Absa Cape Epic | Prologue 2026

 Listen to Mike Finch and Max Cluer as they break down the boiling HOT action at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic Prologue.

Both the racing and the weather were hot as SA riders Beers and Nortje narrowly won the opening Prologue at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic while compatriot Candice Lill and Swiss partner Alessandra Keller dominated the women’s race. Both the winning teams led the stage from the earliest checkpoints with Beers and Nortje winning by a slender six seconds while Lill and Keller put in just under a minute into the chasing teams.

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:14

The first day, stage well, not stage one, the prologue stage of the Apic Cape Epic is done here in Merindol, and I can tell you that we've had a very, very hot day. Max Kler, who has been out there recording with a lot of interviews with the uh pro athletes out there, it's one of the hottest days we've experienced, and we talk about the Apsicap Epic it being a hot stage race, but this was a particularly hot day.

SPEAKER_05 0:33

Yeah, Mike, I've got to tell you, I I've got to take hats off not only to the elite riders, but every single rider out there that got across the finish line today. I've never seen so many so much ice and so many ice vests on on a on a prologue before. The guys uh were definitely against it today. Um, there was almost zero wind out there on the course, especially on that big climb. And uh certainly uh the elements uh proving just why they are such an important factor here at the Apsicape Epic.

SPEAKER_06 0:57

Yeah. I mean I I I listened to um Oliver Munich, who's uh a regular here, and he's thinking he's done 15 or 16 up to Cape Epics, lots of experience, and he was saying that it was the hottest day he's ever been on a bike, and the temperatures at the top of the Dorseback were 46 degrees today at one point. So it was really right up there. And I know Tristan or Kerr will talk about the results in a few moments' time, but he was saying that once the tailwind was behind them, the heat was almost unbearable because when you have a tailwind, there's nothing to cool you down at all.

SPEAKER_05 1:24

No, absolutely. When the wind's behind you, you don't feel it, and uh it just everything dries up. And we saw to Tristan actually in the interview. Uh, I wanted to get in and try and get Matt and him really early. And Matt said, Listen, I need two minutes, I'm actually tasting blood. So you know you know that they went up against it today.

SPEAKER_06 1:40

Well, before we get into the results, uh, we're gonna have we're always gonna have a guest on the show throughout the week, and we decided to kind of go right to the top with our first guest. Jonathan Macy, you you're you're the head of mountain biking in the Epic series. Is that the right way to describe your title?

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Correct, yeah, simply put, yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:55

So you look after all the Epic Series events right around the world?

SPEAKER_03 1:58

Correct, yeah. The five events that we own globally is what I look after with the team, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:03

Now, for those of people watching right now and wondering where this all fits into everything, where does the like Abse Cap Epic fit in this epic series of events?

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Um, well, not only is the AbseCap Epic the pinnacle mountain bike race in the world, um, stage race, I think it's what started the Epic series. You know, that's how the Epic series came about. And for us, it's you know the pinnacle event in the series, and not only in the series, also it's the pinnacle event for us in the Iron Man Group portfolio. And um, so Kickstarted the four other events that we either acquired or we started a new event in Andorra Epic, and um I think it's the one that all our riders aspire to ride to finish, um, and in order to get and complete the APSA Cape Epic, you kind of got to tick the boxes on the other events first.

SPEAKER_06 2:55

Is it fair to say it's the toughest of all the Cape Epic Epic series events, or am I putting you on the spot there?

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Um, I think you're putting me on the spot a little bit because I think I've got a few race directors that would like to fight it out. Um, but it's eight days of heat, like anything can be thrown your way. We've spoken about the heat today. Um, so to have eight grueling days ahead of you, I would say definitely makes it the toughest. But each of our events, they um they have like an element or something unique to each of them, whether it's super technical terrain in Andorra Epic, um at Spar Swiss Epic, you're obviously riding on the Alps, it's also super technical. And then in Four Islands in Croatia, Four Islands Epic, it's extremely rocky. And I think here at the Absicape Epic, you get a bit of everything.

