It may have been a postponed edition that took place in Spring instead of Autumn, but it was as brutal and as fiercely contested as any other edition. And Matt Beers winning the 2021 Absa Cape Epic was an incredible achievement. The 28-year-old Capetonian absolutely loves his country and is going all in to try and defend his title at the 2022 edition of most prestigious mountain bike stage race in the world, which starts on Sunday.
By Sean Badenhorst
If you didn’t already know this, Beers came to mountain biking quite late. The former motocross racer discovered a passion for cycling when he was recovering from an injury at the age of 21. Little did he know he’d become a world class marathon and stage racer and form half of the team that would lead the Cape Epic from start to finish – a feat never achieved previously and indicative partly of the strength of Beers and his teammate, Frenchman, Jordan Sarrou; and partly of the experience of his Specialized Factory Racing team staff.
For Beers, the victory was huge. The late Burry Stander was the only South African to have won the Cape Epic overall until last year. It took almost a decade for another South African to achieve that and discerning followers of marathon racing were quietly confident that Beers would be able to achieve that feat. The guy is just phenomenal and hard to beat in a marathon or ultra-marathon, especially if there are long climbs…
His best Cape Epic finish before 2021 was fifth place (with Alan Hatherly in 2019) and being asked by Specialized to step up to the brand’s A team (in fact only team) in 2021, showed that Specialized saw great potential in Beers. And Sarrou for that matter, although the Frenchman had already proven himself as a world class racer (he was the 2020 XCO World Champion). It was a matter of adapting to the distance, the duration and the conditions.
“I was confident we could win the prologue that day and be in contention for an overall podium,” recalls Beers on the eve of the 2022 Cape Epic.
“With Jordan, I knew we were capable. Then, obviously to hold the yellow jersey all the way through to the end was just super special. I didn’t think we’d keep it, to be very honest, but we just took the race day by day, rode defensively and it ended up working out well.”
“I followed Burry when he won but I didn’t realise he was the only South African to win until midway through 2021 Epic. Then I didn’t want to think about because I didn’t want to put that pressure on myself. Being only the second South African after Burry to win is a very special for me,” says Beers.
Beers started off wearing the South African Marathon Champion’s jersey at the 2021 Cape Epic, but finished clad in the globally coveted Absa Men’s Winners Jersey. Curiously, he’s going to start off wearing the same national champion’s jersey for the 2022 Cape Epic which is only five months after the previous edition! Although it’s the shortest victory reign in Cape Epic history, it’s been life-changing for Beers.
“After winning the Cape Epic I have had a lot more media interest and attention in general. When you win the Epic you also become more valuable as an athlete. I didn’t think it would be as big as it was. It’s still quite weird to come to terms with but I have had a ton of support from South Africans and internationals, which is way more than I ever thought. It’s truly very special and I appreciate all the support from both people and brands. It’s overwhelming and cool that they want to back me,” says Beers, who just a few days ago was officially named one of the team members of the new Toyota Specialized team.
Sarrou, a XCO specialist who jumped in the long-distance deep-end to continue a remarkable tradition of Specialized teams winning the Cape Epic, impressed by stretching his abilities, but Beers seldom seemed under pressure at the 2021 race and in American, Christopher Blevins, seems to have the ideal partner match for the 2022 edition. Blevins may only have gained international attention last year when he won the 2021 XCC World Champs title and the final round of the XCO World Cup, but the guy has a phenomenal bike racing pedigree.
Blevins has raced bicycles since the age of 5, starting with BMX and moving to mountain bike, road and cyclocross. He’s excelled on all of them and spent two years racing for Axel Merckx’s development road team, Hagens Berman Axeon. He won the Under-23 US national Cyclocross title in 2018 and switched his focus to mountain biking in 2019. He’s competed in a number of stage races on the road and finished third overall (with two stage wins) alongside fellow American Keegan Swenson at the 2018 Swiss Epic.
