► Facebook: goo.gl/plspsr The Absa Cape Epic route changes every year. The dedicated route team takes two years to plan where in South Africa's rugged Western Cape province riders will test themselves with a distance of around 800km and 15 000m climbing. What is guaranteed each year is a challenging traverse of the area's iconic fynbos valleys, majestic mountains, deep ravines, indigenous forests, spectacular coastlines and flourishing vineyards. The terrain is as varied as it is harsh...

You can’t win the Absa Cape Epic on the Prologue but you can prove a point – and that’s exactly what the Centurion Vaude combination of Daniel Geismayr and Nicola Rohrbach did by winning yellow. Conditions couldn’t have been any better as the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Prologue kicked off on Table Mountain National Park for the first time in two years. With a somewhat technical course featuring washed-out corners and steep, tricky climbs the 20km route has been touted to favour the cross-country spe...

You can’t win the Absa Cape Epic on the Prologue but you can prove a point – and that’s exactly what the Centurion Vaude combination of Daniel Geismayr and Nicola Rohrbach did by winning yellow. Conditions couldn’t have been any better as the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Prologue kicked off on Table Mountain National Park for the first time in two years. With a somewhat technical course featuring washed-out corners and steep, tricky climbs the 20km route has been touted to favour the cross-country spe...

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.

CHALLENGE – half the Tortour The shorter race format CHALLENGE with 500 kilometres and 6,800 metres in altitude was won by Team Cannondale (category Team of 2 Men), who arrived at the IWC Arena as the very first team of the event, clocking in a time of 16 hours and 31 minutes. The Solo Men category was won by Switzerland’s Philipp Amhof with a time of 19 hours and 6 minutes.

► Facebook: http://goo.gl/plspsr Cape Epic will be held for the 13th time this year, but never before the route promised that much single-trail action: 110 of the 647 kilometres will lead over the tiny paths that mountain bikers love so much. But riders and spectators will also love the further parts of the route of this “Untamed African Mountain Bike Race” that includes magnificent mountain landscapes, wide-open African plains, indigenous forests and flourishing vineyards. From March 13 t...

► 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...