Absa Cape Epic 2026 | Stage 5

The Queen Stage is done and the cream rose to the top. Join Mike and Max as they chat through the stage, play out the interviews and speak to one of the Absa Cape Epic’s most experienced bike mechanics, Udo Juterbock. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:10

So welcome to the end of stage five. Although we say it's the end, but actually there are a number of riders finishing behind us at the moment. It is the Queen stage, and this is which means the Queen stage means it's the toughest, hardest stage of this year's absent Cape Epic, but I can tell you that it really is a very tough stage. One of the hardest queen stages we've seen in many, many years. The distance for the men and the all the age groupers was 134 kilometers with 2,750 meters of climbing, and that is almost, I mean, that's almost 3,000 meters of climbing. For the women, it was what 90 kilometres with 2,450 meters of climbing. 2,100, 2,150. So Josh, you can come past, it's fine.

SPEAKER_05 0:47

We're just doing a podcast. Everyone, this is Josh. Josh, actually come in. This is the guy who does all the aerials for us. Come on, Josh, get in here. Let's get in here. Josh, tell us a bit about how the uh aerials went today. I mean, it just so different uh weather conditions.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Yeah, yeah. I mean, the weather up there's been a real uh real mixed bag. This this event, and obviously, today we have had a lot of rain, but it's crazy how coming from Krebot, it's uh virtually flooding there, and here and steady is the ground is dry, so it's also an indication of you know the riding. The riders have to be so so skilled in so many diverse conditions, and it's really everything's been thrown at them this year. Nice to see it from the air. Yeah, no, it's uh it's seriously stunning this year. Thanks for all the hard work. Go get some edits out. We'll look forward to seeing them on the socials.

SPEAKER_05 1:36

There we go. We're just walking past you, don't you? We decided to do, we decided to interview you. So we were going on 2150 minutes for the woman.

SPEAKER_06 1:44

Yep, and uh wow, uh proper. Proper stage. Well, let's kick off with the men's race first because I think if you look at an overall theme for today, probably the strongest teams that we've seen this week were the ones that were the winners today, and they kind of re entrenched that idea that they are the number one teams in this race. In the men's race, it was Luca Braido and Simone Avendetto, the Willy Vittorio team who've been leading this race since Tuesday. They uh won the stage in five hours, nine minutes, and fifty-one seconds. It's incredible to think that they were out there for just over five hours. This is the men's elite race, um, and they did an average of almost 26 K's an hour on this course, which is just mind-blowing when you look at the average speed here. But they haven't won a single stage of this event, even though they've been in the Leeds Jersey for the last three days, and they were absolutely delighted in it. But it was a bit of drama towards the end because if we could talk about a little bit about what happened early on in the in the race, at 14 kilometres, Matt Bears and Tristan Orkier, who are second place on the GC, they see there's a bit of a crosswind happening. They, if those of you who watch um uh road cycling, you'll understand how a crosswind works in road cycling. They thought here's an opportunity for us to break up the crew. They were on some long flat gravel roads and they went for it. They threw they threw a complete haymaker in, as Matt Beers says, a haymaker into the into the mix. There was a bit of panic amongst all the GC contenders and they went for it. This is that early into this 134 kilometer stage. It didn't stick, but certainly it put the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of it hurt a lot of people. In the end, by the time they got over the final climb and bound into the trails behind us, you can see them behind us at the moment. It was literally the team of William Vittoria, Clemetizo Orbea, and Toyota specialised in Bucco, who led into the last five kilometres. Rido and Evendetto, who are just behind the Clemetizo Orbea team, who rode superbly today. David Valera, of course, the bronze medalist from the Olympic Games a few years back, he was pushing the pace really hard in front. But as they went into the final bullet single track, um Simone Evendetto went literally cut in front of Valero. And as he went around the corner, he came off. And uh they they thought, well, that's the end of their challenge, but it wasn't because they came back, they overtook and got ahead of the other two teams and ended up winning about three seconds. It was an incredibly dominant performance from Illinois, and I'm struggling to think that they could be beaten unless something unfortunate happens with some of the with them in the next two couple of days.

