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SA’s Pritzen and Swiss Stehli Power to Win in Longest Stage

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on SA’s Pritzen and Swiss Stehli Power to Win in Longest Stage

On a day that many believed would end in a sprint finish, South African champion Marc Pritzen and his Swiss partner Felix Stehli (Honeycomb 226ers) pulled off an audacious victory on Stage 3 of the Absa Cape Epic over a fast 140km route from Montagu to Greyton on Wednesday. 

The two pulled clear of the leading bunch of contenders on a rainy and muddy day to win in 4 hours, 19 minutes, 52 seconds – an average speed of 32.33km/h – over a course dotted with tar sections, single track and long gravel roads but with relatively little climbing of 1750m.

The Buff-BH team of Wout Alleman and Martin Stosek (Buff-BH) led home the chase group that included Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria), 1:10 behind the ecstatic winners. Overnight leaders Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) fought back from an early puncture to finish 2:26 behind the winners but relinquished their zebra-striped, yellow jersey to Braidot and Avondetto. The two are now 1 minute 14 seconds ahead of the South Africans.

In the women’s race, world marathon champion Kate Courtney of the US and her Italian teammate Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) fought hard to try and open a gap over GC leaders Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi). But the South African Dutch team managed to bring back all their accelerations before eventually pulling clear to win their fourth stage in a row. As they have all week, the plucky She Sends outfit finished second and now trails by 4:53 in the overall.

In other notable results, current World XC champion Jenny Rissveds of Sweden and husband, Denmark’s Simon Andreassen, continued their domination of the Mixed category having won every stage of the race. They lead the GC by 23:27 ahead of Scott Brasil team, Gabriela Ferolla and Huge Neto.

Men’s Race
Over one of the longest stages in Absa Cape Epic history, the combination of tar roads, single track and gravel tracks made for a fast pace at the front of the men’s elite race. By halfway, the group included almost all the elite teams, and, with few climbs to break it up, the stage looked as if it would be decided by a sprint.

But Pritzen and Stehli were eager to upset the party.

With 40km to go the plucky Honeycomb 226ers team saw a lull in the pace and decided to attack the lead group that included almost all the favourites. The only notable exceptions were Beers and Nortje who were forced to chase for the second time in the week after a puncture to Nortje’s wheel at the 70km mark.

Pritzen and Stehli quickly opened up a lead of over a minute, which yo-yo’d as the chasing pack – which included the second-placed overall team of Braidot & Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) – tried to work together to bring the escapees back. But with a strong tail wind pushing the riders towards the finish near Greyton, the gap never closed sufficiently, and they held on to win by an impressive 1:10. It was a first Epic stage win for both of them.

“It’s an incredible feeling to get a result here. It’s all we could have asked for,” said the 26-year-old. Pritzen. “We didn’t plan anything and were just racing instinctively. When we noticed hesitation in the group, with a split behind, we thought it would give us a chance to open up a quick 10 seconds. And it did.

“And then we had to time trail which and I knew that with the wattage I was putting out, the group behind was going to struggle to close it.”

Stehli, 25, made history by winning the stage on a bigger 32-inch wheeled bike. Standard mountain bikes have a 29-inch wheel, but Stehli believed that his bigger wheel size contributed to their victory.

“It’s ideal for these types of conditions. It just rolls well and helped me a lot today,” said the Swiss. 

For the new yellow jersey holders, caution was key, despite the fast pace, and it reaped them the biggest reward.

“We didn’t really have a plan, but we are happy the way it turned out,” said Avondetto. “We always want to just stay with the front group and not have any mechanicals. It feels good to be in yellow now.”


Women’s Race
The women’s elite race, over 108km with 1450m of climbing, was tightly bunched for most of the first half before Courtney and Seiwald took the fight to the leaders and, at one stage, managed to open up a gap. But the overall leaders were able to pull back the accelerations every time, and like they did on Tuesday, finally pulled away with 10km to go.

“It was a pretty crazy day out there today,” said Lill. “It started off as a nice dry track but then it turned into a complete mud fest. Kate and Greta threw in some nice attacks, and we had to chase a few times. But we had the legs to pull it back.”

The She Sends Foundation team are now 4:53 behind the lead but was still upbeat about their performance.

“Conditions were formidable, but this is the Cape Epic,” said Courtney, pointing to her muddied legs. “But we were sending it out there and giving it everything.”

On Thursday, riders take on Stage 4 over 87km with 1750m of climbing. The women’s elite race is over 61km with 1450m of climbing.

