Defending champions, ORBEA Leatt Speed Company, got their 4Islands MTB Croatia campaign off to a winning start on Tuesday, 16 April 2024. Lukas Baum and Georg Egger won the 12-kilometre Prologue by just 6 seconds to take the first yellow CIOVITA jerseys of the race. While in the UCI Women’s competition, Janina Wust and Rosa van Doorn were 14 seconds quicker, for BUFF MEGAMO Women, than the CANNONDALE ISB SPORT combination. 

The highly anticipated early bird entries for the 2025 Absa Cape Epic sold out as soon as they became available. Since its inception in 2004, the Absa Cape Epic has consistently sold out, and this Monday was no exception. Many eager participants were poised and counting the seconds until registration opened at 3 pm.

Simon Schneller and Urs Huber (BULLS Mavericks) won Stage 7 - the Grand Finale - of the Absa Cape Epic men’s race, but it was Matt Beers and Howard Grotts of Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne who claimed the overall title at the 2024 event. 

In the Aramex Women’s Category, Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) won an eighth stage in a row on their way to the 2024 Absa Cape Epic title. By winning every stage of the 2024 race (the Prologue and seven stages), the Dutch-Swiss combo matched the performance of Laura Stigger and Sina Frei, who also won eight stages on their way to the 2021 title. 

With some tired bodies and minds amongst the elite riders - leader Matt Beers admitting to lack of sleep and stomach issues on the finish line - the early pace on the 67km, Stellenbosch Stage 7 loop was sedate by the past week’s standards.

It appears that only major disasters can prevent Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne (Matt Beers and Howard Grotts) and GHOST Factory Racing (Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller) from winning the Men’s and Aramex Women’s Category respectively at the 2024 Absa Cape Epic.

On the 87km Stage 6 in Stellenbosch, the event’s penultimate day of racing, Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne and GHOST Factory racing once again dominated their categories, winning the stage and extending their leads in the overall general classification at the same time.

Beers and Grotts go into Sunday’s Stage 7, known as the Grand Finale, nine minutes clear of second-placed World Bicycle Relief (Nino Schurter and Sebastian Fini) in the general classification, while in the Aramex Women’s Category, Terpstra and Koller hold a lead of just under four minutes over Cannondale Factory Racing (Candice Lill and Mona Mitterwallner) with the final day of racing to come.

After the brutal heat of the Queen Stage, a (ever-so-slightly) cooler Wellington greeted riders for what many had pegged as the ‘most fun’ stage of this year’s 602km route.

“We love these trails!” Said Nicole Koller, who with GHOST Factory Racing teammate Anne Terspstra continued their unbeaten streak, making it six wins from six (the Prologue and five stages). “We’ve trained here in the past and knew them a little bit. It was just so cool to ride — so flowy and totally like cross-country style riding — great fun!” She said.

Riders throughout the field echoed the Aramex Women’s Leaders Jersey wearer’s sentiments.