WAR ON WHEELS

IF YOU GO FOR A RIDE IN CAPE TOWN AT THE WRONG TIME, YOU COULD FIND YOURSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF A CYCLING GANG WAR, WHERE THE WEAPONS OF CHOICE ARE STRAVA RECORDS AND SALTY COMMENTS ON INSTAGRAM. THIS IS THE TALE OF THREE RIVAL ROADIE CREWS AND A REMINDER THAT CYCLING IS A SPORT BEST TAKEN WITH A SENSE OF HUMOUR.

- DAVID MOSELEY

THE WORLD OF SPORT IS LITTERED WITH FIERCE RIVALRIES. These duels between mighty powers of similar ability heighten the drama for fans. Think Australia and England at each other's throats during the Ashes.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic going shot for shot on the tennis court (or Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, a few generations ago). Real Madrid and Barcelona taking turns to dominate Spanish football. South Africa versus New Zealand in rugby; Scotland versus England, too.

If we want to be overly dramatic, Tonya Harding versus Nancy Kerrigan is always worth a mention - though most sporting rivalries don't end in someone being hired to break the knee of an opponent. But name a sport, and you'll be able to pick out the biggest, wildest, most dramatic rivalry.

In the world of cycling, you'd think it would be Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard locking horns for global supremacy - and in the context of the Tour de France, you'd be 100% correct. Mathieu van der Poel vs Wout van Aert in the one-day races would surely also classify as a worthy modern rivalry.

But the real battle - the down-and-dirty scrap, the bare-knuckle brawl for bicycling's crown of best and brightest - actually takes place a lot closer to home, on the pothole-free streets of Cape Town's plush, posh Atlantic Seaboard, between middle-aged men with aspirations of glory and a penchant for slinging mud on social media...

THE ROAD WARRIORS

For those not familiar with Cape Town, or Cape Town's cycling scene, one of the most popular cycling routes in the city is the Sea Point to Chapman's Peak (or Noordhoek) out-and-back along the Atlantic Seaboard. If you've ridden the Cape Town Cycle Tour, it's essentially the final 25km section of that event.