Cape Epic: South Africans Dominate Top Steps After Sweltering 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.
Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) overcome sweltering conditions and a world-class field to take the first step to making history on day one of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic at Meerendal, Durbanville on Sunday.
Beers and Nortje won the opening Prologue stage over 20km, with 650m of climbing, to take the first yellow jersey by six seconds ahead of Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria), with David Valero and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) a further six seconds back. Beers and Nortje are bidding to become the first all-South African pairing to win the Absa Cape Epic despite only forming their partnership 10 days ago when Beers’ initial partner, Keegan Swenson, was forced to withdraw with injury.
“The Prologue doesn’t win the race, but it puts us on the front foot and now others must chase.”
In the women’s race, Capetonian Candice Lill, who has finished second five times in six starts, won the women’s Prologue with partner, XCC Short Track World Champion Alessandra Keller. The Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team finished 56 seconds ahead of Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) and the Buff-BH Efficient Infiniti team of Rosa Van Doorn and Vera Looser.
In temperatures that reached 40 degrees Celsius on parts of the course, it was a tough day out for both the elite and the 1400 amateur riders that lined up.
“Obviously, the heat was gnarly today. A lot of prep goes into this, but it was still damn hot,” Beers said.
Nortje admitted that once the riders turned with the wind on their backs, conditions got tough. “When we were riding into the wind, it was heaven, but once we had a tailwind, there was no cooling. The last climb was brutal,” the 24-year-old Nortje said. “But we plan and train for the heat. It is part of Epic.”
After winning the Absa African jersey last year with partner Marco Joubert, Nortje was delighted to wear his first overall leaders’ yellow jersey.
“I didn’t expect to win the Prologue,” Nortje said. “Even an hour is too short for me, and this was 40 minutes so I’m not sure how we did that.”
The South African combination led the Prologue from start to finish, even though their gap was always slender ahead of the Wilier-Vittoria team. Beers goes into the 2026 event as a three-time Absa Cape Epic champion.
Lill and Keller On Fire
It was the same story for Lill and Keller, who were marginal favourites going into the stage. Both are world-class XC racers who compete on the World Cup circuit during the European season.
“We had a good team chat beforehand, and we were well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Lill said. “It makes me excited for the next seven days. The Prologue doesn’t win the race, but it puts us on the front foot and now others must chase.”
Keller was upbeat about their chances after a near-flawless performance that saw them the fastest at all checkpoints.
“We had a plan and a strategy, and we fully committed to it. Our communication was good and now we must make sure we play our cards right over the next seven days,” Keller said.
Stage 1 of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic takes place in Montagu on Monday with over 90km with 2150m of climbing.
PROLOGUE RESULTS
Elite Men
1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE(44:37.4)
2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (44:43.7 | +6.3)
3. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (44:50.2 | +12.8)
