FAMILY FUN:

Aneeqa O’Malley with her aunt, Laa’iqah Anthony, was one of hundreds of children who took part in the Cape Town Cycle Tour Junior fun ride at the weekend. The Junior event takes place a week before the main race, at the Cape Town Stadium precinct.

HUNDREDS of children and their parents lined up yesterday for the Junior Cycle Tour on their two and three wheelers.

This was the second event, after the Mountain Bike challenge on Saturday, which will culminate in the Cape Town Cycle Tour on Sunday.

Sam Gaze won the Mountain Bike Challenge at the Uitspan Farm on Saturday.

A group of 10 riders, including Florian Vogel, Pyga-Euro Steel’s Matthys Beukes, Phil Buys as well as Gert Heyns from Team DSV, formed soon after the start and pushed the pace early on.

“I was left out of the tussle early on; Howie Grotts and Florian Vogel rode away up the course and – with all the training going on for the World Cup – I’m pretty tired, so I knew I could only ride one speed all the way to the finish,” Gaze said.

This year’s route had been extended to 60km with an extra five added to the existing skeleton designed by Meurant Botha. While dry and dusty, the trails rode blisteringly fast. Gaze managed to work his way back.

“Once back on, I knew where we had to be strong on the last couple of climbs into the finish,” Gaze said.

“The 2018 instalment has been a great success. Despite the very warm weather and the Western Cape being in such a dire drought I think riders have had a fantastic time,” David Bellairs, marketing, sponsorship and communications director of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust, said.