![\"ccs-62657-0-70426500-1547462789.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-70426500-1547462789.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Photo credit: Sam Clark.<\/span><\/p>\nHelshoogte is the biggest climb on the 102km circular route and comes well after halfway, rather than at the start of the race. This will necessitate a slightly different riding strategy. We quizzed a few locals on how they would attack it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is crucial to eat and drink enough in the first 65kms,\u201d advises marathon-distance specialist Ariane L\u00fcthi, a long-time Stellenbosch resident who does much of her training on the climb. She suggests cyclists start fueling after about an hour. \u201cAt the latest,\u201d she says, \u201cnot after two hours, which is what a lot of people do because that\u2019s when they start feeling hungry. Then it is usually too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
As predominantly a mountain biker, she is also all-too aware of the benefits a rider can get from riding cleverly in a bunch. \u201cRide smart and draft as much as you can \u2013 while taking your turn at the front of course \u2013 to conserve as much energy as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Men\u2019s elite racer Max Sullivan, who also trains on the pass almost daily with his team, Mad Macs presented by H\u00e4zz, echoed L\u00fcthi\u2019s sentiments.<\/p>\n \u201cRide smart and then be ready for the climb,\u201d he says. According to Sullivan, whether a climb is at the start or the end of a race, it always helps knowing how long they are, both in distance and in time. \u201cStrava has the pass set as a category three climb, although a European mountain goat would refer to it as a speed bump,\u201d he jokes adding that the official Strava segment is 4.6km long at an average gradient of 5%, with the first 500m or so are at around 10%, whilst the rest of the climb meanders between a gentle 1 and 5 percent. \u201cGert Heyns, the South African XCM champ, has the fastest time at just under nine-and-a-half minutes, whilst the elite bunch is likely to go just over 10 minutes on a good day. Most riders will spend anywhere between 14 and 25 minutes getting up the climb,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/a>Photo credit: Sam Clark.<\/span><\/p>\n