Sunday, 9 March 2025 Cape Town: Tyler Lange followed in his father, Malcolm’s, footsteps by winning the Cape Town Cycle Tour on Sunday, 9 March 2025. The young man from the ASAP World Team had to fight hard for the victory. He had been in the second group on the road inside the final kilometre, but the jockeying for position in the front group allowed the chasers back into contention. This allowed Lange to pounce, outsprinting 2012 winner, Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg, to win his first and his family’s fourth title.
Near perfect conditions and a highly competitive 186 rider-strong elite men’s field ensured a record-breaking time. A warm and windless morning was exactly what the participants would have ordered if they could. It still took aggressive racing throughout the 109 kilometre course to shatter Robbie Hunter’s 17-year-old previous best of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 29 seconds. Lange’s new record mark is 2 hours, 25 minutes and 48 seconds – which is 1 minute and 41 seconds quicker.
The elite men’s race began like the peloton was aware that the record could be on the line. It took 10 kilometres for the first break to gain any real advantage. Dylan Geary was the first successful attacker of the day when he clipped off the front on the Edenborough Drive climb. The race came back together on the Blue Route before Jaco van Dyk made a short-lived attack through Muizenberg and Fish Hoek.
Chris Jooste and Casper Kruger then kicked off the most dangerous move of the day. Over the 25 kilometres from Fish Hoek to Red Hill the group swelled to include Brandon Downs, Dane Apples, Rynard Geyser, Christiaan Janse van Rensburg, Dylan Geary, Zander Erasmus, and Johan Trotzky. Their biggest advantage was 40 seconds, all of which was obliterated by an incredibly rapid ascent of Chapman’s Peak Drive by the chasers.
Marc Pritzen and the RDX Realty squad, who had missed the break, set a ferocious tempo and dragged a select group of Sascha Weber, Travis Stedman, Rynard Janse van Rensburg, Kent Main, Jaedon Terlouw and Luke Moir back to the front of the race. On the descent into Hout Bay the groups merged, but split again on Suikerbossie when Weber accelerated.
Weber took Pritzen, Terlouw, Main, Stedman, Moir and Callum Ormiston over the summit and onto the winding descent towards Camps Bay. The defending champion tried to repeat his 2024 move in Camps Bay, with 10 kilometres remaining; but despite the help of Moir, Main was shut down. This left the group at a stalemate, with no terrain left to create an advantage, they lulled slightly in anticipation of a sprint finish.
Doing so allowed a larger chase group to swallow them up inside the final kilometre. Lange and, fellow fast man, Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg were in that second group and galloped into the finale with momentum. Without a teammate to provide a lead-out Lange surfed wheels to 100 metres to go when he kicked around Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg to seize his maiden Cape Town Cycle Tour title. Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg thundered across the line in second, with Terlouw, Stedman, and Moir completing the top five places.
“The last kay was super-fast and I wasn’t actually sure if it was going to come back together,” Lange beamed. “Then with about 400 to go we made contact and I managed to get on Reinhardt [Janse van Rensburg’s] wheel and kicked past him.”
While the winner was slightly overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment, his father was clearly emotional with his son’s success. “I tried to get him into every other sport – growing up – be it cricket, tennis, or golf, but he kept choosing cycling. So, we had to support his cycling. He’s raced overseas but as we all know it’s a very hard sport and he’s experienced some knocks and setbacks. So, to win a race like this really puts you in a place where you need to be. Hopefully from here it’s onwards and upwards.”
Frederick Botha Wins Future Star’s Race
In the U17 Boys’ event Frederick Botha, of Cycle2Ride, won the 78 kilometre race. The young men had played cat and mouse for the early kilometres until the solo women’s race leader, Pia Grunewald, passed them after Scarbrough. That seemed to spur them into action and the pace intensified in the approach to Chapman’s Peak Drive.
The climb, which proves vital in determining how the elite races are won, was equally important in the U17 category where only a select few could summit together. Suikerbossie further whittled down the size of the group until only the strongest remained in contention for victory. Of the eleven riders who made it into the final kilometre in contention for victory.
Botha won the reduced bunch sprint, holding off the U17 South African champion, Tristan Mc Given, Cameron Wilcox and Kael Williams; who all finished 1 second back. Cameron Reginal MacKridge was a further second behind in fifth.
2025 Cape Town Cycle Tour Elite Men’s Results
1. Tyler Lange: ASAP World (2:25:48 | New Course Record)
2. Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg: Tshenolo Pro (2:25:48 | ST)
3. Jaedon Terlouw: PYGA Euro Steel (2:25:48 | ST)
4. Travis Stedman: Toyota Specialized (2:25:48 | ST)
5. Luke Moir: Privateer (2:25:48 | ST)
2025 Cape Town Cycle Tour U17 Boys Results:
1. Frederick Botha (2:10:07)
2. Tristan Mc Given (2:10:08 | +1)
3. Cameron Wilcox (2:10:08 | +1)