Since it was established in 2004, only two South African men and seven South African women have won the Absa Cape Epic overall. It’s the pinnacle event in marathon mountain biking and it attracts many of the world’s best racers, making it a significant challenge for South Africans to stand out. Here’s a look at which South Africans are likely to shine at the 2023 edition, which starts on Sunday.
By Sean Badenhorst
UCI MEN
Matt Beers (pictured above) became the second South African male to win the Absa Cape Epic in 2021. It was the Spring Edition (October 2021) and he and French teammate, Jordan Sarrou, held their title for the shortest period (five months) until the 2022 edition returned to its usual date in March.
Teamed up with versatile American ace, Christopher Blevins, Beers finished third last year, 10:38 off the winners. The powerful South African is once again partnered with Blevins as Toyota Specialized NinetyOne for 2023 and is definitely considered among the favourites to take the overall men’s title. Long, steady inclines and flats are where Beers is an absolute beast, while he is no slouch on tight singletrack either. He is undoubtedly the host country’s best hope of victory in 2023.
Imbuko {Type}Dev’s Marco Joubert and Pieter du Toit impressed with a stage win last year and ended up in eighth overall and winning the African Jersey. They’re teamed up once again for the 2023 edition and will be aiming to defend that Red Jersey. They are likely to finish in the top 10 overall again and are sure to look for stage wins, which give them and their sponsors solid media coverage last year. Joubert and Du Toit will have the support of back-up team, Wessel Botha and Franko van Zyl, who can expect a top 20 finish if they have a smooth race.
Insect Science’s Keagan Bontekoning and Arno du Toit finished 12th overall last year and will be keen to break into the top 10. They have both shown good form in build-up races this year, including sixth and seventh respectively at the recent South African Marathon Championships in Paarl. They will definitely be contenders for the African Jersey and they will also be providing back-up team support – if needed – to SCOTT SRAM Racing’s Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht.
Tristan Nortje is South Africa’s top Under-23 racer in the marathon discipline. He and Beers won last month’s Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen stage race, a good indicator of Cape Epic form. He was third overall at the recent national marathon champs (and first Under-23) and he is paired up with 2021 XCO Junior World Champion, Adrien Boichis of France, who is making his Cape Epic debut. They’re racing primarily as a back-up team for Beers and Blevins, but their pedigree should see them finish in the top 20 overall.
Phil Buys has completed nine editions of the Cape Epic and finished in the top 10 in five of those – 2 x 5th, 2 x 6th and 1 x 7th. This year he’s racing alongside Namibian Alex Miller, who has shown impressive strength in single-day ultra-marathons and will hope to convert that into a stage-race environment. This will be Miller’s first Cape Epic and he will look to Buys for guidance in terms of pacing. If they have minimal bad luck, they could finish in the top five overall with at least one stage win and will be the favourites for the African Jersey.
Gert Heyns and Matthew Keyser will team up for the first time as the A team of Valley Electrical Titan Racing. Heyns won a stage and finished sixth overall on his Cape Epic debut in 2014 with two top 20 finishes in the other two he finished. Keyser finished 16th in 2021 and will be keen to improve on that in his fourth Cape Epic. Their Valley Electrical Titan Racing stablemates, Rossouw Bekker and HB Kruger, will be riding in support of the squad’s quest for African Jersey success.
UCI WOMEN
Candice Lill and Amy Wakefield’s last-minute Cape Epic partnership gives South Africa a shot at the Elite women’s final overall podium. Phew! Last year, Lill and Mariske Strauss were impressive in winning two stages and finishing second overall, just 12:32 off the winners, NinetyOne Songo Specialized’s Sofia Gomez Villafane and Haley Batten.
Gomez Villafane is back for 2023 with the legendary Katerina Nash as her teammate in what is the outright favourite team that will be difficult to beat unless they encounter bad luck. But Lill and Wakefield, racing as Team e-Fort.net Seattle Coffee Co, will be putting them under daily pressure and could win at least a couple of stages. They’ll also be strong favourites to claim the African Jersey, which they won when they contested the 2018 edition as teammates, finishing fourth overall.
The Absa SheUntamed team of Sarah Hill and Elrika Harmzen Pretorius and the Valley Electrical pairing of Tiffany Keep and Haley Preen are two squads that have the ability to challenge for stage podiums and possibly get onto the overall podium should they encounter little in the way of bad luck. They’ll also be in the hunt for the African Jersey, which is coveted by most South African racers.
With the addition of more categories this year, there are sure to be South Africans contesting podium places in all the divisions, including Amateur, Master, Grand Master, Great Grand Master and Mixed. The African Team and Exxaro Development Team contests are normally dominated by South Africans too.
Follow the daily stage action live on the Absa Cape Epic Facebook page.
SOUTH AFRICAN ABSA CAPE EPIC OVERALL WINNERS
MEN: Burry Stander (2011 and 2012); Matt Beers (2021)
WOMEN: Hanlie Booyens (2004 and 2009); Hannele Steyn (2004); Zoe Frost (2004); Anke Moore (2007); Yolande de Villiers (2007); Karien van Jaarsveld (2011); Yolande Speedy (2013).
