Should the CTCT race format change?

[FlashJordan]

Prudential Ride London operates like Diesel's idea. Crowds start early morning. Pros race at 2pm. Pros do start at a slightly different location and they do a few loops around Box Hill area but the general route is very similar. Granted it is a 160km ride,but it can work. Get the elites to do a few loops around Smitswinkel and Redhill. It does create a great vibe for spectators.

[Stricker]

I have been thinking about the current format for the CTCT and just how silly it is to have the Pro men and women start so early in the morning. Currently the back markers are starting at the back and occupying the roads till 4:30pm?

 

Why not start the Pro's Men at 13h00 and ladies at ladies at 13:00

 

IF the main fun ride starts at 6:00am around 95% of the back markers are in .

the other 5% can be handled through imposing a more stringent cut off of 6hrs or via a motorcade travelling ahead of the peleton by 10min to clear the road. Once the pro racers are through the roads are opened to traffic again.

the advantage is more of the men and women races will be watched and more of the participants will get to see the finish.

Its a draw card to keep more people at the Race village which could also help alleviate the traffic. Maybe the more riders will prefer to ride off to find a suitable vantage point to watch the Pro race.

 

I'm just thinking there's a better way to structure the day's racing?

This is not a bad idea for pro men.

 

1: Groups still leave

: &%@ A1 A2 ……. Females stay same but get all the attention during their race.

2:  So Pro men will start @ lets say (12:00-14:00) - that will allow Last group 2-4 hours head start.

3: As suggested a 5/10min road clearing patrol ahead of Elites to ensure everyone still on route move to side and transform themselves into spectators and get there cheering pom poms out. on squeeze points like smits and chapies etc where no spectator space a 30min temporary climb/road closure to ensure no one is on the climb when elites get on it.

4:Then finally a lets call it 5/10min open roads again car that will inform cyclist they can ride again and then followed by time cut and sweeper vans.

 

 

Obviously lots of planning to do in order to make this change a success but think this is really a good idea , pros will actually have cheering along the road as it wont be silly hours of the morning, slower riders will get to see race.

 

Win Win for all. 

[Robbie Stewart]

Reversing the route is a good idea

 

I’m tired of pedaling squares up Sugarbushie

 

And if yesterday is anything to go by, tail winds for most of the time. Fast blokes will be even faster.

[Skubarra]

 

I but because I heard many people asking "who won?"

 

then if I looked at the stands around the finish area they were moslty empty. How is that good for sponsors (and btw I ear the PnP won't be sponsoring the event going forward and that CTT is having a hard time finding a new sponsor). Could jsut be  rumor but I've heard it from multiple sources.

 

 

Off topic but was this year the first time Cape Argus was not involved at all, I think last year they were still sponsors even though not part of the name anymore?

 

Oh and as I stopped at the finish one of the first things a fellow rider asked me was "Who won?" - as if I would have any better info than him...

[LeoKnight]

And if yesterday is anything to go by, tail winds for most of the time. Fast blokes will be even faster.

 

I would not mind a reverse, but thinking about the finish, downhill with a potential tail win, that will make for some hair raising moments, especially for the guys fighting for position 231

[Wannabe]

I would not mind a reverse, but thinking about the finish, downhill with a potential tail win, that will make for some hair raising moments, especially for the guys fighting for position 231

 

It was like that for the two years we went over Ou Kaaps. There were no issues. 

[Kranswurm]

Nyet

[RaymondC]

Off topic, why doesn't the DC switch the race teams to start first... every year its a nightmare shouting move left please.

[Gav1]

tweaking may be good to keep it exiting and fixing problem areas, but Im not sure wholesale changes are needed.

 

Reverse ctct does sound exiting though.... Maybe as a special edition lol

[Shebeen]

I don't think anything needs to be done to the race route or timing.

It works within the (many) constraints present.

 

Need to remember it is a fun ride with an elite bunch off the front.

A one day pro race that is just 109km with very few climbs...it's a short easy race in their books.

 

The best way to improve things is the Giro del Capo concept. The saturday finale hill climb was awesome, lap race in helshoogte was great too. I think the pros would much rather have a decent week of racing than a tweaked argus route/timing.

 

CoCT really needs to be the one to do this, as the indirect benefits will be numerous. make second week of march bike week, in the same way that Ride London has become a weekend of riding.

[Andreas_187]

If anything the pro's should finish at the top of signal hill.

That's where they switch to MTB and finish down at the stadium using any route they choose

[Arrie]

Off topic but we decided to stay and watch the guys after i was done....there was some interesting but dangerous "pro "sprints to the finish line, especially late afternoon.

[eddy]

Rolling road closure, sweeping of stragglers is a logistical nightmare.

 

Getting the backmarkers out of the way early enough will require a very late start and/or bigger batches and/or starting earlier and/or smaller gaps.

 

But.....

 

How about turning the pro-CTCT into a real bike race.

 

Give the back markers sufficient time to get to Simonstown ahead of the Pro riders and swing the latter up Redhill to do two or three loops back over Ou-Kaapse.

 

It will create the necessary time gap and also add some real bite to the race.

[Me rida my bicycle]

Don't see the point in changing something that has worked for more than 40 years. You don't like it don't do it simple as that.

[Boerklong]

It took somewhere between 0 and 40 years to relocate the Expo as well as the start area.

Good luck with this ...

Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

[FootballingCyclist]

Reversing the route is a good idea

I’m tired of pedaling squares up Sugarbushie

Agreed, Reverse route and head back maybe along high level road instead of all the way along NM Blvrd, straight down past Gardens Centre and straight along that road up that horrible little hill at the end of long and loop streets, then left up Kloof to finish on top for the Pro's/seeded riders(which means that section of road wont be closed all day), and the rest of the race can finish the same place we finished when the route was shortened??