Cape Epic 2026

[saturdayknight]

On 3/22/2026 at 10:00 AM, SwissVan said:

This is the most frustrating situation to be in… been there and dunnit 

IMO if there ever comes a next time the strategy would be to go hard and fast on the prologue and first few stages just to try get a better starting group and reduce the time lost standing / walking behind absa bankers / riders who can’t ride basic uphill single tracks

 

agreed when going up irish need a second track in sections to reduce the logjam - surely Epic can fund this. Or spread out the start times.

[saturdayknight]

Well done to matt and tristan and also the support staff and teams - just incredible guts by tristan to stay in the fight and not give up - eventually broke the italians. Matt is just a beast. The way he rocketed past yellow after the puncture !! Was at the finish and the atmosphere was incredible. And also to see candice finally win it - she is amazing. Its the worlds greatest MTB race - someone just needs to wrestle it away from the NYC fund wan**s and get some proper biking people back in charge. 

[DieselnDust]

3 hours ago, saturdayknight said:

agreed when going up irish need a second track in sections to reduce the logjam - surely Epic can fund this. Or spread out the start times.

can't spread out the start times when its a hot day predicted. They have to compress the start times to keep as many out of the heat as possible. 

Every year there is a discussion on the singletracking skills. This is not new to the clover leaf format either as it was very very much a problem in the Journey route days from 2004 to 2008. At every technical section there would be logjam. There always was, there always will be with 1500 cyclist on the route. Its fluid mechanics. You just need one molecule to slow down to back up the funnel. So either widen the funnel or reduce the molecules.

Epic can't indiscriminately just widen mtb paths, even on private land. The trails themselves are the problem, and its the riders. In my view, irrespective of their prologue position, Newbies should start in the last two groups unless they have prior MTB racing history.

Edited March 23 by DieselnDust

[Headshot]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

I’d love to see a stronger ladies field to but there are already rumours of the first UCI XCO round in South Korea being cancelled due to poor attendance thanks to sharp Increases in airfare and other reasons 

watch this space I guess

Oh dear - the world really is quite messed up right now, so I'm not even surprised. Pity the first round isn't down here in peaceful old Southern Africa, as it should be.

[Headshot]

5 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

can't spread out the start times when its a hot day predicted. They have to compress the start times to keep as many out of the heat as possible. 

Every year there is a discussion on the singletracking skills. This is not new to the clover leaf format either as it was very very much a problem in the Journey route days from 2004 to 2008. At every technical section there would be logjam. There always was, there always will be with 1500 cyclist on the route. Its fluid mechanics. You just need one molecule to slow down to back up the funnel. So either widen the funnel or reduce the molecules.

Epic can't indiscriminately just widen mtb paths, even on private land. The trails themselves are the problem, its the riders. In my view, irrespective of their prologue position, Newbies should start in the last two groups unless they have prior MTB racing history.

How about - every entrant has to post a video of them riding down a preselected track eg Vasbyt in Cape Town at a predetermined minimum speed.

Too much focus on FTP and too little on riding skills in SA which has been a problem for decades.

[ChrisF]

9 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

can't spread out the start times when its a hot day predicted. They have to compress the start times to keep as many out of the heat as possible. 

Every year there is a discussion on the singletracking skills. This is not new to the clover leaf format either as it was very very much a problem in the Journey route days from 2004 to 2008. At every technical section there would be logjam. There always was, there always will be with 1500 cyclist on the route. Its fluid mechanics. You just need one molecule to slow down to back up the funnel. So either widen the funnel or reduce the molecules.

Epic can't indiscriminately just widen mtb paths, even on private land. The trails themselves are the problem, its the riders. In my view, irrespective of their prologue position, Newbies should start in the last two groups unless they have prior MTB racing history.

 

As stage 1 showed .... nice gravel roads ... fast flowing riding .... first real single track, and a few decide to WALK ..... STOP ... hundreds of riders simply had no option but to stop and take videos of the traffic jam.  12 months of hard training in sy tjops, daar STAAN jy .....

 

It sucks, but it is part of the race.

[CorliJ]

45 minutes ago, saturdayknight said:

agreed when going up irish need a second track in sections to reduce the logjam - surely Epic can fund this. Or spread out the start times.

The main climb wasn't up Irish, probably at least partly for that reason. They climbed up jeeptracks (starting a bit before Jonkers gate) up to (I think) the contour road after Irish 5, which did a decent job of spreading at least the front of the field.

But yeah it sucks when you've got a good rhythm going and the person in front of you stalls in the singletrack (as my husband, often following me, can attest).

