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Oil 'They'll be talking about Tour for years'
March 09, 2009 Edition 2
LEILA SAMODIEN, JADE WITTEN and MURRAY WILLIAMS
Bouquets for sporting courage are being lavished on the 30 000 cyclists, including Hollywood star Matt Damon, who yesterday conquered the mightiest of them all: the Cape Argus Pick n Pay "Tour of Storms".
"Every finisher's medal is important, but people are going to be talking about this one for years," race organiser David Bellairs said today.
All last week tens of thousands of riders were worried - mostly about the searing 40ºC heat which gripped the Cape. If anything, talk of a cooling south-easter was greeted with welcome relief.
But when the Cape Doctor appeared yesterday, it arrived with horns - estimated at 65km/h.
For the first time in seven years, the weather forced organisers to physically shut down the race late yesterday afternoon, as the wind blew riders off their bikes between Llandudno and Bakoven. Around 700 riders were told that their race had ended and were ferried to the finish by bus.
The entire fleet of medical vehicles was also dispatched to the Atlantic Seaboard, where a host of minor injuries was reported.
Initial reports were that almost 10 000 riders were so shaken by the early morning wind that they stayed in bed. But Bellairs said this was due to initially inaccurate readings from the electronic mats which record passing riders at the start.
Ultimately, 41 000 riders had paid to enter, some 3 000 had requested substitutions and around 33 000 would initially have been expected to turn up on the day, he explained.
The turnout of around 30 000 meant that the battering southeaster had dissuaded around 3 000 riders.
"It's a very high percentage despite the weather," Bellairs said. "Huge respect to anyone who started the race. The people of Cape Town were also unbelievable and still showed up in huge numbers. There's never been a tour as tough as this one."
Despite the wind, Bellairs reported that only eight riders were expected to have spent last night in hospital - and said the good news was that the occurence of serious injury was far lower than usual.
Medical casualty expert Basil Bonner said the wind had clearly slowed riders down, so any falls had happened in a form of "suspended animation".
For once, the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour winner was not the most popular person on race day. Instead, all eyes were on Damon.
He rode in tandem with his brother Kyle, but confessed they had not had one stitch of training beforehand.
"I am really excited about the race and haven't been training but we will just see what happens," he said, just minutes before the start gun went off for his 8.27am set off.
He said he had decided to ride the Cycle Tour in support of former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar's initiative, Make A Difference (MAD), which provides education opportunities for under-privileged children.
Damon, who is in South Africa filming a movie about the Springboks' 1995 World Cup victory, completed the race in just over seven hours, but apparently stopped over for a few drinks in Camps Bay.
Asked how the race went, Damon replied: "It was good, but it was tough and windy."
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