4. ORIGINE-WILIER: Mathis AZZARO & Juri ZANOTTI (45:03.0 | +25.6)
5. CANYON: Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (45:35.6 | +58.2)
Elite Women
1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (51:24.6)
2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (52:21.4 | +56.8)
3. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI: Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (53:33.9| +2:09.3)
4. SYMBTECH.NET: Margot MOSCHETTI & Claudia PERETTI (54:11.8 | +2:47.2)
5. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (54:30.6 | +3:06.0)
Toyota Mixed
1. TEAM 69: Jenny RISSVEDS & Simon ANDREASSEN (52:20.6)
2. SCOTT BRASIL: Gabriela FEROLLA & Hugo PRADO NETO (56:19.5 | +3:58.9)
3. KXNGS / PUMP FOR PEACE: Nicholas ROCHE & Marta TORÀ MILÀ (56:23.3 | +4:02.7)
Absa African Men
1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (44:37.4)
2. INSECT SCIECE | SAFARI ESSENCE: Wessel BOTHA & Johan VAN ZYL (46:17.6 | +1:40.2 | 10th)
3. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO 2: Marco JOUBERT & Travis STEDMAN (46:45.1 | +2:07.7 | 15th)
Absa African Women
1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (54:41.0 | +3:16.4 to 1st overall)
2. FORTRESS TOYOTA: Ila STOW & Cherise WILLET (57:59.5 | +3:18.5 | 10th)
3. PIRTEK HOLLARD: Kelsey VAN SCHOOR & Anri GREEFF(58:07.2 | +3:25.2 | 12th)
Open Women:
1. PUMP FOR PEACE – TOWNSVILLE GALS: Hilary BELL & Joanne TALLON (1:11:01.0)
2. JOY RIDE: Jennifer BURTNER & Callah ROBINSON (1:15:13.6 | +4:12.6)
3. SHEUNTAMED NAMIBIA: Jacky SHIPENA & Jana VON BACKSTROM (1:16:30.4 | +5:29.4)
Open Men:
1. ASAP CYCLING: Jean-Pierre DU PLESSIS & Cronje BEUKES (47:25.2)
2. TEAM TITAN FX: Kohei YAMAMOTO & Riyadh Hakim BIN LUKMAN (50:12.6 | +2:47.4)
3. DANSTE RACING: Tristan DE LANGE & Martin FREYER (51:01.2 | +3:36.0)
Great Grand Masters Women
1. TEAM GEANCO: Rhonda GEISZLER & Tamara TABEEK (1:27:02.2)
Great Grand Masters Men
1. NO RIDE AROUND: Jon GOULD & Amir MATITYAHU (1:04:08.8)
2. OTB: Pieter MULLER & Corrie MULLER (1:04:34.1 | +25.3)
3. SMALL TORQUE: Robert SOBEY & Darrin HINES (1:08:19.5 | +4:10.7)
GIC Grand Masters Women
1. UAG EPIC: Martha KOEKEMOER & Jenny RÖNNGREN (1:05:17.1)
2. ABSA GRAND MASTERS: Hannele STEYN & Lisa CZEPEK (1:10:14.8 | +4:57.7)
3. PEDAL 4 HEAVEN: Brigitta SCHMIDLIN& Simone EVANS (1:11:01.1 | +5:44.0)
GIC Grand Masters Men
1. ORBEA FOX FACTORY: Ibon ZUGASTI & Ernesto MENDOZA (53:16.6)
2. PICKFORDS: Burger BESTER & Hendrik BESTER (55:07.1 | +1:50.5)
3. PEDAL PROJECT: Oliver IMFELD & Simon WÜRMLI (55:50.6 | +2:34.0)
NTT Data Masters Women
1. USWE SA: Mari DU TOIT & Janine MULLER (1:05:56.9)
2. IGLU THERAPY CHEMCHAMP RACING: Juanita Rose MACKENZIE & Rouxda GROBLER (1:06:47.1 | +50.2)
3. SIZWE AMANZI: Maureen JORDAAN & Jenny CLOSE (1:09:52.5 | +3:55.6)
NTT Data Masters Men
1. WILIER-CHAOYANG: Uwe HOCHENWARTER & Karl MARKT (50:31.4)
2. CZECHROCKET&SWISSDIESEL: Pavel GONDA & Tobias LÜTHI (51:27.2 | +55.8)
3. BELLS CYCLING: Nico BELL & Gabriel COMBRINCK (51:30.9 | +59.5)
Exxaro Women’s Jersey
1. EXXARO MANGANESE LADIES 1: Tsholofelo NKOSI & Bontle PHEPISO (1:17:46.1)
2. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 4: Winile MAJAVU & Yomelela MFAZWE(1:23:15.0 | +5:28.9)
3. EXXARO LADIES 2: Sinesipho DUBO & Ntokozo MOKOENA (1:42:46.8 | +25:00.7)
Exxaro Men’s Jersey
1. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 2: Ethan MICHAELS & Damon TERBLANCHE (52:14.6)
2. FAIRTREE DP WORLD CANNONDALE 1: Luyanda THOBIGUNYA & Ziandro JORDAAN (54:20.2 | +2:05.6)
3. VELOKHAYA: Kuhle NGCANI & Othando SITOZA (56:09.7 | +3:05.1)
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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