GC Leaders Dominate Queen Stage in Tough Conditions

Both the overall leaders in the men’s and women’s elite categories showed why they are the strongest teams at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic during the Queen stage from Greyton to Stellenbosch on Friday. In the men’s race, Italians Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) won their first stage of the week to extend their overall lead, while the overall leaders in the women’s race, Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi), secured their fourth stage win of the week.

The overall leaders in both the men’s and women’s races of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic proved why they are at the top of the results page after a wet and muddy Stage 5 ‘Queen Stage’ from Greyton to Stellenbosch on Friday.

In the men’s race Italians Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) finally got their first stage win despite having led the race overall for the last three days. The two finished the brutally hard 134km, with 2750m of climbing, in 5 hours 9 minutes and 51 seconds, with David Valero and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) eight seconds back. The all-South African pairing of Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) hung on for third to retain their second place in the overall classification.

In the shorter elite women’s race – over 90km with 2150m of climbing –  South African champion Candice Lill and World Short Course Champion, Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi), were unstoppable as they finished just over nine minutes ahead of Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) and now lead the overall classification by 14 minutes, 18 seconds.

Men’s Race

Trailing the leaders by just 1 minute and 28 seconds, Beers and Nortje were aggressive early on as a crosswind on the open gravel roads played into the powerful Beers’ strengths. At 14km, the two South Africans put in a strong attack in an attempt to break up the lead group. The attack was brought under control and it was eventually the 7C-Pedregal team of Luis Meija and Keyron Fonseca who managed to get a gap up the road just before halfway. On stage 1, Meija and Fonseca suffered major mechanical problems, including broken wheels, which forced them to ride two-up on one bike at times just to get to the finish.

But their time in the limelight was eventually snuffed out just after the Houw Hoek water point as the leading riders started upping the pace towards the big climbs of the day. As they have done all week, the two Italians rarely took the lead, simply following the attacks and minimising their energy expenditure. The race also included a compulsory portage section down the Gantouw Pass at 90km, which further split up the leading group.

By the time the race had summited the long Lourensford climb and reached the Eden trails of Stellenbosch, three teams remained with former Olympic bronze medallist Valero setting a furious pace. But the Italians were eager to get a stage win, and as the group entered the final section of singletrack 3km from the finish, Avondetto darted ahead. It looked to be the race-winning move, but moments later, he crashed off the trail. Quickly remounting, the Italian finally rejoined his partner up front, and the two recovered to open up enough of a gap over the pursuers to have time to celebrate before the finish.

“We really wanted a win and it’s nice to get it on the Queen stage,” said the 25-year-old Avondetto, a former World Under 23 champion. “Today was quite challenging in the first 40 to 50km. We are now looking forward to the final two days.”

Beers and Nortje, despite their best efforts, were unable to break the Italians but were happy to have hung on to second place overall.

“We saw there was a crosswind and we threw in a haymaker,” said Beers. “I think it caught a few teams off guard and there was a lot of panic. But we were hoping to burn a few more teams. By the time we got down the Gantouw Pass, our legs were dying and we had to go full cockroach mode all the way home.”

After their second place, the Klimatiza Orbea team moved up to third overall, 5:59 behind the leaders.

Women’s Race

If there was any doubt that Lill and Keller were the class act of this year’s Absa Cape Epic, they certainly proved it on Friday.

After just 10km Seiwald was forced to stop when a stick got caught in her rear mechanism, and it was the signal for the Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team to fly the coop. By halfway, they had already opened up an almost nine-minute gap as Seiwald struggled to keep pace with her World Marathon champion partner and the Chemchamp Honeycomb team of  Hayley Preen and Haley Smith (Chemchamp Honeycomb) closed in.

Lill and Keller maintained their pace in the difficult conditions, eventually crossing the finish line in Coetzenburg in 4:29.08.

“It was a tough stage but we didn’t want to get involved in racing the She Sends Foundation team the whole way,” said Lill. “My favourite way of racing is to race from the front, where we can set our own pace and rhythm.”

Meanwhile Seiwald admitted that she had struggled.

“Kate was my hero today. She literally pushed me up every hill,” the Italian said. “I just didn’t have the legs today.”

On Saturday, the penultimate stage is a relatively short 76km but with 2460m of climbing while the women’s elite race will be raced over 62km with 1850m of climbing.

Early Bird Entries

On Friday, organisers also announced that early bird entries for the 2027 Absa Cape Epic will open on Monday at 4pm for Full Access members and 5pm for general entries. Check out www-cape-epic.com for all the details.