“Chris is a really powerful rider and has a massive amount of talent in terms of technical ability. He’s got a good road background and you don’t become the XCC world champ unless you have huge power. I was in that XCC World Champs race and I know how hard I had to go. Wow! He’s a seriously powerful guy. I think his strengths will suit us well as a team. He can start really fast and he has the knowledge and the tactics from the road. I think we are a good match. The first few days will determine just how well we race together,” says Beers.
The Cape Epic has always been held in early Autumn, when it’s dry and usually hot. The 2021 postponed edition was held in Spring, which encountered a range of weather conditions, particularly cooler weather and rain. For Beers, who has completed a total of five Cape Epics, it was a better time of the year for the event.
“I really enjoyed racing in the Spring. It was something different. We had very hot days, but then we had very cool days too. It was a nice combination and I think it added a better dynamic to the race. There was mud thrown in too, but the sand in the dry season is a lot harder to ride. You also had a lot of racing in the legs going into the race, so your body was quite well prepared. In March you don’t have a ton of racing in your legs. Racing helps with sharpness. I enjoy both and I it’s much of a muchness when you’re going full gas!” says Beers.
While the 2021 Cape Epic was fiercely contested, it was a smaller field than normal, restricted by an array of global travel regulations implemented to varying degrees by various countries. As a result, some top riders were unable to compete, while others simply didn’t want to go to all the commitment and cost at a time of great uncertainty. But the 2022 edition is taking place at a time when many countries have completely dropped all Covid-19 limitations.
For Beers, there are a number of top teams he feels are threats to his title.
“There are a lot of top teams. Actually, make that a lot of top teams with strong back-up teams! It’s going to be an interesting race. Nino (Schurter) and Lars (Forster) will be a big threat. And they have a strong back-up team in Andri (Frischknecht) and the Italian (Juri Ragnoli). Then there’s the Canyon guys (Andreas Seewald and Martin Stosek); and the Bulls (Urs Huber and Simon Schneller) are always strong with solid back-up riders. And of course Hans Becking and Jose Dias (Buff Megamo), who were so strong last year.
“And there are more strong teams I might have missed for sure. But I must also consider other South Africans, such as my Toyota Specialized stablemate, Tristan Nortje and his British partner, Cameron Mason who will race as our back-up team and then Marco Joubert and Pieter du Toit (Imbuko Type DEV). There’s a lot of depth at the front!” adds Beers.
In terms of the route, Beers feels that stages 1 and 5 are likely to be the most decisive stages.
“I think Stage 1 is going to be super hard! It’s got a lot of climbing for the kilometres (1850m in 92km) and is listed as a five star stage. We’ll see some big gaps that day for sure. Then Stage 5, which goes up Rusty Gate climb from the gun, followed by Franschhoek Pass and then Bothmaskop – that’s also going to be a proper day out! But you can’t discount the shorter stages, like Stage 6. What I noticed last year is that a lot of damage can be done on the shorter days, especially by the XCO boys…” he says.
Here are the details of the 2022 route, which has more climbing than in any other edition.
Can Beers defend his Cape Epic title? He’s got a lot going for him, that’s for sure. He has good form, having got third at the recent XCO national cup and a win at this past weekend’s Western Cape provincial XCO cup. He’s won a Cape Epic now and knows what it takes. In Blevins, he’s probably got a more suited teammate than he had in 2021. He’s a member of the Toyota-NinetyOne-Specialized squad, the most experienced, successful squad in Cape Epic history. And, he’s gained more confidence in his ability to beat the world’s best.
“Being the South African marathon champion in two Cape Epics is extremely special to me. It’s something I could have never dreamed of when I started out with mountain biking. I wear that national champs jersey with pride every time I put it on. And when I put it on for the start of the Cape Epic on Sunday, I want to do South Africa proud and defend my Cape Epic!”
There will be live coverage of the 2022 Absa Cape Epic daily from Sunday 20 March until Sunday 27 March on the Cape Epic Facebook page.
