Tyler Lange didn’t take long to win this year’s 109km Cape Town Cycle Tour — a course record 2 hr 25 min 47 sec, in fact — and his triumph is the latest in a long Lange lineage.
That lineage goes as far back as 74 years ago when his grandad Helmut “Tich” Lange won the national road championships in 1951. Since then his dad, Malcolm, has won three Cape Town Cycle Tours, the most recent in 2010.
But now it’s 21-year-old Tyler’s time to shine. Riding for the ASAP World Team, he went into the Cycle Tour after a great week at Tour de Cap, having won two stages.
“That gives you a huge boost, knowing you’ve beaten 60%-70% of the bunch who’d be at the Tour,” he said from his base in Paarl where dad and mom, Jackie, have run the impressive DSV Shift Academy for the past four years. They coach about 20 cycling youngsters and the pair try to “teach young kids to be world champion people rather than purely world champ cyclists” Malcolm says.
Reflecting on his maiden Tour win Tyler says the breakaway took super-long to happen but he was patience personified and was back in the second bunch as they crested Suikerbossie, the final climb.
It boiled down to a final dash to the finish near Cape Town Stadium. “I got to the front before Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg [probably one of the most powerful sprinters SA has ever produced] took a bit of a flyer from about 300m out.
“We had come through the pack with such speed, it was nuts, we were averaging 60km/h for the last four kilometres but I’d beaten him twice at Tour de Cap so I knew I could beat him.”
Growing up with a champion father came with both privilege and pressures. “From as young as 13 I was very much a marked rider and was asked so many times if I’d be as good as my dad. I grew up driving in team cars from as young as 6 or 7 so got to know about tactics and stuff very early. I’m probably known as a bit of a ‘floater’ now as I know exactly where to sit in a bunch.”
He goes on to share “a cool moment” during this year’s Tour. “My dad also rode — I think he was in A batch — and he was going up Suikerbossie when someone recognised him and shouted, ‘Your boy, won!’
“He actually had to turn around and confirm what the guy said. From there to the finish he was super-emotional and I was in the middle of a TV interview when he finished and came straight over to me … a very special moment with it being the first father/son duo to win it.”
Young Lange was born to ride. Explains Malcolm, who won more than 400 races during his career: “Jackie was pregnant when I raced 2003 national road champs at Phakisa in Welkom. I was second that year, and when Tyler came into the world I was at my prime … a month after he was born my dad passed and we were relocating house in Johannesburg so I was dealing with three major events at the same time.”
Tyler may be young but he’s already a mature rider, having ridden in Europe for some years before he matriculated from Bridge House near Franschhoek in 2022. He did almost any sport available “except for cricket and golf, they’re just too ‘slow’ for me!”
He went to Europe for the first time in 2019, “mainly in Belgium where we raced two or three times a week, a great place and way to learn to race a bike. Then I signed a contract with EF Education’s Continental team and was based in Girona, Spain, [probably my favourite place in the world, where you get to train with the world’s top cyclists on a daily basis].”
But late in 2023 the continental team unwound and he started 2024 a short-term contract with a Belgian team. “Now I’m at the point of my career where I feel I need to be part of a team on a long-term basis. In fact, I would never have had such a good Tour du Cap if I hadn’t had a team.”
Since being with his ASAP team he’s had a number of wins, so the team ethic is suiting him as he maps out his future, with the CTCT championship label hopefully being noticed by the powers that be in Europe.
“I want to go back to Europe but want to focus on getting a few good results here in SA — every good result helps. My main focus is Amashova in KZN [KwaZulu-Natal] later this year. I was fourth last year and it’s a race that really suits me. I’ll also do quite a bit of racing in between, gravel and mountain bike, but mainly to just keep fit and strong.”
His father has also instilled in him the importance of balancing career and cycling.
“School is the most important thing … top cyclists are getting younger but it’s important to get school done, even though my school years felt like forever. Having a dad like I have definitely helps. He knows … one crash, a split-second later and your life is changed. So currently I’m studying online with thoughts of doing something insurance related much further down the line.”
Says Lange senior: “Ty’s just always been on a bike. Up in Joburg he used to ride up and down our driveway on his little Raleigh bike. He must honestly have racked up thousands of kilometres.
“People still relate to him and me, but I’m done now … it’s Tyler’s time to shine. He’s got a great coach in Barry Austin and I only give him some opinions on tactics and so on if he asks — I’ve never needed to push him, he does that himself. I just support, assist and back him up.”
There’s also a Lange even more junior than Tyler. One of his biggest supporters is sister Kaylin who turned 19 this week so more reason for the Langes to celebrate.
When it comes to getting back from injury, young Tyler is one of the lucky ones. “I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve never broken a bone. I’ve had cracked ribs but nothing broken.
“The worst crash I’ve probably had was coming down Bainskloof [Pass] here in the Boland three years ago. I was on the steepest section and a baboon ran out in front of a car! I had nowhere to go and lost the bike — as well as most of the skin on both of my legs.”
Mom Jacky is as proud as punch right now and understandably gets a bit emotional when asked for input about her son: “Ty’s simply one of the kindest people I know, and liked by young and old.
“He’s a little guy but with the hugest of hearts and confidence gained through talking about and doing something he loves.
“I’ve had to frame so many jerseys of his cycling heroes like Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan for his room.
“He’s a quiet boy but speaks with such knowledge … cycling has given him so many life lessons, school was very important but the sheer life-skills that cycling has taught him are next level.
“I spent many sleepless nights with him away in Europe while he was still at school; but I’m just so proud of him, he never gives up and he doesn’t have to live up to his dad’s reputation, he’s lived his own life.”
Away from the bike and you can find the pocket rocket that is Tyler (1.69m and 59kg) playing a fair bit of padel and racing jet-skis with cycling mates in December during base training.
His need for speed is real though. “Anyone who knows me will know I’m pretty nuts about cars, especially the supercars.”
Nuts is an expression that Lange often uses — chances are that he himself will be an even tougher nut to crack on local and international roads in future.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.