Durbanville (Sudafrica) -
sunday 15 march 15 - Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) overcome sweltering conditions and a world-class field to take the first step to making history on day one of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic at Meerendal, Durbanville on Sunday.
Beers and Nortje won the opening Prologue stage over 20km, with 650m of climbing, to take the first yellow jersey by six seconds ahead of Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) with David Valero and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) a further six seconds back. Beers and Nortje are bidding to become the first all-South African pairing to win the Absa Cape Epic despite only forming their partnership 10 days ago when Beers’ initial partner, Keegan Swenson, was forced to withdraw with injury.
In the women’s race, Capetonian Candice Lill, who has finished second five times in six starts, won the women’s Prologue with partner, XCC Short Track World Champion Alessandra Keller. The Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team finished 56 seconds ahead of Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) and the Buff-BH Efficient Infiniti team of Rosa Van Doorn and Vera Looser.
In temperatures that reached 40 degrees Celsius on parts of the course, it was a tough day out for both the elite and the 1400 amateur riders that lined up.
“Obviously, the heat was gnarly today. A lot of prep goes into this, but it was still damn hot,” Beers said.
Nortje admitted that once the riders turned with the wind on their backs, conditions got tough. “When we were riding into the wind, it was heaven, but once we had a tailwind, there was no cooling. The last climb was brutal,” the 24-year-old Nortje said. “But we plan and train for the heat. It is part of Epic.”
After winning the Absa African jersey last year with partner Marco Joubert, Nortje was delighted to wear his first overall leaders' yellow jersey.
“I didn’t expect to win the Prologue,” Nortje said. “Even an hour is too short for me, and this was 40 minutes so I’m not sure how we did that.”
The South African combination led the Prologue from start to finish even though their gap was always slender ahead of the Wilier-Vittoria team. Beers goes into the 2026 event as a three-time Absa Cape Epic champion.
Lill and Keller On Fire
It was the same story for Lill and Keller, who were marginal favorites going into the stage. Both are world-class XC racers who compete on the World Cup circuit during the European season.
“We had a good team chat beforehand and we were well aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses,” Lill said. “It makes me excited for the next seven days. The Prologue doesn't win the race, but it puts us on the front foot and now others must chase.”
Keller was upbeat about their chances after a near-flawless performance that saw them the fastest at all checkpoints.
“We had a plan and a strategy, and we fully committed to it. Our communication was good and now we must make sure we play our cards right over the next seven days,” Keller said.
Stage 1 of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic takes place in Montagu on Monday over 90km with 2150m of climbing.
RESULTS
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