It’s great that the Absa Cape Epic, the world’s most prestigious mountain bike stage race, attracts some of the biggest names in the sport of mountain biking. We can be optimistic and speculatory by mentioning possibles and maybes, but here is the TREAD Media realistic Elite Men and Women’s race preview.
By Sean Badenhorst
Let’s cut straight to the chase, in the men’s race, there are three teams in with a shot at the win. In the women’s race, as much as we’d love to see a close contest like we had last year, the race will be for second place.
ELITE MEN
In terms of overall wins, Matt Beers is the most successful South African in Absa Cape Epic history. Three victories in four years with three different teammates also make the tall Capetonian the most successful male in this year’s Elite Men’s race.
The Specialized Offroad pro team member has moved outside the Specialized brand stable to select his 2025 teammate. And boy has he chosen well. Keegan Swenson, who races for the Santa Cruz HTSQUD, an American-based off-road pro team, will partner Beers for this year’s Cape Epic in what those in the know would consider a dream team.
Swenson is currently North America’s best off-road racer. He’s won the Life Time Grand Prix Series title for the past three years, underlining his dominance in the prestigious race series that includes gravel races, ultra-marathons and marathons. Beers finished second to Swenson in the Life Time Grand Prix Series last year and the two are close friends. They will be racing as Outride Toyota Songo – Outride and Songo are bicycle-related non-profit organisations. This allows them to race as a team, but also still representing their own sponsors.
Beers’ Cape Epic ability is well known. The 31-year-old South African has a power-to-weight ratio that makes him hard to stay with on the flats and gradual rises and able to climb with the best on the big ascents. He’s also skilled and handles technical terrain superbly. No real weaknesses. Beers has 11 Cape Epic stage wins, tied with Nino Schurter as the sixth most in the men’s race history. He is also essentially racing in his back yard, so is comfortable with the route and the conditions.
Swenson has completed two editions of the Cape Epic, finishing 11th with Lachlan Morton in 2023 and 11thwith Maxime Marotte in 2022. Neither Morton nor Marotte is known for their marathon racing prowess – the former is an ultra-endurance specialist and the latter is primarily a XCO racer. Swenson’s successes, including three wins and the course record at the Leadville 100 and the Unbound title in 2023 have all been in the USA.
A multiple USA XCO Champion, including wins over Christopher Blevins and Howard Grotts, two of Beers’ Cape Epic-winning teammates, Swenson undoubtedly has the racing pedigree to become the fifth American (third American male) to win the Cape Epic. It will be interesting to see how Swenson and Beers combine. Although this will be their first stage race as teammates, they have Beers’ experience and a backing team that’s produced more Cape Epic wins than any other. Outride Toyota Songo must surely rank as the favourite to secure the Elite Men’s race title.
In the second of the favourite teams in the Elite Men’s race, XCO racing legend and two-time Absa Cape Epic winner, Nino Schurter, has selected SCOTT SRAM teammate and fellow Swiss racer, Filippo Colombo, as his partner for 2025.
Schurter’s ability and pedigree is widely known. Unfortunately, his teammates are seldom able to match him after Day 4 at the Cape Epic. Sebastian Fini (2024), Andri Frischknecht (2023) accompanied Schurter to second and third places respectively in the past two editions – both fading somewhat in the second half of the race.
Now it’s Colombo’s turn to see if he has what it takes to deliver his first and Schurter’s third win. Colombo has only done one previous Cape Epic – he finished 7th in 2021. He will rely heavily on Schurter’s experience to challenge for the coveted title. Also in this team’s favour is the off-the-bike backing crew that boasts significant Absa Cape Epic experience which definitely is an advantage.
The final pre-race favourite duo is the Orbea Leatt Speed Company Racing pair of Georg Egger and Lukas Baum. After winning on their Cape Epic debut in 2022 and finishing second in 2023, the Germans come into the 2025 edition relatively low on confidence after Egger’s DNF last year and again withdrawing from the Tankwa Trek four-day preparation race in South Africa last month. Baum did win the European marathon championships in 2024 and they do have adequate Cape Epic experience now. They will of course hope that their bad luck is out of the way. If they’re both strong and healthy, they will use their aggressive, unorthodox racing style to unsettle their rivals.
There are at least half a dozen other teams in the mix that could challenge to finish on the overall podium, but not contest the victory. It’s these teams that will help animate the racing as they chase stage wins and limit their losses in the General Classification battle.
ELITE WOMEN
Annika Langvad is the most successful female Absa Cape Epic racer ever. Five starts, five wins and 31 stage wins! Her decision to return to racing in 2025 after a break to complete her studies and have a baby was no doubt music to the Specialized brand’s ears…
Specialized’s various teams have dominated the Elite Women’s race in the last decade, winning eight of the last 10 editions. After winning with the super-competent Haley Batten in 2022, Specialized’s Sofia Gomez Villafane found herself with weaker partners for the past two years, finishing third in 2023 and 2024. Gomez Villafane has been the dominant female off-road racer in the USA for the past three years. But after being ‘the hammer’ in past two editions of the Absa Cape Epic, the Argentinian will likely experience being ‘the nail’ as she joins Langvad in what is the outright favourite team for 2025. Their combination will be formidable.
If they don’t encounter any major issues, Team Specialized should win this edition by more than 60 minutes over whoever is second. Speaking of second, the most likely contenders for that position are Namibia’s Vera Looser and US racer, Alexis Skarda at team Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM. Looser won the 2023 edition with Kim le Court, while she and Skarda finished fifth last year.
There are several European teams entered this year, many of them doing their first Cape Epic. Some have shone in the shorter Epic Series races in the past year and will no doubt be overall podium contenders. But they’ll need to successfully manage the heat, dust and duration of this race if they want to shine on the biggest stage of all…
WEATHER
Extreme heat is unlikely but the long-range weather forecast predicts hot days in the mid 30s from Days 3-5. Some light rain is also possible late in the event.
ROUTE
This edition has the most singletrack of any of the 20 previous editions and is the second steepest in the race’s history. Covering 608km, the riders will climb a total of 16 500 metres, which is 27.13m of ascent per kilometre. Only 2024’s 27.48m/km was greater. These two factors are likely to deliver a very challenging route for most, especially those who lack singletrack agility. The one redeeming feature is that most the singletrack is manicured and predominantly quite smooth and predictable.
The 2025 Absa Cape Epic takes place from 16-24 March. Here’s a look at the top teams in the Elite Men’s category; and here’s a rundown of the top Elite Women’s teams.
Image credits: Various, including Absa Cape Epic, SCOTT SRAM and HTSQD
Sean Badenhorst is the co-founder and Editor of TREAD Media. He has covered every single Absa Cape Epic from a media perspective and has completed two editions as a rider.