SPEAKER_06 3:46

Just looking at uh how this event has grown over the over the years, it's what seems amazing to me is that every single year you've you're you're booked out, you've you're completely full of, you know, you never have to ask for entries. What what do you think people people come back for? I mean, there obviously are repeat offenders, but lots of people obviously doing their first ones. But what is the attraction do you think of the Absicap for you as a person overseeing all this series?

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Um stupidity, maybe sometimes. Um no, I think, you know, we're very proud of this event. Absolutely proudly South African. So even though we're part of a global company, um, it's proudly South African, and one thing South Africans do well is we put on a show. We know our hospitality, we know how to treat people, welcome them, and it is an experience. You get to ride in this incredible country, um, you get to experience the ocean, the vineyards, the winelands, all of that. Like, so I think it's the toughness of it, eight days, there's no other race like it. Um, to climb Mount Everest twice over the eight days is something truly unique. But I think it's what we as South Africans bring to the party by the welcome, the warm welcome that we give to our riders. And once they've got a taste of it and they think it's a bucket list event, they want more.

SPEAKER_06 5:05

Yeah, I mean, yesterday we were talking to some of the international riders who are registering yesterday, and uh the overwhelming sentiment is that this is an event which previously they thought was unattainable for them and was a dream, and then when they're finally here, about to take it on, it feels like a dream realized. It's it seemed so far away from them. So I I I I guess I guess to some extent, how do you maintain that aspirational part of it? Is it because it's a limited amount of people and obviously it's it's difficult to do, it's not something that anybody can just climb on their bike, you have to do the training to get here?

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Yeah, so I think it's look, it is limited to a degree. We know that there's a course capacity, um, so we can't go bigger than what we are now. I think um the most important thing, the reason why I think that riders are coming back is we're listening to them. You know, we at we send out a survey after the event, we humbly take any feedback and we listen. And I think that's the big change recently. Um, I think also the tweaks that we've made to the racing element, we've got a stronger pro field. Um, that's also an exciting element for those amateurs because 80% of the amateurs that do this, they're not Mickey Mouse riders. They've been training hard for it so they know the sport, mountain biking, they're following the pros. So to be able to also have that experience and touch point on the event with the pros is something truly unique as well.

SPEAKER_06 6:32

Just take us very quickly through the decision to make the women's elite race different this year, and in terms of you've got different starts, shorter courses, all that type of thing. Just for those of I know we've read a lot about it in the media, but kind of just explain to what the rationale was behind it.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

Simple. I mean it's parity bringing that to the sport because um the stats are there, the information's there that men recover quicker than women. Um, so it's no lie. And so we had to look at with the feedback that we received from the pro field, the women's field, uh, we had to look at the amount of time that they spend in the saddle. Um, and we adjusted that accordingly. And I think the reception that we've got from it, um the feedback has been positive. Obviously, you you're gonna have you can't please everyone. Um, also, an element of it was to bring a stronger pro feel to the event because the APSA Cape Epic is the start of the season for a lot of these pro riders. And sometimes if you have a bad Absa Cape Epic, that ruins your season. So, once again, taking feedback from the pros, adjusting the time that they spend in the saddle so that they also, it's fair, they get the time to recover, get the food into yeah, to refuel, um, and just to bring parity to your sport. We see it in other sport disciplines, and we thought that it was just the right move to make. And just sorry to add also with the satellite starts, there's a lot of venues that we use, and obviously this event wouldn't be possible without our landowners, that we can't have a race village at a certain venue. Now we can have these unique classical starts at like uh heritage sites or something and give something back to those landowners that have supported us for so many years.

SPEAKER_06 8:18

So that's one of the changes you mentioned just a few moments ago, and I always think Epic's a bit like this, it's about the small details. Just give us an idea of the other small changes that you made for 2026 compared to 2025 because you're improving on something that's already pretty good. How do you keep on improving?

