The Cape Town Cycle Tour, which was due to take place on Sunday morning was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions.
Over 35,000 cyclists were set to tackle the 109km route around the Cape Peninsula.
A statement from tour organisers said, “Based on consultation with all the emergency services, the Joint Operations Centre of the Cape Town Cycle Tour 2017 regrets to announce that they have had to take the unprecedented step of cancelling this year’s 40th Cycle Tour.
This is due to winds in excess of 100km/h on parts of the route, and the need to urgently clear the roads for emergency vehicles to attend to fires.
All riders who have started on the route will be stopped at the end of the M3. They will be contained there and traffic authorities will escort them back on the M3.”
URGENT UPDATE. Due to extreme weather conditions, #CycleTour2017 has regrettably been cancelled. Please do NOT approach the start line.
— Cape Town Cycle Tour (@CTCycleTour) March 12, 2017
All riders who have started will be stopped at the end of the M3. They will be contained there & traffic will escort them back on the M3
— Cape Town Cycle Tour (@CTCycleTour) March 12, 2017
Watch below a video taken by a rider of the wind causing havoc.
For the first time in my life I saw a bicycle flying this morning. Sad but a good call by the @CTCycleTour to cancel the race. Safety first pic.twitter.com/bGhHFNcmAw
— OG Molefe (@OG_Molefe) March 12, 2017
Meanwhile, the Durban North Beach is out of bounds following massive waves washing over the promenade. No persons are allowed in the area until it has been declared safe by emergency services and activity has returned to normal.
Were you affected by these weather conditions in Cape Town or in Durban? Share your photos and videos with us on our Facebook page Roodepoort Northsider or tweet us @RoodepoortNorth