Stage 1

Noon Gun

The mountain peaks of the Western Cape are dotted with signal guns dating back to Dutch colonial times. These would fire to alert farmers in the interior that a ship was docking in Table Bay and required restocking of supplies for the journey east. Stage 1 has a reputation for being a shot across the bows, a day which sees hopes dashed and protagonists for the week ahead stake their claims. 2025 will be no different, steep gradients are the order of the day which begins benignly enough before devolving into a brutal series of back-to-back climbs. There will be no strength in numbers or hiding in a group. It will be team vs team, mano a mano, across the cols of the Cape.