SPEAKER_03 8:35

Well, I think one thing is we're doing this. This is a new change.

SPEAKER_06 8:39

Podcast a new.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Um, you know, I think it's we're very fortunate to have the strong partners that we do. It's been it's the 20th anniversary with APSA as the title partner. So it's good working with partners that believe in our vision, we believe in their vision. So through that, we are able to collaborate. Um, NTT data this year, we've got a fan cam. So we've introduced that so that riders can have that contact point with their family. And um, you know, the event's been around for 22 years. Is it perfect? Most of the time it is, but we can always make improvements. So they're just little tweaks that we do every year from that feedback we get from the riders that we implement. But I think, you know, the big one for this year that we put a lot of focus into is this elite women's race, the shortening of that. And it's not just a plug and play. You know, it's something that we've worked hard on to make sure we get it right. Maybe there'll be some improvements next year, but it's not a test. This is the real deal. It's a real deal, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:40

Well, thanks very much for your time. And my final question is if you go into the epic offices, you can see your office is very clear. It says cheese on the front. Tell us why you're called cheese, because I don't know the story here.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

Okay, so a lot of people think it's not the reason I'm gonna tell you now that it's a lot different. Um, but no, it's very simple. It's the pronunciation of my surname, it's main cheese. Okay, main cheese. And I got it, yeah. 16 years old, walking into a nightclub, and a friend shouting out to me, you the main cheese, and then it's stuck. So that's the honestry.

SPEAKER_05 10:13

Well, there we go. Just before you go, just have a lick of your blueberry ice cream, and you can have a lick of your strawberry ice cream. I'm gonna tuck into this lemon ice cream over here. Never before, but had such a colourful mic cover. Thank you, Mike. It's a pleasure, it's a pleasure.

SPEAKER_06 10:24

Jonathan, thanks very much for your time. Thanks very much. Awesome. Yeah, and good luck for the week. Thanks very much, guys. Yeah, I am. Yeah, Jonathan Makey's uh the head of mountain biking here at the FX series and the man who puts all the different events throughout the week. So, Max Klu, we talked a bit about the temperature today, um, we've talked a little bit about uh the vague results, but nothing uh too much detail. But let's kind of should we kick off with the women's elite race? Because I think, and I'm saying this because a lot of other people don't agree with me on this, that both the men's and women's elite race are the most open they've been in at least the last five years. Particularly the women's race.

SPEAKER_05 10:58

I've got to agree with you there, Mike. I think um, you know, when you come to the start of a year, you measure yourself by the ABS AK. What you've done in the off-season, uh team changes, uh partner changes, um, riding for different trade teams as well, uh, the ability to match up with the right people because when you're riding in a team event, uh the relationship becomes key. It's no good having two superstars that don't talk to each other, don't communicate, can't work together. You've got to find that secret combination, and that's why you know today you're not gonna see that because the race is too short, it's 20 kilometers. Come the five-hour plus stages, you know, for the elite men, close on probably 10, 11 hours for some of the back markers, uh, things are gonna change, and that's where relationships become so important. But if we look at the elite woman and we look at Kate Courtney coming back for the first time after 2018, uh, that last minute change, uh Melissa Rowlands obviously uh hurting herself and breaking her elbow and I think her wrist uh coming in with Greta Sievelt. Greta Sievelt's been over here since last year, um, really training hard. We saw how successful she was at the beginning of the year in some of the big classics here in South Africa. Um, but again, it comes from leadership. You know, Kate has come now into a leadership role before when she raced with Annika Langfeld and they won when she was a youngster. She was almost the junior of the city. She was the junior, and now she's got to be Annika. And and and and and Greta has had fitted in really well today, coming second across the line.

