Description
March 22, 2025
MTB Cape Epic 2025 🇿🇦 – Stage 6 – Lourensford Wine Estate – Lourensford Wine Estate : Distance 87km | Climbing 2550m
The Absa Cape Epic,
Show more...
March 22, 2025
MTB Cape Epic 2025 🇿🇦 – Stage 6 – Lourensford Wine Estate – Lourensford Wine Estate : Distance 87km | Climbing 2550m
The Absa Cape Epic, founded by Kevin Vermaak and also known as the Cape Epic, is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa. First staged in 2004, it has been accredited as hors catégorie (beyond categorization) by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The eight day race consists of a prologue and seven stages, and typically covers more than 680 km (420 mi) with some 16,900 m (55,400 ft) of climbing. Professional mountain bikers from around the world encompassing up to 650 teams compete teams of two. To qualify for a finish, teams have to stay together for the duration of the race. The race is also open to amateurs, who enter a lottery in order to gain a slot. The times taken to finish each stage are aggregated to determine the overall winning team in each category at the end of the race. The course changes every year, but the race has always taken place in the Western Cape.
The Pinnacle event of the Epic Series is also the first race of the calendar year. It is the event which pioneered mountain bike stage racing as a team sport and helped create an ethos of ultra-endurance riding in South Africa. Famed for its tough routes, which change for every edition, it is a bucket list challenge which transcends off-road racing and reaches into the consciousness of cyclists around the world. In 2025 the 608 kilometre long route features 16 500 metres of climbing.
Stay… the final finish line is far away, but so close. The penultimate stage treats Lourensford and its neighbouring farms like a mountain biking playground in a day of discovery. The slopes of the Helderberg Mountain and its foothills – which stretch through neighbouring farms – provide ample opportunities to for tired legs to be tested. While spectacular trails through vineyards, fynbos and orchards cut through soils over 21 types, from deep red clay to shallow alluvial gravel. It is a day when the Grand Finale looms, but one where so much remains to be ridden.
Results :