On a day marred by two race-defining crashes, World Marathon champion Kate Courtney and partner Greta Seiwald finally won their first stage of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic in Greyton on Thursday, while New Zealand’s Sam Gaze and German Luca Schwarzbauer won their second stage in the men’s race.

Courtney and Seiwald (She Sends Foundation), who have finished second in every stage until today, had to rely on some controversial tactics to finally beat overall leaders Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi), who had won the first four days.

“We had been discussing tactics and various scenarios, and it worked out perfectly.”

She Sends Foundation finished in 2 hours 56 minutes 37 seconds with Lill and Keller just two seconds behind. Behind them, there was drama in the fight for third place when Dutchwoman Rosa van Doorn crashed on the descent after the final UFO climb, gashing her knee open and losing a tooth. She was unable to continue and partner Vera Looser completed the stage alone.

The two were in a battle for third with Hayley Preen and Haley Smith (Chemchamp Honeycomb) who eventually finished the stage third and cemented their third place overall.

The men’s race also had its fair share of drama when Wout Alleman (Buff-BH) team crashed heavily on the treacherous Middelplaas descent, holding up South African Tristan Nortje, who lies second overall with partner Matt Beers (Toyota Specialized Imbuko).

Nortje had to chase back to his partner as the all-South African team fell behind the leading two teams of Gaze and Schwarzbauer and overall leaders Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) to finish third.

The Canyon team’s win moves them up to third overall, 5 minutes 10 seconds behind Braidot and Avondetto, who held on to the overall leader’s jersey for the second day in a row. However, with the toughest stages of this year’s race still to come, there is plenty still to play for.

Women’s Race

The shorter women’s elite race, over 61km with 1450m of climbing, started slower than the breakneck pace of the first three days as tired legs struggled to get going. But by halfway, the top two teams overall were slowly starting to show their class as the big climb up UFO at 40km came into view. There was little to separate them as they crested the final hill and started the dusty and slippery descent down the Middelplaas trail.

Just behind, Van Doorn and Looser had started to create a gap over Preen and Smith, but halfway down the trail Van Doorn’s front wheel slid out, and she landed heavily on her face and knee. The resulting injuries were enough to force her withdrawal.

Ahead of the drama, Courtney and Seiwald were trying everything to try and finally win a stage. On the tight singletrack, Seiwald accelerated away while Courtney held up the orange jersey wearers behind. By the time the race was nearing the finish line, Seiwald had a small advantage and Courtney was able to sprint to second place and secure the victory.

“We had been discussing tactics and various scenarios, and it worked out perfectly,” said Seiwald. “I still can’t believe we won, and we will definitely celebrate with some cake today.”

The two also revealed they would donate their prize money to two local charities through Courtney’s She Sends Foundation.

Overall leaders Lill and Keller were clearly disappointed at not being able to keep their winning streak intact.

“Today they really played it well into the finish,” said Lill. “Kate was really strong because we sat on her wheel for most of the last 10km and she was still able to get the better of us at the finish.

“Yes, there was some blocking, fighting for position and putting feet down at times, but I guess that’s racing.”

Men’s Race

As expected, the men’s race broke apart up the final brutal UFO climb 65km into the 87km stage that included 1750m of climbing.

Buff-BH’s Wout Alleman set a furious pace as the lead group shattered up the rocky, loose ascent. By the top, all but the top three teams in the overall were left in the dry dust, and the stage was set for a thrilling finish along the undulations of the Middelplaas trail.

But it was not to be. Alleman lost control in one of the tight corners as the group descended, going over the handlebars in a dramatic crash. In the mayhem, Wilier-Vittoria and Canyon had gotten clear while Nortje was stuck behind the recovering Alleman.

Nortje’s partner, Beers, waited for his younger partner as the gap between them and the lead two teams grew to 30 seconds. Despite a monumental effort by Beers, the two still gave up 23 seconds by the finish line.

