robyn de groot : 35 videos

Stage 2 of the 2022 Absa Cape Epic marked the longest stage of this year’s race. The route took the teams from Lourensford Wine Estate into the heart of the hinterland in Greyton. It was a challenging day with a lot of wind and sun for the riders. In the women’s race Robyn de Groot (RSA) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA) of BMC MTB Racing took a magnificent stage win. They showed incredible riding over 6 hours and 20 minutes after their struggles yesterday. The men race was decided in a nail-...

Today’s prologue (time trial // 24km distance // 700m climbing) was short but the first half of the route led steadily uphill, driving heart rates upwards, before the second phase of the day was packed with roller-coaster downhills on manicured singletrack. It was a first test for the riders to prove their form and get their name in the spotlight.

The Absa Cape Epic 2021 took amateurs and professional mountain bikers over some of the most magnificent mountain passes in the Western Cape, South Africa. The 2021 route started off at the iconic slopes of Table Mountain National Park and finished today with the Grand Finale at the Val de Vie Estate. The Cape Epic is classed as hors catégorie by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), known as the “Tour de France” in mountain biking.

The Absa Cape Epic 2021 took amateurs and professional mountain bikers over some of the most magnificent mountain passes in the Western Cape, South Africa. The 2021 route started off at the iconic slopes of Table Mountain National Park and finished today with the Grand Finale at the Val de Vie Estate. The Cape Epic is classed as hors catégorie by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), known as the “Tour de France” in mountain biking.

The Absa Cape Epic 2021 took amateurs and professional mountain bikers over some of the most magnificent mountain passes in the Western Cape, South Africa. The 2021 route started off at the iconic slopes of Table Mountain National Park and finished today with the Grand Finale at the Val de Vie Estate. The Cape Epic is classed as hors catégorie by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), known as the “Tour de France” in mountain biking.

The Absa Cape Epic 2021 took amateurs and professional mountain bikers over some of the most magnificent mountain passes in the Western Cape, South Africa. The 2021 route started off at the iconic slopes of Table Mountain National Park and finished today with the Grand Finale at the Val de Vie Estate. The Cape Epic is classed as hors catégorie by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), known as the “Tour de France” in mountain biking.

Stage 6 marked the penultimate day of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Steep but mercifully short vineyard climbs started the day before the Wild Boar Rollercoaster provided singletrack thrills. District roads and farm dual tracks, through iconic wine farms demanded complete concentration. Upon exiting the reserve, the climbing began in earnest.

Stage 6 marked the penultimate day of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Steep but mercifully short vineyard climbs started the day before the Wild Boar Rollercoaster provided singletrack thrills. District roads and farm dual tracks, through iconic wine farms demanded complete concentration. Upon exiting the reserve, the climbing began in earnest.

Stage 6 marked the penultimate day of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Steep but mercifully short vineyard climbs started the day before the Wild Boar Rollercoaster provided singletrack thrills. District roads and farm dual tracks, through iconic wine farms demanded complete concentration. Upon exiting the reserve, the climbing began in earnest.

Stage 6 marked the penultimate day of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Steep but mercifully short vineyard climbs started the day before the Wild Boar Rollercoaster provided singletrack thrills. District roads and farm dual tracks, through iconic wine farms demanded complete concentration. Upon exiting the reserve, the climbing began in earnest.

Stage 5 was short and brutally steep, a major physical and psychological hurdle for the riders on their trail to Val de Vie. The climbing started virtually instantaneously. Leaving Wellington, the only way was uphill on the lengthy Hawequa Climb. The descent from the summit started on dusty dual track, before slipping into the Brooklyn Bridge singletrack.

Stage 5 was short and brutally steep, a major physical and psychological hurdle for the riders on their trail to Val de Vie. The climbing started virtually instantaneously. Leaving Wellington, the only way was uphill on the lengthy Hawequa Climb.

Stage 5 was short and brutally steep, a major physical and psychological hurdle for the riders on their trail to Val de Vie. The climbing started virtually instantaneously. Leaving Wellington, the only way was uphill on the lengthy Hawequa Climb. The descent from the summit started on dusty dual track, before slipping into the Brooklyn Bridge singletrack.

Stage 5 was short and brutally steep, a major physical and psychological hurdle for the riders on their trail to Val de Vie. The climbing started virtually instantaneously. Leaving Wellington, the only way was uphill on the lengthy Hawequa Climb. The descent from the summit started on dusty dual track, before slipping into the Brooklyn Bridge singletrack.

After three days of racing it was time for a transition stage from Saronsberg, in Tulbagh, to the Slanghoek valley. The early kilometres ticked past with unnerving ease, but once the surface began to roughen the challenges came. Brutally uneven dual tracks through a private game reserve provided a sudden shock.

After three days of racing it was time for a transition stage from Saronsberg, in Tulbagh, to the Slanghoek valley. The early kilometres ticked past with unnerving ease, but once the surface began to roughen the challenges came. Brutally uneven dual tracks through a private game reserve provided a sudden shock.

After three days of racing it was time for a transition stage from Saronsberg, in Tulbagh, to the Slanghoek valley. The early kilometres ticked past with unnerving ease, but once the surface began to roughen the challenges came. Brutally uneven dual tracks through a private game reserve provided a sudden shock.

After three days of racing it was time for a transition stage from Saronsberg, in Tulbagh, to the Slanghoek valley. The early kilometres ticked past with unnerving ease, but once the surface began to roughen the challenges came. Brutally uneven dual tracks through a private game reserve provided a sudden shock.

With two converging mountain ranges to explore, Stage 3 of the 2021 Cape Epic was not short on climbing. Nestled in the nook between the Groot Winterhoek and the Witzenberg Ranges the Tulbagh Valley was not hasty to reveal its rewards.