SPEAKER_05 4:00

Yeah, I think today was the day that they needed to stay safe, and and look, we see this quite often in elite racing, whether it's in running, whether it's in mountain bike, cycling, whatever it is. Sometimes when I don't know if you remember when Matthew van der Poel uh was leading the world championships and he crashed so badly and uh got up, and the adrenaline, the adrenaline is just so massive. And and what happened here was Avendetto got caught in. He he was off the track, but he wasn't. Valero snuck past, Viers wasn't able to get past fast enough, neither was Tristan. Um and as they got past, Avendetto was back on. But the secret was that Luca Bradeau was in first, yeah, so he then slowed them down again until it was all back together, knowing that they probably had the sprint on them.

SPEAKER_06 4:43

Yeah, I mean it was incredible. And and I mean we didn't see Canyon Lucas Schwarzbau and Sam, because they finished fourth on the stage today because they obviously were the always the favorites if it comes down to a sprint, but they weren't in the mix today. Matt Bears and Striston O'Kea, a valiant effort from them because they really did try. Often we look at the second place on the GC and we think, you know, are they really trying? But they really gave it some stick on many occasions during the stage today, but there was nothing gonna beat uh Brideau and Avendetta today. And uh, you know, we always talk about the Cape Epic as being an event where anything can happen. You know, one minute and 28 seconds is the gap between what the guys are doing, uh what the leaders have at the moment of a second place, and that is one bad tire change or one problem mechanical out there. But if nothing happens, Brideau and Avendetto certainly deserve to be at the top of that uh results sheet at the moment.

SPEAKER_05 5:29

Yeah, I think we've certainly built up to the day today, and obviously the Queen State is the big day, and it's what the benchmark is, obviously, and what everyone trades for. But to look at how well the Toad is specialised, if you go second team with today, Mark and Jebe, uh riding really well with Travis Stebbin. They are coming into form at the right time and at the right time for Matt Intereston. So I think that is very impressive to see, and you see them also continuing to move up a bit. So I think that's really exciting to see. And let's take a look at the GC.

SPEAKER_06 5:56

Well, the GC, as we've said, really Vittoria now lead by one minute and 49, not 28 seconds. I forgot about the second they lost today, but uh almost two minutes the gap now. Climatized Orbea, they moved up to the third place position ahead of Canyon today. That's uh David Valera and Mark Stutzman, and they've kind of been hanging about five out five minutes and fifty-nine seconds, almost six minutes behind. You don't see them as being in the top two at the moment, but they're looking good for that third place. Canyon, Lucas Schwarzbau, and Sam Gaze, you know, they're mm-literally 20 seconds behind them. So that fight for third is looking pretty interesting over the next couple of days.

SPEAKER_05 6:30

Well, considering that it is going to be cross-country terrain. Remember, Mark Stutzman comes from the marathon background with David Valero. David Valero, we know how capable he is in the short uh punchy stuff. But again, look at Buffy H today, a terrible name. They lost, I think, just over nine minutes, still went on the GC. Yeah. But again, probably not looking as forward to the next two days as the cross-country specialists. So, all to play for, and as you can see, just a beautiful afternoon. Hopefully, we've got rid of the weather and we're expecting an incredible weekend of racing.

SPEAKER_06 7:01

Well, I mean, let's just talk about the weather conditions today because before we get into the women's race, because the weather was weird because when we left Grayton this morning, it was quite overcast. And as I was travelling back along the N2 towards Stanenbosch, I was watching the footage. Literally, I shouldn't be doing that while I was driving, but I was. I was quite skilled like that, multitasking. But it was pouring with rain, and and literally, as the women's race, which finished first today because they started way ahead of the men, and was going through the up the mountains and up the hot and holland mountains and uh over the mountains just leading up to here, it was it was really pouring down, it was wet and it was slippery. Luckily, the kind of trails that they ride through in the Wines to Wales area, which is near Stillenbot, is kind of sandy, which means that actually the rain sort of settled the dust a little bit and actually made the trails reasonably grippy. But there were points when it was actually the mud was getting into the wheels, and that's what that's what affected the women's race, which we'll talk about tonight.

SPEAKER_05 7:55

Yeah, and not a lot of rain here in the western Cape in the summer, you know, winter rainfall here in the western Cape, and uh this rain absolutely needed right now in the Western Cape Summer Blessing as well. Uh but certainly, Mike, I think what it has done for the next two days is it's gonna make these trails in and around San Aboche Yonkus look very grippy. You know, we go into Bunhook on the other side as well, um, and and getting that dust off and getting that fine sand off the top is gonna make it really, really fast as well.