 

RESULTS

 

Elite Men Stage

1. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (5:09.51)

2. KLIMATIZA ORBEA David Valero & Marc Stutzmann (5:09.59 | +8)

3. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matt BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (5:10.03 | +12)

4. CANYON Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (5:11.01 | +1:09)

5 TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO 2 Marco Joubert & Travis STEDMAN (5:12.56 | +3:04)

 

Elite Men GC

1.  WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (21:18.51)

2. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (21:20.40 | +1:49)

3. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (21:24.50 | +5:59)

4. CANYON:Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (21:25.10 | +6:19)

5. BUFF-BH Wout ALLEMAN & Martin STOSEK (21:34.25 | +15:34)

 

Elite Women Stage

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (4:29.08)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (4:38.37 | +9)

3. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB Hayley PREEN & Hayley SMITH (4:40.40 | +11:32)

4. MASSI ISB SPORT Monica CALEDERON & Tessa KORTEKAAS (4:43.32 | +14:24)

5 TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (4:44.43 | +15.34)

 

Elite Women GC

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (18:48.02)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (19:02.21 | +14:18)

3.  CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (19:31.27 | +43:24)

4 TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (19:39.07 | +51:04)

5 SYMBTECH.NET Margot MOSCHETTI Claudia PERETTI  (19:53.03 | 1:05.00)

 

SPECIAL JERSEYS GC

Toyota Mixed

1. TEAM 69: Jenny RISSVEDS & Simon ANDREASSEN (25:01.41)

Absa African Men

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (21:20.40)

Absa African Women

1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (19:59.45)

Open Women:

1. JOY RIDE: Jennifer BURTNER & Callah ROBINSON (35:01.36)

Open Men:

1. COLIBRI CYCLING: Eimantas GUDISKIS & Vladas JURKEVICIUS (24:10.11)

Great Grand Masters Men

1. OTB: Pieter MULLER & Corrie MULLER (31:21.41)

GIC Grand Masters Women

1. UAG EPIC: Martha KOEKEMOER & Jenny RÖNNGREN (32:15.17)

GIC Grand Masters Men

1. ORBEA FOX FACTORY: Ibon ZUGASTI & Ernesto MENDOZA (24:49.43)

NTT Data Masters Women

1. IGLU THERAPY CHEMCHAMP RACING Juanita Rose MACKENZIE Rouxda GROBLER (31.19.04)

NTT Data Masters Men

1. CZECHROCKETS&SWISSDIESEL Pavel GONDA Tobias Luthi (23:40.55)

Exxaro Women’s Jersey

1. EXXARO MANGANESE LADIES 1: Tsholofelo NKOSI & Bontle PHEPISO (40:01.06)

Exxaro Men’s Jersey

1. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 2: Ethan MICHAELS & Damon TERBLANCHE (25:25.20)

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 SeriesYouTube 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

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

 

Beers and Nortje Show Fighting Spirit as Alleman and Stosek Win Stage 1

After suffering a rear wheel puncture just before halfway, yellow jersey leaders Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) fought back from what looked to be an unassailable deficit to finish with the lead bunch and retain the overall lead after Stage 1 of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic in Montagu on Monday.

Belgian Wout Alleman and Czech Martin Stosek (Buff-BH) won the stage after fighting off five other teams in a chaotic final few kilometres that came down to a finish line sprint. Alleman crossed the line first and Stosek third to take the win in 3 hours 38 minutes and 42 seconds. Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) grabbed second with Beers and Nortje third, just two seconds behind.

Beers and Nortje still lead overall, four seconds ahead of the all-Italian Wilier-Vittoria team with David Valero Serrano and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) third on the GC, 20 seconds off the pace.

The 90km stage included 2150m of climbing over rocky, dusty terrain. The last time the race visited Montagu was in 2007 

In the women’s race – over a shorter 66km route with 1800m of climbing – Prologue winners Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi) slowly turned up the heat after halfway to pull away from their closest rivals and win the stage by 1 minute 35 seconds ahead of Rosa Van Doorn and Vera Looser (Buff-Bh Efficient Infiniti) with Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) finishing in third, 1:56 behind.

Men’s Race

The men’s race started half an hour earlier to accommodate expected high temperatures in the area. SA champion Marc Pritzen (Honeycomb 226ers) set the early pace only to find his partner Feliz Stehli struggling at the back which forced him to pull back.

The Canyon team of Luca Schwarzbauer and former World Marathon champion Sam Gaze made a brief flurry at the front, eager to put the pressure on. But a mechanical issue forced them to stop and then chase back, finishing 12th. But they will be a team to watch for stage wins over the next few days.

The Klimatiza Orbea suffered a similar fate with an ill-timed puncture just over 10km from the finish, forcing them to also chase back to the lead group.

But it was Beers and Nortje’s puncture that looked set to relegate them down the GC after they struggled to plug the hole and had to wait for their back-up team to swap wheels and continue.