[reteid]

35 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

As stage 1 showed .... nice gravel roads ... fast flowing riding .... first real single track, and a few decide to WALK ..... STOP ... hundreds of riders simply had no option but to stop and take videos of the traffic jam.  12 months of hard training in sy tjops, daar STAAN jy .....

 

It sucks, but it is part of the race.

this all started when mtb riders started wearing white shoes.(i say this in jest)

[DieselnDust]

47 minutes ago, Headshot said:

How about - every entrant has to post a video of them riding down a preselected track eg Vasbyt in Cape Town at a predetermined minimum speed.

Too much focus on FTP and too little on riding skills in SA which has been a problem for decades.

Based on the number of power meters at the very back of the field , even those aren’t being used skilfully

[DieselnDust]

49 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

As stage 1 showed .... nice gravel roads ... fast flowing riding .... first real single track, and a few decide to WALK ..... STOP ... hundreds of riders simply had no option but to stop and take videos of the traffic jam.  12 months of hard training in sy tjops, daar STAAN jy .....

 

It sucks, but it is part of the race.

Or just push past and brush off the comments section

[GuyKilfoil]

So at 10:15 on Saturday, after Beers/Nortje had clawed back that massive chunk of time on Stage 6 I sent a Whatsapp to a friend: "The Grand Finale is going to be huge". He said, so let's go. With my brother-in-law and normal stage-race partner about to finish his first Epic, I didn't need another invitation. We booked flights, found accommodation, flew Saturday night and we were standing on the start line in Coetzenburg when the pros headed out at 8am.

WHAT A DAY! WHAT AN EVENT! WE ARE BEYOND BLESSED TO HAVE THIS EVENT HAPPEN IN OUR COUNTRY.

Firstly, to the organisers. What a product! It's unbelievably well put together. From the race village to the atmosphere, the broadcast quality, the announcers, the 'gees' of the crowds , it's just phenomenal. 

Then, to the athletes (and I don't just mean the pros), to finish this race is not just another milestone; it's a symbol for how tough we can be and how much we can actually endure as human beings. It hasn't made me want to do one (I'm not that crazy) but it is testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit. It is awe-inspiring to watch the emotions, the elation and the determination of people crossing that finish-line. 

Finally, to the winners, and there are so many of them, they're all legends!

Candice Lill deserves every good thing that can happen to her; she is an absolute breath of fresh air and positivity. Kate Courtney was awe-inspiring with her attitude and approachability. She was taking selfies with people in the holding pen and having a jolly old time! Proper human being.

The Canyon boys have won many, many fans! Sam Gaze is a proper athlete; Luca Schwazbauer is a tank. They are racers through and through.

I was gutted for the Italians. They were so good until they weren't. Braidot was broken, both physically and emotionally at the end.

But I was over the moon for Matt/Tristan. We were invited to the Specialized after party and spent some time with them (and Travis/Marco too) and the rest of the team.

As incredible as their individual performances were, listening to the Specialized team talk at the event the level of detail and race craft that went into that win was incredible. They planned Terlouw's opening climb attack to the watt and the number of seconds to split the field at the start of Stage 7, and then they just continued to execute the plan, even after Tristan's crash. As for that laaitjie (who probably weighs what my left thigh weighs) he's made of some proper, proper grit. Tough as bloody nails!

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23 by GuyKilfoil

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, GuyKilfoil said:

So at 10:15 on Saturday, after Beers/Nortje had clawed back that massive chunk of time on Stage 6 I sent a Whatsapp to a friend: "The Grand Finale is going to be huge". He said, so let's go. With my brother-in-law and normal stage-race partner about to finish his first Epic, I didn't need another invitation. We booked flights, found accommodation, flew Saturday night and we were standing on the start line in Coetzenburg when the pros headed out at 8am.

WHAT A DAY! WHAT AN EVENT! WE ARE BEYOND BLESSED TO HAVE THIS EVENT HAPPEN IN OUR COUNTRY.

Firstly, to the organisers. What a product! It's unbelievably well put together. From the race village to the atmosphere, the broadcast quality, the announcers, the 'gees' of the crowds , it's just phenomenal. 

Then, to the athletes (and I don't just mean the pros), to finish this race is not just another milestone; it's a symbol for how tough we can be and how much we can actually endure as human beings. It hasn't made me want to do one (I'm not that crazy) but it is testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit. It is awe-inspiring to watch the emotions, the elation and the determination of people crossing that finish-line. 

Finally, to the winners, and there are so many of them, they're all legends!

Candice Lill deserves every good thing that can happen to her; she is an absolute breath of fresh air and positivity. Kate Courtney was awe-inspiring with her attitude and approachability. She was taking selfies with people in the holding pen and having a jolly old time! Proper human being.

