Cape Epic 2026

[love2fly]

What happened to Speed Company today? Looks like they had a bad one? Pity, they are one of my favourites to watch.

[Bro Derek]

12 minutes ago, babse said:

I dont believe they have to. The event is massive and attracts more than enough super stars to make this the spectacle it is! It has a massive following and is the pinnacle of MTB stage racing in the world, not!?

Shortening stages to attract more females in my view is not the way for the Tour De France of mountain biking.

I also cant remember when last (if ever) the female race was stacked with pro teams and overly competitive!? Maybe they trying to create something that doesn't exist. 

They want a stronger field for the female pros. They have said this

Many of the spectators have said this

It's been a target for some time because, as you say, it has never really been very deep. There is a move to change this and an attempt to break the vudu associated with it regarding the effort it takes at this stage of the season

So they are trying to figure out a way to do this IN LINE WITH OTHER FEMALE PRO RACES

No female race is as long as it's male equivalent on the world stage

Even lapped racing is shorter - why?

So that they race for the same or similar time with similar expended effort

But, again, lets just bash it 

Have you watched Manosphere?

[Shebeen]

11 minutes ago, babse said:

I dont believe they have to. The event is massive and attracts more than enough super stars to make this the spectacle it is! It has a massive following and is the pinnacle of MTB stage racing in the world, not!?

disagree, ACE needs to keep innovating to stay relevant. The event peaked when all the top XC riders did it, that was 10years ago.

 

 

11 minutes ago, babse said:

Shortening stages to attract more females in my view is not the way for the Tour De France of mountain biking.

not a great example. The 2026 TdF Femme is 9 days and 1176 km, vs the 21 stages doing 3333km for the mens. Despite, that the ladies version is now a stand alone event and has come from being totally ignored to a real viable challenge that stands mostly on it's own now.

 

11 minutes ago, babse said:

I also cant remember when last (if ever) the female race was stacked with pro teams and overly competitive!? Maybe they trying to create something that doesn't exist. 

yup, the ladies race is looking like it will be paintdryingly boring again. Got exciting with the duct tape incident a few years back, but that was a one off from memory.

but they do need to keep trying to make it work. Women's cycling has gone up a few notches this past decade, but this race has not been able to capitilise on it. "Give them equal prize money and all is cool" is not a great strategy.

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, babse said:

I dont believe they have to. The event is massive and attracts more than enough super stars to make this the spectacle it is! It has a massive following and is the pinnacle of MTB stage racing in the world, not!?

Shortening stages to attract more females in my view is not the way for the Tour De France of mountain biking.

I also cant remember when last (if ever) the female race was stacked with pro teams and overly competitive!? Maybe they trying to create something that doesn't exist. 

Or maybe they’re just hiding cost cutting behind altruism 

[DieselnDust]

44 minutes ago, love2fly said:

What happened to Speed Company today? Looks like they had a bad one? Pity, they are one of my favourites to watch.

Georg arrived on Wednesday. I’d say he’s far from heat acclimated. Happened last year also. Lukas was here in January training in the heat and had to carry Georg through the race.

They lost 14min today 

[@grootlem]

2 hours ago, Bro Derek said:

Well, they need to do something to try to get some more top names out

The old way wasn't working, so at least they are trying something to get the sharp end of the women's race slightly better populated.

I don't understand the negativity. 

Some initiative is better than doing nothing at all

I guess you can't please men who aren't at all affected but feel the need for a negative opinion to stay relevant.......... 

Just a friendly response to some points. I speak to a number of very experienced people and they also don't think it's better. To attract top xco riders the stages should be even shorter, but is it still the Epic then? We are not affected by the men or women race. Or the next Tour de France. But we comment on it. As far as I'm aware most of the other stage races has equal distances. The fact that riders like Neff is training here now and still not racing this means it's still too long and not lucrative enough. But yes they have to do something 

Edited March 16 by @grootlem

[DieselnDust]

46 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

disagree, ACE needs to keep innovating to stay relevant. The event peaked when all the top XC riders did it, that was 10years ago.

 

 

not a great example. The 2026 TdF Femme is 9 days and 1176 km, vs the 21 stages doing 3333km for the mens. Despite, that the ladies version is now a stand alone event and has come from being totally ignored to a real viable challenge that stands mostly on it's own now.

 

yup, the ladies race is looking like it will be paintdryingly boring again. Got exciting with the duct tape incident a few years back, but that was a one off from memory.

but they do need to keep trying to make it work. Women's cycling has gone up a few notches this past decade, but this race has not been able to capitilise on it. "Give them equal prize money and all is cool" is not a great strategy.