SPEAKER_06 12:22

I mean, let's just remind people. I mean, uh just the the Palmar is that Kate Orkney brings former world cross-country champion, current world marathon champion, multiple World Cup winner. I mean, she's uh she's an amazing athlete, and one of the it's a real privilege to have her here.

SPEAKER_05 12:35

And someone who's managed to stay strong across time, one of the goats you could call it of the mountain bike scene, if you look at her career path and the length of her career. Um, to have someone like Greta Sievald available in South Africa, ready to race, and then for the two of them to be able to put that together in such a short space of time. You guys saw our stunt man there, we have it all going on here in the podcast. But it's live, it's life, kind of life. Life. But um, if you look at at Candace and Alessandra, now Alessandra has been around uh two times, under 23 world champion, uh cross-country short track champion, cross-country short track world champion, uh, multiple World Cup winner. You know, for her to be coming to the Epscape Epic for the first time, knowing that the World Cup season only starts in May, and for her to be with Candace, who's come second five times, that's the Epscape Epic, we know they've got to be a favourite. But we've also seen what's happened in the past. We've seen that you can lose this event on the first day, or you can lose it on the last day, and you can lose it five seconds. Yeah. Um, and then we look at Margot Machete, she was really good today. They were fourth, they came through nicely. Uh, and then third place, Vera Losa and Rose Van Dur. And I'm thinking that they are going to be a serious threat in this race as well.

SPEAKER_06 13:45

Well, here are the results. Then it was Candace Lill and Alessandra Keller who won the 20 kilometres, 650 metres of climbing on this brutally hot day that we're sitting in right now. The team from Thomas Max on Sabi Sabi. So their time was 51 minutes, 24 seconds, then just 56 seconds behind She Sands Foundation, which was the Kate Courtney Greta Sevolt time. Then in third place, the Buff BH, the efficient infinity team of Rosa von Duren and Verozone. You mentioned uh the other teams in that top five. Haley Preen, of course, one of our top South African riders, along with her Canadian partner Haley Smith, down in fifth place. Um, let's just uh hear a conversation that I had with uh the team of uh Kate Courtney and Greta Sevolt where I asked them uh how it went today.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

It was awesome, it was it was great. I mean, we had a few rides together already, and we immediately saw that it was a match. It is a match and it stays a match.

SPEAKER_06 14:34

How do you know it's a match?

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Riding together, you feel it. Everyone that's uh who's riding bikes uh has that feeling, and I think everyone knows what I mean.

SPEAKER_06 14:46

Hey, for you, how was the how was your ride to the team?

SPEAKER_07 14:49

This is awesome. I think um we can be super proud of how we rode. I feel like we started off super strong, super solid, and we found the rhythm, and that's the most important thing on day one because it's an A-Jay race, and uh we if we keep riding like that, I think we're gonna be super proud of what we're able to do together.

SPEAKER_06 15:10

Can you pace yourself in a face like this? Do you have to pace yourself in this?

SPEAKER_07 15:13

Absolutely. Yeah, I think um we had a pacing plan and we executed it really well, and I think that's what I mean by you know being proud of the process and like being happy with how we rode. Those things aren't just like things you say, they're actually reflective of setting goals, meeting those objectives, fueling well, communicating well, pacing well, and all of those things require practice, and we've kind of gotten it in a few days, which we can be really excited about. Um, and now we just need to be consistent and be calm and steady and and keep pushing.

SPEAKER_06 15:53

It's all about it is about pacing, but also you can't really take too easy because you're racing for the putting positions here.