With two converging mountain ranges to explore, Stage 3 of the 2021 Cape Epic was not short on climbing. Nestled in the nook between the Groot Winterhoek and the Witzenberg Ranges the Tulbagh Valley was not hasty to reveal its rewards.

With two converging mountain ranges to explore, Stage 3 of the 2021 Cape Epic was not short on climbing. Nestled in the nook between the Groot Winterhoek and the Witzenberg Ranges the Tulbagh Valley was not hasty to reveal its rewards.

With two converging mountain ranges to explore, Stage 3 of the 2021 Cape Epic was not short on climbing. Nestled in the nook between the Groot Winterhoek and the Witzenberg Ranges the Tulbagh Valley was not hasty to reveal its rewards.

With two converging mountain ranges to explore, Stage 3 of the 2021 Cape Epic was not short on climbing. Nestled in the nook between the Groot Winterhoek and the Witzenberg Ranges the Tulbagh Valley was not hasty to reveal its rewards.

The Witzenberg Valley was undoubtedly one of mountain biking’s most challenging playgrounds, making Stage 2 a fitting holder for the title of Queen Stage. Sheets of sandstone provided the ultimate testing ground for the riders. Crossing the Ceres Valley was the first step on the journey, followed then by the Old Gydo Pass. On the Bokkeveld plateau the dual track climb gave way to singletrack.

The Witzenberg Valley was undoubtedly one of mountain biking’s most challenging playgrounds, making Stage 2 a fitting holder for the title of Queen Stage. Sheets of sandstone provided the ultimate testing ground for the riders. Crossing the Ceres Valley was the first step on the journey, followed then by the Old Gydo Pass. On the Bokkeveld plateau the dual track climb gave way to singletrack.

The Witzenberg Valley was undoubtedly one of mountain biking’s most challenging playgrounds, making Stage 2 a fitting holder for the title of Queen Stage. Sheets of sandstone provided the ultimate testing ground for the riders. Crossing the Ceres Valley was the first step on the journey, followed then by the Old Gydo Pass. On the Bokkeveld plateau the dual track climb gave way to singletrack.

The Witzenberg Valley was undoubtedly one of mountain biking’s most challenging playgrounds, making Stage 2 a fitting holder for the title of Queen Stage. Sheets of sandstone provided the ultimate testing ground for the riders. Crossing the Ceres Valley was the first step on the journey, followed then by the Old Gydo Pass. On the Bokkeveld plateau the dual track climb gave way to singletrack.

Stage 1 (98km distance // 1850m climbing) of the Cape Epic 2021 took the riders around Ceres today. In a tight finish on Stage 1, the BULLS (Urs Huber & Simon Schneller) and BULLS 2 (Martin Frey & Simon Stiebjahn) teams claimed first and second respectively, with Canyon Northwave MTB (Andreas Seewald & Martin Stošek) racing home in third.

Stage 1 (98km distance // 1850m climbing) of the Cape Epic 2021 took the riders around Ceres today. In a tight finish on Stage 1, the BULLS (Urs Huber & Simon Schneller) and BULLS 2 (Martin Frey & Simon Stiebjahn) teams claimed first and second respectively, with Canyon Northwave MTB (Andreas Seewald & Martin Stošek) racing home in third.

The Witzenberg Valley was undoubtedly one of mountain biking’s most challenging playgrounds, making Stage 2 a fitting holder for the title of Queen Stage. Sheets of sandstone provided the ultimate testing ground for the riders. Crossing the Ceres Valley was the first step on the journey, followed then by the Old Gydo Pass. On the Bokkeveld plateau the dual track climb gave way to singletrack.

Stage 1 of the Cape Epic 2021 took the riders around Ceres today. Named after the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility, Ceres has long been a mecca for South African mountain bikers. Amazingly though, the Absa Cape Epic has visited the region on numerous occasions and 2021 is only the second time the race has overnighted in the small Warmbokkeveld town.

The Cape Epic 2021 returns after an absence of 36 months to the beautiful and iconic Table Mountain in Cape Town (RSA). The Absa Cape Epic is the world’s premier mountain bike stage race. This year’s route takes amateur and professional mountain bikers from around the world through 619km of unspoilt scenery and 15.250m of accumulated climbing, over some of the most magnificent mountain passes in the Western Cape, South Africa.

After a pandemic-enforced hiatus, the Absa Cape Epic, widely regarded as the world’s premier mountain bike stage race, returned to action in fine style in Cape Town today with the 20km Prologue ahead of seven days of marathon mountain biking. The Mother City didn’t quite get the memo that the show was back on, drenching the riders with a series of rain squalls throughout the morning.

► Facebook: goo.gl/plspsr When Robyn de Groot and Jennie Stenerhag of Team Ascendis Health crossed the finish line first in a time of 5:22.18,4 on Stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic, the most surprised people at Saronsberg Wine Estate were the two of them. “We saw the helicopter, then we saw Ariane [Kleinhans] and thought maybe we can go for a stage win,” said De Groot of their passing manoeuvre on the Spur-Specialised pair of Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad. Up until that dramatic moment...

► Facebook: http://goo.gl/plspsr Four-time Absa Cape Epic winner Karl Platt of Germany and Swiss partner Urs Huber (Bulls) laid down a marker for the week ahead by blitzing the course to win Sunday’s prologue. And in the Women’s category South African Robyn de Groot and her Swedish teammate Jennie Stenerhag (Ascendis Health) gave notice that they will be a force in this year’s race when they beat favourites Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad (Spur-Specialized). Wind was the word of...