 RESULTS


Elite Men Stage

1. HONEYCOMB 226ERS: Marc PRITZEN & Felix STEHLI (4:19.53)​

2. BUFF-BH Wout ALLEMAN Martin STOSEK (4:21.03 | 1:10)

3. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (4:21.03 | +1:10)
4. CANYON Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (4:21.21 | +1:29)
5. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matt BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (4:22.19 | 2:26)​

Elite Men GC
1.  WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (12:39.28)
2. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (12:40.41 | +1:14)​

3. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (12:41.57 | +2:29)

4.. BUFF-BH Wout ALLEMAN & Martin STOSEK (12:44.21 | +4:53)

5. CANYON: Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (12:44.38 | +5:10)

Elite Women Stage

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (3:58.56)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (4:00.18 | +1:22)
3. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (4:03.05 | +4:08)

4. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB Hayley PREEN & Hayley SMITH (4:03.06 | +4:10)
5. TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (4:03.07 | +4:10)

 

Elite Women GC

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (11:22.13)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (11:27.06 | +4:53)

3. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (11:52.24 | +30:11)

4. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (11:53.16 | +31:02)
5. TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (11:53.46 | +31:32)

 

SPECIAL JERSEYS GC

Toyota Mixed

1. TEAM 69: Jenny RISSVEDS & Simon ANDREASSEN (14:42.36)

Absa African Men

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (12:40.41)

Absa African Women

1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW

Open Women:

1. JOY RIDE: Jennifer BURTNER & Callah ROBINSON (20:44.38)

Open Men:

1. COLIBRI CYCLING: Eimantas GUDISKIS & Vladas JURKEVICIUS (14:08.24)​

Great Grand Masters Men

1. OTB: Pieter MULLER & Corrie MULLER​ (17:59.18)

GIC Grand Masters Women

1. UAG EPIC: Martha KOEKEMOER & Jenny RÖNNGREN (19:02.09)

GIC Grand Masters Men

1. ORBEA FOX FACTORY: Ibon ZUGASTI & Ernesto MENDOZA (14:37.25)

NTT Data Masters Women

1. IGLU THERAPY CHEMCHAMP RACING Juanita Rose MACKENZIE Rouxda GROBLER (18:24.39)

NTT Data Masters Men

1. SONGO-GIC-NINETY ONE Christoph SAUSER Craig URIA (14:01.43)

Exxaro Women’s Jersey

1. EXXARO MANGANESE LADIES 1: Tsholofelo NKOSI & Bontle PHEPISO (22:54.35)

Exxaro Men’s Jersey

1. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 2: Ethan MICHAELS & Damon TERBLANCHE (15:17.34)

 To follow the Absa Cape Epic action live, mountain biking fans are encouraged to tune into the Absa Cape Epic’s live broadcast on the Epic Series YouTube Channel here. Daily highlights from the race can also be viewed on the YouTube Channel, and the excitement from the trails of Western Cape will be shared on the Absa Cape Epic Facebook page and @capeepic on Instagram. To find out more, visit https://www.epic-series.com/races/capeepic . 

 

XC Specialists Gaze and Schwarzbauer Finally Get Their Reward

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on XC Specialists Gaze and Schwarzbauer Finally Get Their Reward

On a course where most of the climbing happened in the first half of the 102km stage, former World XC champion Sam Gaze and short course specialist Luca Schwarzbauer showed off their XC class in the final 20km to win Stage 2 of the Absa Cape Epic in Montagu on Tuesday.

Gaze, from New Zealand, and German Schwarzbauer won the dusty rocky stage in 3 hours 54 minutes 55 seconds ahead of Italian Wilier-Vittoria outfit Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto. Overall leaders Matth Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) finished third.

The Canyon team’s win moved them up to sixth on the General Classification while Beers and Nortje’s overall lead was reduced to just two seconds ahead of the Italian team.

In the women’s race – over 80km with 1750m of climbing – South African champion Candice Lill and her Dutch partner Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi) extended their lead over Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) after winning the stage in 3 hours 30 minutes. But Courtney and Seiwald firmed up their second place overall, finishing just 37 seconds behind on the stage.


Men’s Race

In a stage packed with climbs in the first half, it was always going to be a fast finish for all those who had survived the earlier ascents. By the time the race had made it over the Ouberg Pass, eight teams were still in the lead group, as Beers and Nortje sat on the front, tapping out a steady pace.

But, with 25km to go, the XC specialists began to make their presence felt. First, it was the tall figure of powerful former Olympic XC bronze medalist David Serrano who pushed the pace up front before Schwarzbauer and Gaze began their surges. The early attacks split the front group before a final selection of seven teams made their way into the last 10km.

Gaze and Schwarzbauer animated all the action, and it was clear that their powerful accelerations would be difficult to control as they neared the finish. Predictably, the two rounded the final bend together with only Wilier-Vittoria and Toyota Specialized Imbuko in sight.

“The fun level was high but the suffer level was even higher,” a delighted Schwarzbauer said. “When you go on an all-out attack and it doesn’t work it is the most terrible thing. We attacked like that two times, and luckily the second one worked. The finish today was like a short track race because it was all about positioning and we could use our abilities.”

On Stage 1, the two Canyon riders suffered chain and tyre issues and lost time on the overall classification but still feel they are in with a shout for the overall title as they lie in sixth 4:58 behind.

“There are still five days left and this is the Cape Epic,” said Gaze. “We had some bad luck yesterday but maybe we will benefit somewhere else.”