SPEAKER_06 8:24

Well, let's listen to an interview we did with Simone Avoidto after the stage today, and as usual, it doesn't give too much away, but uh it was a good day for them.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yeah, I'm uh really happy because uh just uh from the start I was totally kapoot. In uh the first uh 10 kilometers, my legs don't work, absolutely don't work. But I keep out and uh yeah, I I can't believe it that I we're Simone.

SPEAKER_05 8:51

Take us through what happened in the last single track. We saw you come around that corner and then you slipped up.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Yeah, I didn't. Also, with the glasses all dirty, didn't so they were probably some stone and uh they were quite slippery. Yeah, I just crashed.

SPEAKER_05 9:08

Andrenaline sometimes can be your best friend when you have the adrenaline, and then you come through and you win the stage on the queen stage. Amazing for William Victoria.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Yeah, we really wanted uh a win, and uh it's nice to get on the Queen stage.

SPEAKER_05 9:22

Another day in the yellow jersey tomorrow. We know we come into the Stellenbosch trails, they're a trail network you know well, and you've survived the big transfer stages.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

Yeah, today was quite challenging challenging, especially also the first uh 40-50 kilometers. And uh yeah, we look uh forward to the last few days here in Stellenbosch.

SPEAKER_06 9:44

So there we have the men's uh overall leaders stage winners today, and uh it's gonna take a lot for them to be beaten over the next couple of days as we get into the final stage on Sunday. The women's race was a very dominant performance from the overall winner leaders at the moment, the Thomas Max and Sabi Sabi team, and as you can see, our motorbikes coming past us at the moment. Those are the guys that kind of amazingly travel on the same tracks as the guys on the mountain bikes. And bring us the footage and we're giving you some idea of the noise that happens here at the Abbas of K Bic, but the team of Candace Little, the South African, has finished uh on five occasions in second place, so she really wants this win, along with Alessander Keller, who is the world short course champion. They literally from 10K's in, they were ahead. And we saw the team of Greta Sevot. Sevot had a few mechanical issues early on. She got a stick into Bactera, yeah. That's right. Yeah, and uh, and by the time she'd taken the stick out, the the little and keller had gone, and it was basically just a time trial for everybody from then on.

SPEAKER_05 10:39

Yeah, and and and you know, we spoke to um to Kate Courtney actually today. When you lose a strong women's team out of a race like this, and and I'm talking Vera Losa and Ruissa, if I'm doing from the Buff BH uh Efficient Infinity team, that changes the racing at the sharp end quite substantially because Kate and Greta now only had one team to work with, and that of course with the two Haleys, which is the Camp Champ Huntingham team. Had they had Vera and Ruissa there again, well then maybe hunting down that time was an opportunity. But today, when when you haven't got that support and you've got the wind behind you, and you've got the cheerleader leaders' jersey on, yeah, you're just putting in time.

SPEAKER_06 11:24

Yeah. Ironically, the wind was actually in front of them today. It was actually a bit of a headwind as they come towards Stellenbosch, but yes, I know what you're saying. It was it was difficult. But one of the great performances today, as you talked about this third place team, Haley Preen and Halley Smith, the the two Haley Squared, the Chem Chem Honeycomb team, they were right there with uh Kate Gordon and Greta Sevott at halfway. They lost a bit of time in the second half of the race, but they only finished in the end about three minutes behind. And that was a great performance from Haley Preen and Haddie Smith because they've moved from fifth to fourth to third. They are holding on to third. They were in quite a good competition with the Tapoda FSA Kender, who now moved down because they had a bad day today, 15 minutes behind. But Chip Temka, Honeycomb, Hattie Preen, Haddie Smith looking pretty good for that um third place.

SPEAKER_05 12:05

Yeah, and they've also got a good relationship, they've got a good vibe in the team, and again, they're playing the long game. And and what was interesting for me today is to see the mass C ISB sport team of Monica Calderana, Tessa Gortukas finally having a good stage. Last year they won a stage. Last year they were pushing for a top three overall. Um, they haven't combined well this year for whatever reason, but certainly today on the Queen stage they got it together, and now all of a sudden they find themselves uh with the opportunity to possibly push for an overall podium.

