The 2025 Absa Cape Epic will be remembered for various reasons, including the extreme weather and an urban route with a high volume of man-made singletrack. But from a South African perspective, it should be regarded as benchmark event for our top professional and amateur racers. Here are some good reasons for host-country celebration.
By Sean Badenhorst
AN ELITE MEN’S RACE PODIUM
Racing as Team Imbuko ChemChamp, Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje became the first all-South African team to finish on the overall podium since 2012 when Kevin Evans and David George finished second to Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander. The highest finishes by all-South African teams since then were fifth places for Phil Buys and Matthys Beukes (2015) and Alan Hatherly and Matt Beers (2019).
Joubert and Nortje showed good form coming into the 2025 Cape Epic, with somewhat dominant one-two finishes at the first two Ford Trailseeker Series marathon races; second (Joubert) and fifth (Nortje) at the Imbuko Big Five marathon; and second (Nortje) and sixth (Joubert) at the Attakwas Extreme. Some suggested they might have peaked too soon, but their Cape Epic results indicate otherwise. Here’s how they fared on each stage against one of the strongest fields in years.
Prologue: 4th @ 1:10
Stage 1: 8th @ 5:59
Stage 2: 7th @ 3:16
Stage 3: 3rd @ 0:12
Stage 4: 4th @ 0:04
Stage 5: 3rd @ 3:03
Stage 6: 1st
Stage 7: 10th @ 2:16
In the end, they were third, 12:58 off winners, Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo (SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing), which is a truly world-class showing. Their frequent attacks and positive attitude, combined with their high-humility, low-ego personalities endeared them to the South African fans.
They also raced on Specialized’s Epic 8 bike, but on the Comp model frame (the base model). They customised them fully with Shimano XTR mechanical drivetrains, Fox Factory suspension and dropper posts and Roval Control SL wheelsets. Quite a components upgrade mix, but clearly fast and robust…
Although their roots go back to XCO racing, Joubert and Nortje are marathon-distance specialists. However, with the design of the past three Cape Epic routes incorporating a high volume of trails park singletrack, they could well be the perfect blend of mountain bike racer for the modern race.
Overall wins by Stander (2011 and 2012) and Beers (2021, 2023 and 2024) confirm that South Africans do indeed have what it takes to win the world’s toughest stage race. But a South African team win still hasn’t been achieved. Following their impressive 2025 performance, there will be hopes – and pressure – on Joubert and Nortje to tick this large, empty box.
A WOMEN’S RACE BONUS
It wasn’t just Joubert and Nortje in the men’s race that stirred the host country’s emotions. Eleventh-hour pairing, Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen rode a courageous race as Titan Racing SE Honeycomb and finished third overall. It was Haw’s first attempt at the race, but Preen’s fifth. The pair handled the hot days well and ended up defending their third place on the final two stages in the rainy conditions.
The absence of four-time runner-up, Candice Lill, from the 2025 race left South Africans feeling a little empty. But that void was quickly filled by Preen and Haw on the two hot Paarl stages where they collected podium spots on both days and moved into third overall. They managed to hold onto eventual third place, but were put under significant pressure in the process, taking Haw, in particular, to her limits.
While Preen is measured and philosophical in interviews, Haw’s raw enthusiasm and colourful language lit up the event’s Instagram reels and delivered a pair of new heroines to passionate South African fans, who haven’t been able to celebrate an overall women’s win since Yolande Speedy won the 2013 edition with English teammate, Catherine Williamson.
EPIC MASTERS BATTLES
As anyone in their 40s will know, there’s as much, if not a higher level of competitive spirit in this category compared to any other at the Absa Cape Epic. The only thing you lose once you reach your forties is high-end speed, right? Riiiiiiight.
Anyway, South Africans were impressive in the Men and Women’s Master’s category battles at this year’s Cape Epic.
