Cape Epic 2026

[J Wakefield]

3 hours ago, Bro Derek said:

 

From the explanation, it makes perfect sense

Average TSS scores are WAY higher for women on the same route, times are also longer

More time on the trails = less time to recover from a higher load, more exposure to the elements, more strain on the body every single day

The compounded fatigue by day 5 is huge.

So, science and actual data is driving the decision. It is also the first year it is in use. The idea is that hopefully the equivalent load (reduced from the extremely high load) of this year will interest more top tier women. 

I agree about the coverage though, but that is not related to the above. I think they will have better coverage by the end of the week as it plays out and as the organisers see how it works

 You can do a 2hr hard session and returned a higher or equal TSS value than a 4 hour ride., it's how you got to that value. Same reason as you dont train ever to a tss score. thats not coaching, its aiming for a score. 

I understand what you saying, dont totally disagree but I dont think routes or race distances should be based on these metrics which are not totally accurate. Fatigue is fatigue but then do all women even those in group F do the short route or the full epic? 

Making route shorter typcially means more intense and aggressive,(this would have a higher than normal short route ride TSS if we looking at this metric but a higher IF.)  the same people will win and it would be interesting to see the difference in actual load and intensity in the shorter route now vs intensity in the longer race. Example of a 3 hour mountain stage at the Tour, 5wkg for the duration vs 3.7wkg for a longer stage in the mountain of 5hrs. 

At the end of the day if the level of entries is not there, the racing wont change. 

[J Wakefield]

51 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 

if you dont learn year on year then you cant expect a different result. Im sure he did heat acclimation at home. 

[Irvin85]

5 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

if you dont learn year on year then you cant expect a different result. Im sure he did heat acclimation at home. 

Ja, He walked into the house with dirty shoes as his wife was busy mopping the floor. 

[DieselnDust]

8 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

 You can do a 2hr hard session and returned a higher or equal TSS value than a 4 hour ride., it's how you got to that value. Same reason as you dont train ever to a tss score. thats not coaching, its aiming for a score. 

I understand what you saying, dont totally disagree but I dont think routes or race distances should be based on these metrics which are not totally accurate. Fatigue is fatigue but then do all women even those in group F do the short route or the full epic? 

Making route shorter typcially means more intense and aggressive,(this would have a higher than normal short route ride TSS if we looking at this metric but a higher IF.)  the same people will win and it would be interesting to see the difference in actual load and intensity in the shorter route now vs intensity in the longer race. Example of a 3 hour mountain stage at the Tour, 5wkg for the duration vs 3.7wkg for a longer stage in the mountain of 5hrs. 

At the end of the day if the level of entries is not there, the racing wont change. 

2000% agreed, singing from the same hymn sheet here

[DieselnDust]

7 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

if you dont learn year on year then you cant expect a different result. Im sure he did heat acclimation at home. 

Im sure but it doesn’t seem to be if the same quality as riding in actual heat.

whats your take on heat acclimation in a sauna or just warming the room? It’s can’t account for hot dry air surely. The RPE would be different and therefore a different outcome?

[J Wakefield]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Im sure but it doesn’t seem to be if the same quality as riding in actual heat.

whats your take on heat acclimation in a sauna or just warming the room? It’s can’t account for hot dry air surely. The RPE would be different and therefore a different outcome?

Sauna im not a supporter of, or I dont prescribe sauna, I do on bike indoors personally and seen much better results. 

[Zebra]

2 hours ago, babse said:

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

…this MIGHT be a poor comparison; TdF MEN is 333km in 2026, TdF FEMME is 1176km, and it is the longest-ever distance for TdF Femme…, you argument ‘leaks’…!

(edit: saw the same comment made earlier!)
Cheers

Chris

Edited March 16 by Zebra
Clarity

[J Wakefield]

If the route is shorter, are the women real mountain bikers then and are they only allowed half a tattoo on their calves? 

I have alot of these questions in my head now. 

[Zebra]

...just maybe there WAS an unacknowledged woman who ACCOMPANIED Pheidippides on his run from Marathon, to Athens?

…or was she doing the HALF-marathon? 🫡
 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

2 hours ago, zZurp said:

Not sure if this has been asked previously, but are there any rules/etiquette for if a camera-man (on bike) causes a crash? Let's say it's the chasing group that crashes - do you get a tow until the gap that was in place prior to the crash reinstated? My assumption is no given the lack of comms available during the race?

On a side note, they seem to be very good at giving a wide berth to the riders, staying off the racing line and literally flying into the veld if riders come from behind, so kudos to them. Live footage would be mediocre without them.

Yes, the riders have a time slot after each stage where they can log an objection as per UCI regs. If it can be proven, they will either get their time back or a portion thereof. It's happened in the past before, you just don't really hear about it on TV. I was on one of the bikes at the time (ps. it wasn't me 😇)

[babse]

23 minutes ago, Zebra said:

…this MIGHT be a poor comparison; TdF MEN is 333km in 2026, TdF FEMME is 1176km, and it is the longest-ever distance for TdF Femme…, you argument ‘leaks’…!

Cheers

Chris

My comparison was used for the prestige of the event and not the actual distance vs distance of TdF. Numbing it down is not EPIC...

[babse]

37 minutes ago, Irvin85 said:

Ja, He walked into the house with dirty shoes as his wife was busy mopping the floor. 

explains the "home issues" mentioned live during the prologue

[jcza]

Don't rate Arianne as a commentator specially interviewing the riders.  

[Bub Marley]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

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?

I dont think it’s necessarily about TSS scores. People are just talking TSS because the commentator kept harping on about it. The main positive for me is more exciting and aggressive racing if the distances are shorter. I don’t think that’s agree though that the women being caught by the men is a bit stupid and they need to figure that one out. 

 

Ideally the women need their own race entirely like they have at the TDF. But obviously that is clearly not realistic and obviously that boils down to sponsorship. However I am in favour of shorter distance racing for the Elite women just because it should provide more exciting racing. Now I get that at the moment, this doesn’t look like it is the case this year but I also think the Epic needs to draw better quality of riders. And maybe this is a way of doing it.

[W@nted]

I see honeycomb lost a lot of time today due to a sidewall cut. Wonder if it was a cut 32" tire... Surely the 32" wheels has a bigger risk factor compared to 29" tires, just in terms of spare availability along the route. If something happens, you cannot replace it easily?

[Bro Derek]

I'll also be sure to tell all the women I know who are currently racing the shorter route and think it is a brilliant idea that they are wrong