SPEAKER_06 12:35

They have two more good days. Yeah, absolutely. So there we have the final results, just looking at the final classification uh before we get on to some of the interviews that we did today. And uh, as we as you can imagine, a pretty dominant performance then from Candace Alessander Keller. They now have a 14-minute and 18-second gap after winning by an almost nine minutes today over the uh Kate Gourtney Greta Stevot team. And I I think that's pretty unassailable at the moment, even in epic terms, that is. Yeah, and then we have uh the two Halley's in third place looking pretty solid there.

SPEAKER_05 13:04

What is interesting here, if we look at uh say third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, you know, even seventh to a certain extent. More within half an hour of each other, and again, one bad day it changes things. So nice to see that competition going on, but certainly now we're gonna see she says foundation uh very capable, especially on the cross country, up against two of the best in the world.

SPEAKER_06 13:30

But anything can happen in stage wins are possible. Well, let's hear from Candace Little and Alessandra Keller after their stage win today.

SPEAKER_07 13:37

It's very nice to be here. It was quite a quite a day out there on a day that was already going to be hard because of the profile and terrain and everything, and then we had all the rain in mud. And I mean, look at us. What a day.

SPEAKER_05 13:48

An early move from you guys. Uh we know that Greta troubled with uh something on the bike, weren't sure what it was, but there was enough to just uh break the elastic, and then it seemed like coming towards the end uh down the pass over the neck, you guys found a good rhythm all the way to the finish.

SPEAKER_07 14:02

Yeah, I think from the beginning, my mine and Alessandra's focus has been to just focus on each other and get the best out of each other and ride as a unit. And yeah, I think today we sensed that it was time to go quite early on, and yeah, we just focus on keeping our own face all the way to the line.

SPEAKER_05 14:19

Alessandra, your very first queen stage at the Epscape. Did it live up to expectation for you? Was it uh a proper stage for you today?

SPEAKER_08 14:27

Yeah, it was proper. I mean, yeah, I guess it was uh even harder than I expected. Uh the rain, and you know, also from the beginning they tried to like make the pressure, but then there was yeah, we were just focusing on ourselves, and I think uh, you know, we are a team, so you always have to focus on the uh weaker link, and that's that that's what we did, and uh that's how you win.

SPEAKER_05 14:52

How was your first experience uh portaging down the Hamter Pass?

SPEAKER_08 14:56

It was brutally. I mean uh you know I was like, are we really I I I actually asked Candice, are we on the right way? Because there was nothing, and then there was also Frog, and then also down Lawrence Ford. I was like, oh but uh yeah, I mean it's hard, huh? They always say it's the hardest race, so I guess yeah, it was proper.

SPEAKER_05 15:18

And for the first time ever, you it got down the hump to a pass ahead of the men.

SPEAKER_07 15:23

Yeah, I think this day was so super special to win. Um, because yeah, for the first time ever the women's race is finishing ahead of the men, and we had crazy supporters out there, especially coming into Stellenbosch, and yeah, I hope that it just brings more media and more um people to follow the women's race.

SPEAKER_05 15:41

Expectations now. We get quite a bit of time to relax, you get a longer rest time, a longer recovery time, and uh tomorrow we go again, two big days in and around Stellenbosch.

SPEAKER_07 15:50

Yeah, I mean we have a nice gap today, but listen, I know better than anybody what can happen on the last day or the second to last day of KV Evic. So yeah, it's never over till it's over, and we just keep fighting, but we have fun on the bike and work together.

SPEAKER_06 16:04

Oh, so welcome back. And uh, as we have throughout this week, we've had a guest every single day we've done the podcast. We've had some really fascinating guests. We talked a lot about the riders and we've had people who do all sorts of things behind the scenes, but probably one of the most important people at the Abse Camp Epic are the people that looked after the bikes, the mechanics. Udo Utobok, am I saying your name correctly? Utobock, yeah. Utobock. Now you've been just give us a bit of a rundown of your palmares here, because palmares is important in cycling terms. You were a Carplatz mechanic for many years. Correct, yes.

SPEAKER_04 16:36

I was uh with the team bulls since 2014. And uh yeah, some nerve-wracking days in the beginning, you know, joining a big team like that it's uh for uh for a mechanic is sometimes uh you know the nerves get to you.