Janine Muller and Nicolle Weir of Team Bounce won Stages 1, 2 and 3 and took the lead from a strong Brazilian team after Stage 3. They then faced a strong second-half challenge from a Slovakian duo, which they managed to see off until the final stage, but not without significant pressure. Muller and Weir eventually won the title over the Slovakians by 9:43. They were also the 21st all-women’s team overall.
For a few years now, South African Craig Uria has been gunning for the Masters title at the Absa Cape Epic. He and Andrew Duvenage won it in 2021 and tried unsuccessfully to defend it in 2022. Then, in 2023 and 2024, Uria teamed up with Mike Posthumous in an effort to reclaim the title, also without success, but not without immense commitment, bad luck with equipment and memorable stage battles.
This year, Uria partnered with another South African, Charlie McFall, as Team GIC. They soon discovered that four other teams shared their ambitions of winning the Masters title, including two teams containing former five-time Elite men’s winners, Karl Platt and Christoph Sauser, who both essentially still ride and race for a living.
Platt and Calle Friberg lost the early lead after Stage 2 to Pavel Gonda and Tobias Luthi. Uria and McFall won Stage 3 on that scorcher of a day in Paarl and moved into second, less than five minutes off Gonda and Luthi and then eventually took the lead after Stage 5.
Going into Stage 6, Uria and McFall held a 5:05 advantage over Platt and Friberg, but were unable to retain the Blue Jerseys, eventually finishing second to the German/Swede pairing by 8:08.
GRAND MASTER METAL
In the Grand Master Men and Women’s divisions, two South Africans won the overall titles. South African, Martha Koekemoer, paired with Swede Jenny Ronngren, won all eight stages and secured a dominant victory in the Grand Master Women’s category.
It was a bit of a tighter contest for South African Robert Sim and his German teammate, Udo Bolts in the Grand Master Men’s race though.
They were lying second to Spain’s Ibon Zugasti and Denmark’s Kaara Aagaard until Stage 4, which they won. Zugasti withdrew from the race with illness after Stage 4 and Sim and Bolts won two of the last three stages to secure the final Purple Jerseys. Their winning margin of 29:02 over Dutch pair, Bart Brentjens and Martin Santema was deceptive as the daily stage battles were intense.
OPEN FOR ACTION
The Open categories saw consistent South African challenges. In the Open Men’s division, South African teams finished on the podium almost every stage, with the Honeycomb 226ERS Vets B team of Du Toit van den Bergh and Casper Kruger eventually securing third place on GC.
The Open Women’s race was essentially dominated by South Africans. Mari du Toit and Bridgette Joubert (Vivo Vita Sport) won a stage; and South African Linda Detering and Namibian teammate, Julika Pahl (PapaPahls QOMs) won two stages. But it was the Drivetrain Ladies, Rouxda Grobler and Mikaela Hagemann, who won five stages, that went on to secure the overall title.
MIXING AND MATCHING
In the Mixed Category, two South African teams put in a huge effort in their quest to win the overall title. South Africans Elrika Harmzen-Pretorius and Alexander Lawrance (NEO Energies – e-Fort) and 2024 title winners, Samantha Sanders and Riaan Weideman (Toyota Gazoo) swapped stage wins and the overall lead in the first half of the race.
Sanders and Weideman, who led the category from after Stage 1 then started to feel the pressure of the Austrian pair of Theresa Rindler-Bachl and Philipp Bachl (Protective Megamo), who won stages 5, 6 and 7 and took the overall title in the process. Sanders and Weideman finished second and Harmzen-Pretorius and Lawrance were third.
The addition of the new categories since 2023 has definitely made an impact on the race. Most mountain bikers that enter an Absa Cape Epic have a competitive spirit. As the host country of the event, South Africa has the advantage of being better represented in each of the sub-categories, adding real spice to the racing as well as rewards with daily and overall stage and GC podium recognition.
To see the full results of the 2025 Absa Cape Epic, click here.