The Canyon boys have won many, many fans! Sam Gaze is a proper athlete; Luca Schwazbauer is a tank. They are racers through and through.

I was gutted for the Italians. They were so good until they weren't. Braidot was broken, both physically and emotionally at the end.

But I was over the moon for Matt/Tristan. We were invited to the Specialized after party and spent some time with them (and Travis/Marco too) and the rest of the team.

As incredible as their individual performances were, listening to the Specialized team talk at the event the level of detail and race craft that went into that win was incredible. They planned Terlouw's opening climb attack to the watt and the number of seconds to split the field at the start of Stage 7, and then they just continued to execute the plan, even after Tristan's crash. As for that laaitjie (who probably weighs what my left thigh weighs) he's made of some proper, proper grit. Tough as bloody nails!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I concur, the organisation looked a LOT better than last year.

The 2025 event felt like it was cobbled together on a shoestring. The campsites reflected this.

The 2026 events was what is expected of the entry fee.

Only disappointment is the Amaboepensie merch. Maybe we need to get Simon Stoffels Babble en bekkie to do a review video on the Amaboepensie merch....

[PhilipV]

3 hours ago, saturdayknight said:

agreed when going up irish need a second track in sections to reduce the logjam - surely Epic can fund this. Or spread out the start times.

Did they go up Irish? I tuned in late, but from what I saw they went up the jeep track?

 

[PhilipV]

1 hour ago, GuyKilfoil said:

So at 10:15 on Saturday, after Beers/Nortje had clawed back that massive chunk of time on Stage 6 I sent a Whatsapp to a friend: "The Grand Finale is going to be huge". He said, so let's go. With my brother-in-law and normal stage-race partner about to finish his first Epic, I didn't need another invitation. We booked flights, found accommodation, flew Saturday night and we were standing on the start line in Coetzenburg when the pros headed out at 8am.

WHAT A DAY! WHAT AN EVENT! WE ARE BEYOND BLESSED TO HAVE THIS EVENT HAPPEN IN OUR COUNTRY.

Firstly, to the organisers. What a product! It's unbelievably well put together. From the race village to the atmosphere, the broadcast quality, the announcers, the 'gees' of the crowds , it's just phenomenal. 

Then, to the athletes (and I don't just mean the pros), to finish this race is not just another milestone; it's a symbol for how tough we can be and how much we can actually endure as human beings. It hasn't made me want to do one (I'm not that crazy) but it is testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit. It is awe-inspiring to watch the emotions, the elation and the determination of people crossing that finish-line. 

Finally, to the winners, and there are so many of them, they're all legends!

Candice Lill deserves every good thing that can happen to her; she is an absolute breath of fresh air and positivity. Kate Courtney was awe-inspiring with her attitude and approachability. She was taking selfies with people in the holding pen and having a jolly old time! Proper human being.

The Canyon boys have won many, many fans! Sam Gaze is a proper athlete; Luca Schwazbauer is a tank. They are racers through and through.

I was gutted for the Italians. They were so good until they weren't. Braidot was broken, both physically and emotionally at the end.

But I was over the moon for Matt/Tristan. We were invited to the Specialized after party and spent some time with them (and Travis/Marco too) and the rest of the team.

As incredible as their individual performances were, listening to the Specialized team talk at the event the level of detail and race craft that went into that win was incredible. They planned Terlouw's opening climb attack to the watt and the number of seconds to split the field at the start of Stage 7, and then they just continued to execute the plan, even after Tristan's crash. As for that laaitjie (who probably weighs what my left thigh weighs) he's made of some proper, proper grit. Tough as bloody nails!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that is kief! How did your BIL do?

compared to last year, this looked like a lekker epic to do. 
 

My father and I flew up to Durban to watch my brother’s last rugby game. Was a lekker weekend. Trips like yours will be remembered for ages.

[GuyKilfoil]

19 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

Now that is kief! How did your BIL do?

compared to last year, this looked like a lekker epic to do. 
 

My father and I flew up to Durban to watch my brother’s last rugby game. Was a lekker weekend. Trips like yours will be remembered for ages.

I’m not sure how “well” you can ever do on your first Epic but they had a really good week. Finished 341st overall and 102nd in Masters Men. 
 

It was a day that will live in memory forever!!

Hope the rugby was mega!!

[babse]

1 hour ago, GuyKilfoil said:

SNIP

Lekker feedback! 

This event is massive, and without doubt bigger than what it ever was once! The international attendance and media coverage is next level and cannot be compared to any previous years. I maintain this event is one of a kind and should not scale down for whatever reasons! 

I too planned to go down stellies yesterday but woke up feeling bit under the weather. Watched action from the couch like I have been all week.

I would smaak to do this event