SPEAKER_05 16:00

Look, I think what you've also got to realize is that Kate is a very clever rider. You know, she she thinks through the process, she understands the end goal. Um, there's no emotion. You know, she knows what needs to be done, she is a professional, uh, and that's why she stayed so strong for so long. Um, you know, we chatted again to to Candace. I remember a young Candace Love of 12 years old, you know, when she was riding in in KwaZulu Natal, and I see the Candace Lil of today and just how mature she is and how focused she is. And and you know, rightfully so. At the end of the day, she said, this is her job. This is what they do, this is what they dream about, this is what they process, this is what they eat, this is what they sleep, this is what they drink every single day. And and it it's just nice to see that experience coming through. And if they can take that experience and and and just put the reins on their partners just a little bit, I think that's that's really gonna be helpful, especially when you look at like Sam Saunders and Bianca Hall. You know, Sam Saunders, multiple South African champion on the marathon, cross-country champion, um, then the young exuberance and just bolting out the stable of Bianca Hall. If they can control that, that African jersey is gonna be a likely result after eight days.

SPEAKER_06 17:04

So let's just talk a little bit about Candace Lill and Alessander Keller, who, as we've just mentioned, the winners of the prologue today. And and as you said right at the start, there's a fair amount of pressure on Candace Lill. And I spoke to her earlier this week when I talked about the fact that she's finished fifth. She's raced this done this event six times, she's finished second on five different occasions, which is enormous. But I think there's the extra pressure of being a South African racing in a South African race. So for her, and as she said, she doesn't want to she feels the pressure, but she tries to not let it get the better of her because uh, you know, if she gets if she feels that pressure, she's probably gonna do something, either go too hard or not measure herself, and she's got a lot of experience. But what she's done incredibly well, Candice, in the last couple of years is she's raced at the XE level at the very top. Competitiveness at the very best, opposite in the top three in XE events, uh she is truly world-class, bringing a world-class partner with her.

SPEAKER_05 17:52

Yeah, and I think that also comes down and shows the type of person she is. You know, she's very big on relationships, she's very big on people, she's very big on her circle, and and and and she has a trust circle. You know, um, she has a process, you know, for the a reason that she decided to be a privateer and not sign with the big teams because that is the way that she likes to operate. She likes that circle tight, she likes to work in that trust circle, and she delivers within that trust circle time and time again.

SPEAKER_06 18:20

Yeah. Well, let's hear from Candace. Uh, we spoke to her soon after she finished the stage today.

SPEAKER_08 18:26

Yeah, really, really happy. I think we had a good team chat before, and we're well aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses, and I think we played it the best inside strengths that we can today, and it just makes me excited for the next seven days of racing with Alessandra.

SPEAKER_06 18:40

First time you guys have raced together in this kind of format in a racing position. How was it out there? Was the communication good between the two? Yes.

SPEAKER_09 18:47

Yeah, I say I would say we had a good plan, a good strategy, and we fully committed to it. So I think uh yeah, the communication was good, the strategy was good, the talking was good, and uh yeah, in general, I think the most important is that you feel healthy, that the material is working, and that actually works well.

SPEAKER_06 19:05

I suppose the strategy is just to go as fast as you can.

SPEAKER_09 19:08

Well, I mean, you know, it's eight days, if you're not gonna win it in 50 minutes in the prologue. So I think uh you have a hundred percent of an energy box, and then yeah, you start losing, and uh stage eight or stage seven might be zero. So I think you always have to like play the cards in the correct way, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:28

How important is it to do what on the prologue?

SPEAKER_08 19:31

Look, it's not what wins the race, but I think it's always nice because you're on the front foot and it feels like the others have to chase. So it's a nice position to be in because you can also sit people's wheels, like you don't have to make the racing happen if you don't want, but it's also stressful to carry the leaders' jersey from the prologue already.

SPEAKER_06 19:50

For you as a South African with the crowds out there to get good support.

SPEAKER_08 19:52

It was super cool. I mean, I think they did really well with um having like certain points where all the crowds gathered and it was just like super loud going through there. And yeah, I got these bugs and I feel really proud to be South African.

