Stage 3 of the 2025 Absa Cape Epic was shortened from 90km to 78km due to a weather warning of extreme heat in the Western Cape’s Paarl region. Approximately 150m of climbing was also chopped off the stage. The changes in distance and elevation gain did little to change the fiery attitudes of the racing elites, though.
In the UCI Men’s Category race, Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) took line honours in a time of 3:22:44, just a second ahead of Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing), while in the Aramex UCI Women’s Category, Annika Langvad and Sofia Gomez Villafane (Toyota | Specialized) romped home to claim their 4th stage win of the race, now leading the category by 14 minutes.
Despite high temperatures from as early as 7am, the UCI Men’s Category Stage 3 race started at a rip-roaring pace, with a large bunch of riders all together for the first 30 minutes of the day.
The earliest casualties of the day were defending champion Matt Beers and his partner Keegan Swenson (Outride | Toyota | Songo). Swenson was well off the pace and the pair dropped further and further down the field as the race progressed. Sitting 11th now on the general classification – around 23 minutes off the lead – their race appears to be run.
Stage 2 winners Wout Alleman and Martin Stošek (BUFF MEGAMO 1) made a big effort on the monstrous Dryland climb, but it was too much for them and they soon fell away. At around the halfway mark, the real contenders of the day emerged in the shape of Wilier-Vittoria, Scott-SRAM MTB Racing and – much to the delight of local fans – South Africa’s Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje (Imbuko ChemChamp A).
With home ground advantage, it looked like Joubert and Nortje would pull off a welcome stage win as they led Nino Schurter and the group into the singletrack-heavy final 25km.
Unfortunately for the local lads, the extra firepower in the legs of Wilier-Vittoria and Scott-SRAM MTB Racing had the final say, with Wilier-Vittoria ultimately sprinting to the win. Imbuko ChemChamp A moved into third place overall, though, and kept the Absa African Special Jersey.
“There was a bit of a kicker towards the end, but Tristan and I didn’t have the strength and allowed the other two teams to get ahead,” said Joubert. “But then we saw them again and made an effort to catch up. It was so dusty though that you could barely see anything in front of you. We made an effort to attack again but we just didn’t have the legs for the sprint.”
Stage winner and second overall in the general classification Simone Avendetto says the main aim of the game for Stage 3 was to keep Schurter and Colombo in their sights. “The goal today was to not lose time in the general classification, so our plan was just to ride with the main contenders and conserve as much energy as possible. We were much happier on the trails today than on the flat time trial.”
The action in the Aramex UCI Women’s Category was punctuated by a series of crashes. First, Annika Langvad went down on a tight hairpin corner early into the racing and then Samara Sheppard (e-FORT x ChemChamp) endured a nasty fall which ended her race. Langvad took another tumble on a dry and dusty singletrack descent but was lucky to escape unscathed.
“That was by far my worst day at this year’s Absa Cape Epic,” said Langvad. “I just felt so sketchy the entire ride. Today was the first day where I felt I had been away from mountain biking. I was lucky to walk away from two crashes without any major damage. It was insanely hot out there today and we really just wanted to ride conservatively. We didn’t want to push too hard. It was all about maintaining a lead today.”
Langvad’s partner Gomez Villafane added that the conditions made racing tough. “The hardest part today was the lack of visibility out there. It’s so dusty that you couldn’t really see much in front of you. We knew we wanted to make a move on the Queen of the Mountain climb but at the same time, we didn’t want to ride alone and time-trial the entire stage. We tried to keep it easy today. As a team we are feeling really good, and I think we are getting better each day.”
Due to extreme heat, in consultation with and under the advisement of the Event Medical Director and local authorities, the Absa Cape Epic organisers took the decision to halt the shortened Stage 3 of the Absa Cape Epic at 14h36 local time on Wednesday, 19 March. Event organisers are continuing with standard post-stage checks and are working through results which will be communicated directly to riders at a later stage.
2025 Absa Cape Epic Stage 3 Race Results
UCI Men’s Category Results
- 1 Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto – Wilier-Vittoria – 3:22:44
- 2 Nino Schurter and Filippo Viero Colombo – Scott-SRAM MTB Racing – 3:22:45 (+1)
- 3 Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje – Imbuko ChemChamp A – 3:22:56 (+12)
- 4 Samuele Porro and Marc Stutzmann – Klimatiza Orbea – 3:25:15 (+2:31)
- 5 Marc Pritzen and Wessel Botha – Honeycomb 226ers – 3:27:31 (+4:47)
UCI Men’s Category GC
- 1 Nino Schurter and Filippo Viero Colombo – Scott-SRAM MTB Racing – 10:27:25
- 2 Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto – Wilier-Vittoria – 10:28:08 (+43)
- 3 Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje – Imbuko ChemChamp A – 10:37:14 (+9:49)
- 4 Samuele Porro and Marc Stutzmann – Klimatiza Orbea – 10:40:03 (+12:38)
- 5 Fabian Rabensteiner and Simon Stiebjahn – Torpado x Singer – 10:40:23 (+12:58)
Aramex UCI Women’s Category
- 1 Annika Langvad and Sofia Gomez Villafane – Toyota | Specialized – 4:14:53
- 2 Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda – Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM – 4:19:30 (+4:37)
- 3 Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen – TitanRacing SE Honeycomb – 4:21:58 (+7:05)
- 4 Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Claudia Peretti – Torpado Kenda FSA WMN – 4:29:04 (+14:11)
- 5 Haley Smith and Ella Bloor – (MAAP) – 4:29:56 (+15:03)
Aramex UCI Women’s Category GC
- 1 Annika Langvad and Sofia Gomez Villafane – Toyota | Specialized – 12:54:15
- 2 Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda – Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM – 13:08:14 (+13:59)
- 3 Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen – TitanRacing SE Honeycomb – 13:20:16 (+26:01)
- 4 Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Claudia Peretti – Torpado Kenda FSA WMN – 13:33:27 (+39:12)
- 5 Rosa Van Doorn and Janina Wust – BUFF MEGAMO – 13:35:34 (+41:19)
Other Categories & Special Jerseys GC
- Toyota Mixed Category: Riaan Weideman and Samantha Sanders – Toyota Gazoo Racing – 13:35:01
- NTT DATA Masters Men: Pavel Gonda and Tobias Lüthi – Czech Rocket&Swiss Diesel – 11:47:56
- Masters Women’s Category: Nicolle Weir and Janine Muller – BOUNCE- 16:56:41
- GIC Grand Masters Men’s Category: Ibon Zugasti and Kaare Aagaard – Orbea Factory Team – 12:24:24
- Grand Masters Women’s Category: Jenny Rönngren and Martha Koekemoer – UAG Epic – 16:54:01
- Great Grand Masters’ Men’s Category: Barti Bucher and Peter Vesel – Meerendal Etis – 14:05:01
- Absa African Men’s Special Jersey: Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortjie – Imbuko ChemChamp A 10:37:14
- Absa African Women’s Special Jersey Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen – TitanRacing SE Honeycomb 13:20:16
- Exxaro Men’s Special Jersey: Damon Terblanche and Ziandro Jordaan – Fairtree DP World Can1 – 13:09:08
To follow the fierce racing as it unfolds, mountain biking fans can tune in to the live broadcast on the Epic Series’ YouTube channel. The live coverage begins on Thursday, 20 March, at 07:00 (SAST | UTC +2) and a reminder to watch the race can be set by clicking here.
For more behind the scenes stories from the race follow @capeepic on Instagram, download the Epic Series APP or like the Cape Epic Facebook page.