After winning the opening prologue and finishing third twice, the Toyota Specialized Imbuko team did most of the early pace setting before the late attacks split up the field.

“Today was a weird day. It was quite boring but still rough and rocky,” said Nortje. “Matt and I just rode at the front just to keep safe because there were rocks flying all around. But the XCO guys did some big kicks in the final 5km, so I was quite surprised that we still managed to follow them.”

 

Women’s Race

As it did on Stage 1, Stage 2 of the women’s elite race began with a short, sharp climb out of the gates and then on to the long Ouberg Pass. By the time they had breached the second climb second-placed overall Courtney and Seiwald had split the group with only Lill and Keller, who were able to follow.

Behind them there was drama for the third-place team Rosa Van Doorn and Vera Looser (Buff-Bh Efficient Infiniti) when Van Doorn punctured just after the first climb and was unable to fix the puncture. The Dutch woman was forced to ride on the soft tyre insert until the next tech zone but, to add their misery, their men’s team had taken Van Doorn’s spare wheel. The team eventually managed to scramble to a ninth-place finish but lost 23 minutes to the overall leaders and now lie fifth on the GC.

Meanwhile, up front Seiwald and Courtney were still putting pressure on the orange jersey holders as they set the pace for most of the stage. But they paid the price when Lill and Keller accelerated up a small climb with 9km to go and were unable to follow.

“Once we had established a gap, we pushed pretty hard to the finish,’ Keller said. “We wanted to put in as much time as we could.”

Margot Moschetti and Claudia Peretti (Symbtech.Net) moved on to the final step of the podium after finishing seventh on the stage. They now trail the overall leaders by 25 minutes.

On Wednesday, riders take on the longest stage of the 2026 event over 140km with 1750m of climbing. The women’s elite race will be over 108km with 1450m of climbing.

 

RESULTS

Elite Men Stage

1. CANYON: Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (3:54.55)

2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (3:54.56 | +2)

3. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (3:54.59 | +4)

4. TORPADO KENDA FSA Fabian RABENSTEINER & Casey SOUTH (3:55.06 | +11)

5. ORIGINE-WILIER: Mathis AZZARO & Juri ZANOTTI (3:55.07 | +12)


Elite Men GC

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (8:18.22)

2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (8:18.24 | +2)

3. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (8:18.51 | +29)

4. ORIGINE-WILIER: Mathis AZZARO & Juri ZANOTTI (8:18.56 | +34)

5. TORPADO KENDA FSA: Fabian Rabensteiner & Casey South (8:20.07 | +1:45)

 

Elite Women Stage

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (3:30.00)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (3:03.48 | +1:57)

3. TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (3:40.43 | +10:43)

4. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB Hayley PREEN & Hayley SMITH (3:40.44 | +10:43)

5. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (3:42.49 | +12.49)

 

Elite Women GC

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (7:23.17)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (7:26.48 | +3:31)

3.  SYMBTECH.NET: Margot MOSCHETTI & Claudia PERETTI (7:48.21 | +25:04)

4. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (7:49.18 | +26:00)

5. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (7:50.11 | +26:54)

 

SPECIAL JERSEYS GC

Toyota Mixed

1. TEAM 69: Jenny RISSVEDS & Simon ANDREASSEN (9:42.33)

Absa African Men

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (8:18.22)

Absa African Women

1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (7:56.19)

Open Women:

1. JOY RIDE: Jennifer BURTNER & Callah ROBINSON (13:54.08)

Open Men:

1. COLIBRI CYCLING: Eimantas GUDISKIS & Vladas JURKEVICIUS (9:22.20)

Great Grand Masters Men

1. OTB: Pieter MULLER & Corrie MULLER (12:08.18)

GIC Grand Masters Women

1. UAG EPIC: Martha KOEKEMOER & Jenny RÖNNGREN (12:58.18)

GIC Grand Masters Men

1. ORBEA FOX FACTORY: Ibon ZUGASTI & Ernesto MENDOZA (9:46.02)

NTT Data Masters Women

1. USWE SA: Mari DU TOIT & Janine MULLER (12:25.38)

NTT Data Masters Men

1. CZECHROCKET&SWISSDIESEL: Pavel gonda Tobias LUTHI (9:12.46)

Exxaro Women’s Jersey

1. EXXARO MANGANESE LADIES 1: Tsholofelo NKOSI & Bontle PHEPISO (15:35.34)

Exxaro Men’s Jersey

1. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 2: Ethan MICHAELS & Damon TERBLANCHE (10:13.23)

To follow the Absa Cape Epic action live, mountain biking fans are encouraged to tune into the Absa Cape Epic’s live broadcast on the Epic Series

YouTube Channel here

Daily highlights from the race can also be viewed on the YouTube Channel, and the excitement from the trails of Western Cape will be shared on the Absa Cape Epic Facebook page and @capeepic on Instagram. To find out more, visit https://www.epic-series.com/races/capeepic