SPEAKER_06 20:04

Yeah, so there we have it, uh Candace little Alessandra Killer um setting the pace, but as you say, as they've said, a long, long way to go still. And uh, and as you said, uh that that top three, maybe even the top five, a lot can happen over these next uh few days where there's no real favourite, although maybe there's a slight favourite with uh Candace Land and uh and with Alessandro.

SPEAKER_05 20:25

I I think that having that yellow Tiavera leaders jersey on your shoulders. I mean uh Candace has had it on many occasions. Uh Alessandra's come in and she's knocked it out the park on the first stage, she's won a stage at uh the Absagape Epic in her first attempt. That jersey is gonna put a target on their back for sure, but that jersey comes with confidence. That jersey comes with the fact that you've come off a day where you've ticked the boxes and you've come out on top against some of the the world's best women. So that is that is a uh a number, and and 57 seconds on 20k is a number. So let's have a look and see what happens tomorrow.

SPEAKER_06 21:00

Yeah, and now they're chasing them. That's right, they can defend. Well, let's move on to the men's elite uh competition. And uh, of course, there was a lot of discussion about this because uh in the last week before the event, so Matt Bears, who's won this event three times, he had to change partners again because Keegan Swenson, the American, who was his partner last year and really struggled. They finished 13th, I think, overall last year. Um he injured himself in a car accident, and then turned out he had a fracture of the of the hip and he had to withdraw. The next minute they were looking for a partner. Tristan Nokia, who was one of the superstars from last year, he jumps into the fray. Now he's partnered with Matthews and the Saturday specialised in Bucharot team. But now we have the possibility, and this is amazing to think that in the history of the Absolut KPEC, we've never had an All South African team win this. But uh potentially this year we might we could do that.

SPEAKER_05 21:47

And and and what is exciting about that is is that sometimes uh change uh creates diamonds. And and and we look at this uh uh this team now, Toyota uh specialized in Buco, it's it's a it's a six-man structure. It's the biggest uh professional team ever put together in the history of South African mountain biking. Um, they've got a leader in Matt Beers who is an absolute weapon, who is also an incredible leader. If we look at uh the people that he's won with, we look at Howard Grotz, we look at the partners that he's had. He's always been that partner that mentors and encourages and grows the people that he rides with. We remember as well, though, that uh Matt also has raced for a season and a half with Tristan Nokia. They know each other. Tristan has been incredible, uh he's an incredible form coming into this year. We've seen how good he was at things like uh Tanqua. We see how good he was uh coming in off Ataquas, uh we saw him at the uh Umbuco Big Five. His results have spoken for themselves. We also know that he is humble, we also know that he knows pain and he embraces pain. And uh he is a proud South African boy. He will bleed through his eyeballs. Uh and and and now all of a sudden, for the first time after winning the African Absa jersey last year, he's in yellow. And he's never been in yellow. And that is massive for him, it's massive for South Africa, and it's massive again for him and Matt's confidence going into tomorrow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:09

Well, second place was the team of Luca Brado and Simone Aventetta, the William Vittoria team, who won the the uh the the first stage last year. So uh and then in third place the Klimatizer Orbea team, David Serrano and Mark Stutzman, who kind of they were a surprise third place to some extent, but there was a bit of drama out there, wasn't there, with some teams getting ahead of others and a bit of altercation towards the end.

SPEAKER_05 23:29

Yeah, so certainly uh a surprise for uh for Klimatura's Orbea. Not so much from David Valero's side. Remember he was uh a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, but uh Mark Stutzman is is a silent assassin. He's he's won Croatia Four Islands, he's won Andorra. He was fourth here last year. Do not overlook this team. This team is here to do the business. But in the men's race, we saw the last three to go off the line were the Buff BH team. Behind them, then was the Willie Evatora team and then the Toyota Specialised Abuker team. Now the Willie Evatura team caught up to BH above uh the the buff team, and and then we saw them on the downhill where there was vote aluminum in the front, and Martin Stosek was clearly battling. Um, so what that could have done is that it could have slowed down the Willie Evatora team. Was were they slowed down by more than seven seconds? It's racing. I don't know. It's the way the cookie crumbles, it's the way the cords fall. Both Simone and Luca are professional enough to recognise that. They're also professional enough to put it behind them and know that they go into the real reset for tomorrow.