Up ahead, the Wilier-Vittoria team was up against the formidable power of two XC and short track specialists: Gaze is a former World XC champion and Schwarzbauer has made his name in the short track World Cup series.

As the four leaders approached the finish line, Gaze was imperious, and even Schwarzbauer was showing signs of not being able to keep up with the pace.  Clearly suffering, the German dug deep and then used his legendary power to cross the finish line with Gaze just behind.

“It was a really hard final with that climb,” said Gaze, “We tried to measure our effort and just stay in touch with the leaders. But that last descent was very loose, and then the BH guys were on the floor. That opened things up. It was just full gas from then on.”

Braidot and Avondetto extended their lead at the top to 1:37. Last year, the pair finished second overall in their first Absa Cape Epic.

“We tried to win the stage but Sam and Luca are such good sprinters, so for us it was hard,” said Avondetto. “Our main objective is to keep the jersey, but there are still three hard stages to come and we want to just preserve our energy.”

RESULTS

Elite Men Stage 4

1. CANYON Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (3:29.31)
2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (3:29.32 | +1)
3. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matt BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (3:29.55| +23)
4. SINGER KTM RACING 2 Simon STIEBJAHN & Martin FREY (3:31.38 | +2:06)
5. DOUBLE DUTCH Hans BECKING & Teus RUIJTER (3:31.42 | 2:11)

Elite Men GC after Stage 4

1. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (16:08.59)
2. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (16:10.37 | +1:37)​
3. CANYON:Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (16:14.09 | +5:10)
4. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (16:14.51 | +5:51)
5. BUFF-BH Wout ALLEMAN & Martin STOSEK (16:16.04 | +7:05)

Elite Women Stage 4

1. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (2:56.37)
2. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (2:56.40 | +2)
3. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB Hayley PREEN & Hayley SMITH (2:58.21 | +1:43)
4. TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (3:00.36 | +3:59)
5. SYMBTECH.NET Margot MOSCHETTI Claudia PERETTI  (3:00.59 | 4:22)

Elite Women GC after Stage 4

1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (14:18.54)
2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (14:23.44 | +4:50)
3. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (14:50.46 | +31:52)
4. TORPADO FSA KENDA Katazina SOSNA-PINELE & Giorgia MARCHET (14:54.23 | +35:29)
5. SYMBTECH.NET Margot MOSCHETTI Claudia PERETTI  (15:01.49 | 42:55)

SPECIAL JERSEYS GC 

Toyota Mixed

1. TEAM 69: Jenny RISSVEDS & Simon ANDREASSEN (18:47.16)

Absa African Men

1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (16:10.37)

Absa African Women

1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (15:10.13)

Open Women:

1. JOY RIDE: Jennifer BURTNER & Callah ROBINSON (26:31.50)

Open Men:

1. COLIBRI CYCLING: Eimantas GUDISKIS & Vladas JURKEVICIUS (18:11.08)​

Great Grand Masters Men

1. OTB: Pieter MULLER & Corrie MULLER​(23:17.06)

GIC Grand Masters Women

1. UAG EPIC: Martha KOEKEMOER & Jenny RÖNNGREN (24:25.27)

GIC Grand Masters Men

1. ORBEA FOX FACTORY: Ibon ZUGASTI & Ernesto MENDOZA (18:43.12)

NTT Data Masters Women

1. IGLU THERAPY CHEMCHAMP RACING Juanita Rose MACKENZIE Rouxda GROBLER (23:31.13)

NTT Data Masters Men

1. CZECHROCKETS&SWISSDIESEL Pavel GONDA Tobias Luthi (17:55.34)

Exxaro Women’s Jersey

1. EXXARO MANGANESE LADIES 1: Tsholofelo NKOSI & Bontle PHEPISO (29:55.33)

Exxaro Men’s Jersey

1. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 2: Ethan MICHAELS & Damon TERBLANCHE (19:24.08)

To follow the Absa Cape Epic action live, tune into the Absa Cape Epic’s live broadcast on the Epic Series YouTube Channel here.

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