SPEAKER_06 16:52

Now give us I mean after every single stage when you're looking after a team as as big as that, and you've got a couple of really top pros that you're looking after, yeah. But what what's involved with it? Do you do you strip the bikes down every day? Do you change tires? What's what's the what's the process that you go through every day as a mechanic?

SPEAKER_04 17:08

Yeah, no, a lot of people think we do strip them down to nothing, but uh this is the case before the race. We go through the bikes, you know, top to bottom, a lot of uh testing, making sure that the guys are happy with their bikes, the way it's set up, and making sure your mechanic knows uh that setup for each rider. So uh during the race we we check all the components thoroughly. I mean if there's any doubt you replace it or you service it. Whatever's needed, you do it, make sure it's it's a solid component and and nothing uh nothing goes wrong in the race.

SPEAKER_06 17:41

I can imagine that days like this when it's a bit wet, they're the worst days for the mechanics.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Yeah, we don't like the the muddy, muddy days. I don't think the riders do either, but I must say the mechanics, we have a hard day when it's been raining.

SPEAKER_06 17:56

In what way? What what what's why is it harder than a dry day?

SPEAKER_04 18:00

So actually, um Stefan Salm said it today, it's like it's like sandpaper, it just wears everything so much faster. The components work harder, you've got this grit going through everything, through your chain, through your gears, through the brakes, it just wears everything very quickly, a lot quicker than it should.

SPEAKER_06 18:18

And and if you look at the the the setup of the bike, so obviously that comes down to the suspension setup that the guys have, and do they all have like okay, we've got to make sure the suspension is this much pressure on both, and you're checking that every single day, or does that change according to the course?

SPEAKER_04 18:33

So, yeah, there are certain things we do change according to the course. Um obviously big climbing days, you're changing chain ring, bigger smaller chain ring for big climbing days. You know, not everybody does it, but uh some of the top riders like to go over a smaller chain ring on a big climbing day. Um pressures and suspension is definitely a thing, but generally it stays the same. It doesn't really change over over you know a race or conditions. They riders are very particular. Uh like Karl Platt would love his suspension plush, soft and play, you know, he loves to have fun on his bike. And someone like Alban Lakata would have a very rigid settle, you know, he wants to be fast and racy, and speed is everything for him. So yeah, you need to know your riders, and uh the bike needs to be set up accordingly for each rider.

SPEAKER_05 19:24

Uh lots changed uh in the bike space, uh cables to Bluetooth, uh charging of batteries. Like we were talking about uh tram and and and and rock shocks now. It looks like there's what is it, six, seven different things that have to talk to each other and be communicating with each other at all times, and one of those goes wrong because it can. It's it you've gone from from cables to to electronics to computers to algorithms. How's how's that affected your job?

SPEAKER_04 19:51

No, it definitely does affect us, but we have no we have no choice. We have to move on with the times, you've got to get to know the the new uh equipment. Um you've got to work with computers and and phones nowadays to set a bike up and uh do software updates and all batteries go dead and then you have a problem. So you need to make sure uh checking batteries, making sure everything's always fully charged. You know, there's you can also overcharge something, so it's it's quite tricky. You need to get it right. Um but yeah, as long as you stick to stick to the manufacturer sort of uh guidelines and charge them regularly and in the correct way, you shouldn't have issues.

SPEAKER_05 20:30

Another question for you obviously when you're dealing with athletes at the sharp end um who are pushing the envelope every day, their equipment is lighter, which means it's not as durable, which means a shock for a Karl Platt or Albert Lakata or a Simon Stebian is getting serviced every how many hours as opposed to a shock of a middle of the range uh person riding in the field. How much attention do these top riders expect from their bike? What is the longest hours you've spent uh going through a bike in the early hours of the morning?

SPEAKER_04 21:00

Well, that's uh again it depends on the weather, I guess, but you you you need to the bike needs to go out ready to race in the same condition every day. You know, it can't be any different. Whether it's had a hard day the day before or it's the first day of racing. It needs to be it needs to be perfect every day. And that's what the mechanics in uh in the pro team have to achieve. You know, we need to achieve that benchmark every day. It has to be the same, and rider must be happy with the way the bike's responding, and you know, if if he if he's used to his brake being one way one day and it's different the next day, it's not good, he's probably gonna go down.