SPEAKER_06 24:36

But they were a bit upset towards the end.

SPEAKER_05 24:38

You could see that. And and and a little bit more. Luke is Italian. You know what I mean? So let's just go with that, right? I mean, I would be upset, you would be upset. But again, they won the prologue here last year, they had stage wins here last year. Yeah, they've proven that their form is there, yeah, and they know that they've got seven days to show, show what their legs can do.

SPEAKER_06 24:58

Yeah, yeah. So there it is, the top three theater specialised in Bucov, Ilia Vittoria in second place, and Klimatazo Bea, that third place team. So let's just move on uh to an interview that I did with uh Matt Bears and Tristan O'Care, and they'll talk us through what happened uh with their win in the prologue today.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Yeah, obviously the heat was gnarly today, um, but doing it with you know Tristan is cool. We've got a long history, and um yeah, glad we could a lot of prep always goes into this for all of us, all the riders.

SPEAKER_06 25:28

Um but yeah, it was it was tough up. Tristan, how important do you think it was to do well in this prologue today?

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Yeah, I didn't expect or you always want to win. I guess you win, but yeah, I didn't I didn't expect to win the prologue. Um like even an hour prologue is like too short for me, and this was 40 minutes, so it's even 20 minutes shorter, so I didn't expect to win, but yeah, to win. Yeah, I don't know how that happened, but yeah, it's just a few other things.

SPEAKER_06 25:58

And for you guys as a team, we have to let also let your team have to check what is it like metrically supporting it.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Yeah, uh there wasn't actually that many people up there, funny enough. I think they were controlling obviously not just like mapping something. But yeah, obviously there's still plenty of people, and uh it's always a nice motivation.

SPEAKER_06 26:18

And uh excuse uh comment about a hot day.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Yeah, like it is like the forecast didn't say it was that hot, but it's definitely yeah, it was headwind going towards that side, and then as soon as we turned with tailwind, it's yeah, you know if it's a tailwind it's and it's hot, there's no wind cooling you off. So yeah, that last climb was brutal, but yeah, we did. We planned for the heat and we trained for the heat, so yeah, it wasn't too bad at all.

SPEAKER_06 26:45

So as Tristan Kinokia says, there they've trained for the heat and certainly uh benefited from that today. Um, I mean, let's look at that top five. I mean, it is there's a there's some big names in there. Uh maybe you can just go through. I mean, fourth uh fourth, the fourth team also a very strong team in Canyon, uh some of the best in the world.

SPEAKER_05 27:01

Yeah, Auresian William. Um I put them down for a top three today. They just missed that. Mateza Zera, obviously just phenomenal uh um uh from France last year uh in the World Cup Series. Euros and not he's been here before, but we've also seen him at the under-23 level, how potent he was, and and they certainly are going to be a surprise package this year. And then obviously Canyon's big hitters, uh Lucas Waschbauer and Sam Gaze, we knew they would be good today. Um we know their short track prowess. We also know that Sam Gaze is an ex-cross-country marathon world champion, uh and he's he's won World Cups. So, again, a big team uh with big plans, and and uh uh important for them to uh accept that this is an eight-day stage race. Uh and maybe they were just not showing their cards, but they put together a good time, they'll be happy with that, and uh again, like we spoke about earlier, it's it's so important to almost treat uh this race as two races. You've got this short track cross-country spectacle for the crowds, the fans, just to put yourself into a place of seeding going into the next couple of days, and then you've got seven days of getting out there and going to war.