“When I saw that the gap was 3:40 I thought, oh dear, that’s a proper one and I wasn’t sure we’d get that back,” Beers, a three-time winner, said. “But we just kept the speed on the corners high and flowed and sometimes you can ride a lot faster than the group that way. You learn over the years where to spend your effort and, in the end, we had a great ride.”

Nortje was thankful that he had come to ride the trails around Montagu in February, so he had a good idea of the terrain.

“I knew what was coming, where the descents were fast and open and where we had to push,” the 24-year-old said.

The two eventually returned to the lead pack with 15km to go, and despite some further attacks, the local pairing were able to match the pace and retain their overall lead.

But the victory belonged to Alleman and Stosek, who outmaneuvered the big bunch to put themselves in a perfect position to win the stage in a twisty, tight finish “It was super rocky and quite rough,” Alleman said. “We tried to make a gap on some of the climbs towards the end, but they were too short so we decided we would try and win the sprint. I got into a good position in the last bit of single track and Martin was also just behind so it worked out well.”

Women’s Race

The women’s elite race started off much like a shorter XC race as the group raced up the initial 7km Abrikooskloof climb from the gun. But the early effort took its toll on many of the teams, and it was soon Lill and Keller, along with Courtney and Seiwald and Van Doorn and Looser that pulled ahead.

Just halfway through, Courtney and Seiwald ran out of water and Lill and Keller slowly started putting the squeeze on the lead group.

“It was really hard from the start up that first Pass,” said Lill. “But it made the racing cool and more exciting. We started to notice that a few of the teams were starting to struggle just before halfway and so we just pushed a little harder and pulled out a gap.”

For Keller, the current World Short Course champion, completing her first full Absa Cape Epic stage was an eye-opener.

 “The suffering is still the same but it’s just a little bit longer,” Keller she smiled.

On Tuesday, the main race will take 102km with 2250m of climbing while the women’s elite race will be contested over 80km with 1750m of climbing.

RESULTS

Elite Men Stage

1. BUFF-BH: Wout Alleman & Martin Stosek (3:38.43)

2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (3:38.44 | +1)

3. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (3:38.46 | +2)

4. ORIGINE-WILIER: Mathis AZZARO & Juri ZANOTTI (3:38.46 | +3)

5. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (3:38.53 | +10)

Elite Men GC

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (4:23.23)

2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (4:23.28 | +4)

3. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (4.23.43 | +20)

4.. ORIGINE-WILIER: Mathis AZZARO & Juri ZANOTTI (4:23.49 | +26)

5. TORPADO KENDA FSA: Fabian Rabensteiner & Casey South (4:25.01 | +1:38)

Elite Women Stage

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (3:01.52)

2. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI: Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (3:03.28 | +1:36)

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

4. SYMBTECH.NET: Margot MOSCHETTI & Claudia PERETTI (3:10.07 | +8:15)

5. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (3:14.03 | +12:12)

Elite Women GC

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (3:53.16)

2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (3:56.10 | +2:53)

3. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI: Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (3:57.02 | +2:53)

3. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (3:03.48 | +3:45)

4. SYMBTECH.NET: Margot MOSCHETTI & Claudia PERETTI (4:04.18 | +11:02)

5. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (4:08.34 | +15:18)

 

 SPECIAL JERSEYS GC

 Toyota Mixed

1. TEAM 69: Jenny RISSVEDS & Simon ANDREASSEN (5:12.48)

 

Absa African Men

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (4:23.23)

 

Absa African Women

1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (3:18.49l)

 

Open Women:

1. JOY RIDE: Jennifer BURTNER & Callah ROBINSON (7:32.09)

 

Open Men:

1. COLIBRI CYCLING: Eimantas GUDISKIS & Vladas JURKEVICIUS (4:58.49)

 

Great Grand Masters Women

1. TEAM GEANCO: Rhonda GEISZLER & Tamara TABEEK (1:27:02.2)

 

Great Grand Masters Men

1. OTB: Pieter MULLER & Corrie MULLER (6:35.43)

 

GIC Grand Masters Women

1. UAG EPIC: Martha KOEKEMOER & Jenny RÖNNGREN (7:07.36)

 

GIC Grand Masters Men

1. ORBEA FOX FACTORY: Ibon ZUGASTI & Ernesto MENDOZA (5:14.49)

 

NTT Data Masters Women

1. USWE SA: Mari DU TOIT & Janine MULLER (6:43.24)

 

NTT Data Masters Men

1. WILIER-CHAOYANG: Uwe HOCHENWARTER & Karl MARKT (4:55.36)

 

Exxaro Women’s Jersey

1. EXXARO MANGANESE LADIES 1: Tsholofelo NKOSI & Bontle PHEPISO (8:15.13)

 

Exxaro Men’s Jersey

1. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 2: Ethan MICHAELS & Damon TERBLANCHE (5:31.51)

 

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