SPEAKER_05 21:39

Talk to us quickly about uh a memory. What what memory specific at the Absolut Cave Epic have you had uh which just sticks in your mind, good or bad? Just what comes to mind straight away?

SPEAKER_04 21:50

Uh unfortunately it is a bad one because it happened right in the beginning when I joined the team, uh a car crashed. And I think it's the first epic you never finished. So that was the memory with the team that that I always remember just because it was probably the first big thing that happened me in being part of the team. And then the next one uh we won every single stage at uh at the camp camp epic and that was the good memory. That was with Carl and and the samurai? Uh it was with Carl and Wis. And Wis. They won every single stage, yeah. And we had yellow jerseys coming out of our ears, and it was amazing. It was uh yeah, it was a good year. Your function here this year, who you're working with, uh who's the team you're supporting? Well so unfortunately uh there's no more Bulls team, so I had to I had to find someone else to help. Um I'm quite involved with uh with uh fishing insurer and I work with uh with the ladies a lot there. So I'm helping Vera Lauza and um and her sponsors, so uh and then also Stefan Sam with the e-bikes helping out there.

SPEAKER_05 23:02

How has that shift been from analogue to e-bike? Because again, different service techniques and different ways to get it done.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

Yeah, uh e-bike, I mean the weight, first of all, working on a heavy bike like that, that's I guess the biggest thing, biggest challenge. It's got a really big battery to charge, but the rest of it, uh I mean on Stefans bike, it's so solid, it's it's got a pinion motor that's completely sealed, you can't really do anything to it. Um it just works, you know. Uh it's got a belt-driven system, so no gears really to to set or check. Um, it's it's a little bit easier, uh honestly. The suspension works very hard because it's uh such a heavy bike, and he's riding that thing you know flat out to keep with those top riders.

SPEAKER_05 23:54

This year, for the first time at the Epscape Epic and at any stage race in the Epic series, we see the occurrence and the the head coming up of the 32-inch, and then straight away boom, they go and win themselves a stage. Uh the geometry on that bike is is phenomenal, and then obviously the the shocker. Tell us a bit about that.

SPEAKER_04 24:13

So I don't really know much about that 32-inch. I know it's uh it's a custom fork that they had um a flight 10 and fits it to. Um it's an inverted fork, so it's running upside down. Um a lot of guys have tried this, Rock Shock's tried it, uh, YT has tried it, and um yeah, I mean it's it's it's a good system because the the oil is always at the bottom where you want it, you know, for the lubrication. 32 inch, I don't know, you know, like when 26s, when we were still racing 26s, I was like, shit no, this 29er comes out, you know, we didn't believe in it, and now we're at 32 inch, so I don't know how to feel about it yet, but yeah, I guess he's rider for his own, and there will be riders that want to ride it, but uh it'll be uh have to be convincing for me to change anyway.

SPEAKER_06 25:02

So last question for me, yeah. One of the things they were talking a lot about today was the the the kind of wheels, the tires that they used on the stage today because of the the weather. Do they change tires for wet weather muddy conditions versus normal conditions, or is it pretty much the same tyre throughout the event?

SPEAKER_04 25:18

There are definitely tires that are better for muddy conditions. Um I know back in the day we used to run narrower tires so that it would you know get through the mud quicker. Easier nowadays, you know, it's smaller knobblies so that there's can't pack on, it can't stick to your tire, it flings off. And that's where tire pressure also comes in. Um if your tire can roll bottom and stay the same shape, the mud won't come off, so it needs to be soft enough to actually flick the mud off. So tyre pressures are very important for muddy days. But I mean every day you need to have the right tire pressure.

SPEAKER_06 25:52

You know, well, thanks very much for your time and uh good luck for the rest of the week. I'm sure you're doing a great job. Thanks very much. Right, so one of uh, as I've said every single day this week, one of my favorite inserts is uh from Carl Platt, a farm time winner of this uh Absicape Epic, and uh he was watching from his home in Germany, and this is what he had to say about his team of the day.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Hey guys, what a day at the epic. Unbelievable, like I predicted. It was uh not too much, but still very difficult to write. Um I think they just need to keep uh their heads uh up and uh bring it home. Excited for tomorrow? See you tomorrow.