SPEAKER_06 28:04

Yeah, I mean I challenge Luke Gaze earlier in the Sam Gaze earlier in the in the week, and he was saying that they've come here not to finish second, they they come here to win. But uh his strategy is they have they kind of have to keep in touch with the the leaders and then see how things are in the second half of the week, which I guess is what a lot of the uh the teams do. They just like you don't really know where you're gonna be until maybe stage four, um you know, stage three, stage four. You know, so so let's talk about say head of the stage to stage one tomorrow. I mean, take us through this uh one as traditionally uh a big stage, stage one, is always the one of the toughest stages of the week.

SPEAKER_05 28:35

Yeah, I mean, a men's race tomorrow, 90 kilometers, 2,150 metres of climbing, Montague to Montague. Uh, there's some proper climbs there. It's it's gonna be a big day. Uh anything above 2,000 meters is big, but remember, we haven't been back to Montague in 17 years. I think 2009 was the last time we were there. Montague is extreme. You you are out on the edge. There is some proper rock riding out there. It's not all smooth sailing, it's it's old school mountain biking. It's not these clean, beautifully swept trails. Uh, there's gonna be punctures, there's probably gonna be a couple of rooms going, uh, there's gonna be technicals, uh, and that's what you expect in Montague. And I think the women's race, 66K is 1,800 meters of climbing. It's gonna be two good races tomorrow. I think by the end of tomorrow, uh, we will see the field set a little bit. You're gonna see some of the men's teams that are sitting 10 to 15 come into the top 10. Some of them probably push through into the top eight. I think the women's race is really gonna sort itself out tomorrow to give us a really good idea of where they're at. Um, and I think that's important because that then helps the pundits and and it helps everything and everyone slow down just a little bit. But Montague is what Montague is. It's special, it's spectacular, it's extreme, and it's everything you want from a proper mountain bike stage.

SPEAKER_06 29:50

I mean, I was talking to uh the the route director Hendrico Burger earlier this week, and uh he was saying that one of the things that they're the particularly the novices, they're gonna be surprised by how tough stage one is actually gonna be. And you talked a bit about the conditions. It's not so much the distance than the altitude, which is obviously a factor, it's it's the it's the rocks, it's the sand, it's all those things that you can't see on a on a profile map that actually get you in the aircape absolute Cape Epic. So he's warned that you've got to take really easy. For the back markers, they're gonna be out there. Maximum stage time, I think, is nine hours tomorrow. It might even be nine and a half hours, which means they've got to finish in that time. And for probably 40 or 50 teams, that last half an hour when they'll when they'll be coming in. So they've got to get off their bikes when they've done that nine and a half hours and then recover and get back into their into their uh recovery time for the stage on stage two, which is 102 kilometers. So this is really the the tough part of the epic. We talked about the pros a lot in this program, but I can tell you that for the back markers, if you're doing nine and nine, eight, nine hours every single day for eight days, that is a task unto its own.

SPEAKER_05 30:49

And also what you've got to remember is that although a lot of the athletes have trained or ridden something similar, possibly in the Epic series around the world, um, the difference between five days and eight days is massive. Things like fatigue, things like um your bike setup become a mass massive problem, saddle sores become a massive problem in and out of that race village environment, keeping uh your health and your hygiene in place, making sure that you don't get sick, making sure that you recover properly, making sure that you have enough left in the tank for the next day. Remember that 98% of this field does not have Swaneers, does not have team managers. They're living in the tented village, they're eating together in the halls at night. They're here to come and take on the world's greatest mountain bike stage race and and the stories and the memories that they're going to take home and be able to tell and and spread this story of this race in Africa, which has become iconic.

SPEAKER_06 31:49

Yeah, so there'll be 1,450 stories that we'll be talking about over the next few days. Though that's all from us today. We'll be back tomorrow for the end of stage one, and we'll be able to bring you some of the highlights. We'll have a guest here with us tomorrow as well, and bring you all the excitement over the next eight days here at the 2026 Absolute Cape Epic. Goodbye for now.