The ladies tdf is as long as it is because that’s all the sponsors would pay for. The ladies themselves want a longer tdf but the short one is better than none at all.

it all boils down to money. Maybe recovery is a real concern but then why not make the ladies race 5 days instead of 8?

because their teams also want exposure so they want a race if equal tv time. They haven’t got that in the past 24hrs so what has changed? The ladies race will lose its lustre because of the overall lack of money in the woman’s teams . It has nothing to do with the event format. This is a general cycling comment not specific to the ACE

 

[Eugene Oppelt]

Tough day too for Canyon Factory Racing with the Montague klippies 

[love2fly]

53 minutes ago, love2fly said:

What happened to Speed Company today? Looks like they had a bad one? Pity, they are one of my favourites to watch.

To answer my own Q, Lukas had a bad day yesterday, and after the first climb today, in a later climb he couldnt get his heart rate up.

[love2fly]

9 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Georg arrived on Wednesday. I’d say he’s far from heat acclimated. Happened last year also. Lukas was here in January training in the heat and had to carry Georg through the race.

They lost 14min today 

On IG Georg said it's Lukas AFAIK

[Bub Marley]

2 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

The ladies tdf is as long as it is because that’s all the sponsors would pay for. The ladies themselves want a longer tdf but the short one is better than none at all.

it all boils down to money. Maybe recovery is a real concern but then why not make the ladies race 5 days instead of 8?

because their teams also want exposure so they want a race if equal tv time. They haven’t got that in the past 24hrs so what has changed? The ladies race will lose its lustre because of the overall lack of money in the woman’s teams . It has nothing to do with the event format. This is a general cycling comment not specific to the ACE

 

This is not the case actually. Demi Vollering was on record saying that the women are not ready for a longer TDF. The teams are nowhere near as well equipped in comparison to the mens and the level between each teams is too large which will not make for exciting racing. A shorter race means a more exciting race and gives more teams or individuals a chance of winning. I don’t think that’s up for debate. 

[jcza]

23 hours ago, babse said:

Nope. You know this race isn't won here at the prologue.

Bulls haven't challenged for a few years so don't leave any gaps. Scott is missing yes but still some serious fire power in canyon, willier teams and orbea.

It will be amazing if this saffa pair can pull it off for the first time ever but still crazy amount ahead to call them clear favourites.

I'm holding thumbs for both SA men and Candice Lill. I'm sure Tristan is setting new power numbers following Beers. 😂

[DieselnDust]

20 minutes ago, Bub Marley said:

This is not the case actually. Demi Vollering was on record saying that the women are not ready for a longer TDF. The teams are nowhere near as well equipped in comparison to the mens and the level between each teams is too large which will not make for exciting racing. A shorter race means a more exciting race and gives more teams or individuals a chance of winning. I don’t think that’s up for debate. 

Yes Vollering stands out in calling for shorter races but that doesn’t solve their problem of media exposure. Longer races with coverage that focuses on the ladies race solves that. But the are competing for tv resources and airtime with many many more men’s sporting events. 
I agree with her that women’s racing isn’t ready for a3 week tour. It’s a money issue.
a shorter  race doesn’t help a less fast rider keep up because the intensity will just be higher I.e. They will ride faster. So it is very much up for debate. Solving the economic problem for ladies cycling is key to resolving the performance issues. You can’t have the one without the other. 
In this years epic the ladies are basically starting on the course at SP1 and later. So they’re getting caught by the elite men’s but not so much the amateur men. Although did anyone notice the mixed leaders riding along with the elites ladies ?? The amateur men were likely being held up by the same elite ladies they were last year. 
the strongest ladies teams still rode faster , even faster than they did last year perhaps so how much did the TSS actually differ?

Edited March 16 by DieselnDust

[DieselnDust]

1 minute ago, jcza said:

I'm holding thumbs for both SA men and Candice Lill. I'm sure Tristan is setting new power numbers following Beers. 😂

He held his own very well today. Actually led Matt on many climbs. When absolute bhp was needed Matt did the galloping but Tristan looks to be handling the pressure well

[gerriemtb]

Completely off the point you guys are discussing now:

I always love the live broadcast on Youtube. Especially since the e-bikes joined the broadcast team. Listening tot the commentary i had a thought:

If you had to take a shot every time the commentator used the word "drama" you wouldn't have seen the end of the stage.

An epic drinking game 🙂

[jcza]

1 hour ago, Bro Derek said:

They want a stronger field for the female pros. They have said this

Many of the spectators have said this

It's been a target for some time because, as you say, it has never really been very deep. There is a move to change this and an attempt to break the vudu associated with it regarding the effort it takes at this stage of the season

So they are trying to figure out a way to do this IN LINE WITH OTHER FEMALE PRO RACES

No female race is as long as it's male equivalent on the world stage

Even lapped racing is shorter - why?

So that they race for the same or similar time with similar expended effort

But, again, lets just bash it 

Have you watched Manosphere?

Can't see how the short distance is helping the ladies when only elites are riding short. What's next? 35km marathon? 80m sprint? Midmar 3 quarter mile? 50km Comrades? Only benefit I can see is that Elite ladies can get up a hour later.