SPEAKER_06 28:03

Right, so let's talk about uh tomorrow's stage as we go into the penultimate stage of this year's race. So the men's race and also the age groupers' race, 76 kilometers, 2,450 meters of climbing. It doesn't seem like a long distance, but it's a lot of climbing in just in just uh 76 kilometers. So it's a it's a hilly day, but it's possibly better because the trails here in Stellenbosch, if it stays like it does now, nice and dry, it will be pretty smooth flowing, and we know that the trails in Stellenbosch are particularly good for that kind of riding. Yeah, out and back, uh it's gonna be proper.

SPEAKER_05 28:36

They go off into Bunhook as well, come over the top. Yeah, it's it's it's classical Stellenbosch routes. And yes, those of you that were involved or have ever been to South Africa again, have gone to the Cape, you would have written uh in a lot of uh the the trails here. Umkrashook obviously absolutely sublime, and uh we're really looking forward to a big stage. Do not be fooled by the distance though. Uh Mike, I think it's gonna be massive. We look at the women's race, um, 62 kilometres, 1850 metres of climbing. Um, that too, again, um is is open for stage ones. So, yeah, especially I I feel that Kate and Goethe have got another one in it.

SPEAKER_06 29:14

Yeah, I think so, and I think tomorrow, hopefully, Goethe um responds a little bit better than she did today. I think she just the fatigue kicked in, but maybe a slightly slower day today means she's got something in the tank for tomorrow. So that's going to be an exciting woman's race. Also, some other news that we need to tell you about, of course, is we've also got the um Cape Epic shop, which you see that is here on our table.

SPEAKER_05 29:36

Merchandise Park there, you'll see we've got uh these incredible uh zebras and lines on sale, but also some amazing merchandise, not only for the Cape Epic, but also for the Epic Series. We know that we're gonna have a lot of people coming through over the next uh couple of days. Also, Uswear are there with all their hydration uh packs and everything that goes with that, uh, and then these guys' partners uh here with us at the Epic Series. So come and uh make sure you get to Oli. That shop literally, I'm guessing there's gonna be very little left to come uh Sunday. Let's talk quickly.

SPEAKER_06 30:04

Well, just to everybody know, we're actually in Pittsburgh and Stellenbosch. So if you're anywhere in the Western Cape, or even if you want to fly down from Joby before the prices go up on the airlines. 100%. We can do that uh for tomorrow, even for the weekend. Um, let's talk about the entries opening for 2027, opening on Monday. Correct.

SPEAKER_05 30:22

So entries are opening. Uh, important to uh be aware of that and uh make sure that you get your entries in. They call the early bird entries opening on Monday, the 23rd of March, a rite of passage there for you. And uh places are limited and demand is fierce. So sign up now for priority access to be the first in line for the entries for the Absorgan Access.

SPEAKER_06 30:42

So if you sign up for priority access, it means you become a member, which means you can then enter at four o'clock. Correct. If you're not part of the priority access on the Absigape Epic website, CapeHyphenEpic.com, um then you get only to enter at five o'clock. So it's it's a it's quite a good idea to if you if you're keen to get those entries in there, we know how quickly they go. So make sure that you just sign up for um priority access in the next couple of days, and you should be ready for getting that uh priority entry on Monday. Absolutely, you see what I'm doing then.

SPEAKER_05 31:10

Absolutely, there we go. That's why you got the job. This fresh in the uh Wine's to Wales in November is now officially a UCI race and will form part of the UCI calendar. It means that it's a UCI S1 event, very much like the other European Epic series events, um the Croatia Four Islands, Andorra Epic, and Spar Spacific, they all now hold the same status. This obviously applies only for our elite men's and women's, but what that will mean is that both those races will be four stages for the elite men and the elite woman only. That uh first stage will take place on registration day before the three days which we've had in the past. So that's really exciting news as part of the Epic Series because it's a little top right. Bringing everyone back, and obviously, a lot of people then stay here for their off-season training, which I think is amazing. Um, tomorrow morning, remember, seven o'clock start for the men out of Kurzamburg. Uh, the women from Water Table 1, and they start around 7:55 tomorrow morning. We are expecting the men in tomorrow just after 10 o'clock and the woman just after 11 o'clock. So please come and join us here at Kutzerberg in Cinemosh and uh get here early. It's gonna be lots of fun. What you said. See you tomorrow.