There’s often discussion about whether women are tougher than men when it comes to endurance sport. The Cape Epic is one of the toughest endurance sports events on the planet and a good place to examine this.
By Sean Badenhorst
Photos: Dino Lloyd
We collated race statistics from the past 11 editions and found the following:
Of the average total team entry of 600 (1200 riders), there are 20 Women-only teams (40 riders) and 64 Mixed teams (64 women).
As a combined total (women and mixed), there is an average of 104 women that start the Cape Epic each year. Of that total, on average, 24.6% don’t finish. This is higher than the 21% combined average total of all teams that don’t finish (men and women).
However, at 20.6%, the total of women-only teams that don’t finish is lower.
What does this tell us? Well, in broad terms, it tells us that women in women-only teams are more likely to finish than women in Mixed teams. You can draw your own conclusions from that stat, but we have found that women in women-only teams are generally more mentally, physically (and mechanically) prepared for what really is a week-long sufferfest than women in Mixed teams. Note that we say ‘generally’…
Here are the figures for the past 11 editions:
There are 107 women entered for the 2017 Absa Cape Epic – 44 in Women’s teams and 63 in Mixed teams.
All rights reserved.
