy your stay and come back next year, though you'll never get a faster time!

What has modern cycling come to?  Its just a light breeze... HTFU!

A shame for all those who missed out on riding Chapman's Peak, definitely the best road I have ever ridden on, by a comfortable margin. That said, it is a bit of a wind funnel itself in being hollowed out of the mountainside.

https://goo.gl/maps/xDYZ6V26xcB2 The scenes in the video are caused by poorly thought ou architecture! A tall building with a hole under it will always funnel winds to significantly higher speeds. Would have been sensible to reroute to avoid going under that building given the wind.

 Where can you buy these new bikes that are so light you have to fight to keep them on the ground? Mines too heavy!

That section past the station is a bit of a wind tunnel at the best of times, 60 mph winds must've made it **really** hard work. On a more serious note, very sad. This is the best bike ride in the Universe, & the 2nd time it's had to be cancelled in the last 3 runnings (2015 was truncated due to wild fires on the mountains, so instead of the full 70-mile loop of the Cape Peninsula it was 30 miles out & back to Muizenberg, a 7000-mile flight for less than I do pre-breakfast on a typical Sunday; on the plus side, it was still a great holiday).

I bet some Strava KOMs were destroyed that day

100 kilometre/hour wind (100 mph is hurricane force and blows houses down). Still a damn shame for participants — would have been the first time Central London CTC colours had appeared in this event. Too bad, Jon!

Swap out the deep sections and you're grand

I remember an event finishing on the Cat and Fiddle in 2013. Just before the last left handed to the pub I was puzzled to see the rider ahead of me suddenly glide on to the verge and collapse into the ditch. "How odd..." I thought. Then whack I was heading for the ditch in the cross wind too and just manage to clip out. My mate behind was thinking "How odd.." Whack...Etc etc. Getting down again was interesting too. 

Not sure I'd fancy a 100mph tailwind. A steady 25mph tailwind that followed me on every ride would be nice though.

That's what it's like on my commute every day, bloody Lincolnshire!lol

Just imagine the return leg though....