Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the 2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast’s vlogs. In the Stage 3 episode Seamus Allardice looks back at the Stage 2 time trial and looks ahead at a shortened route for the first day on the Paarl Trails. With the mercury set to rise into the high 30s in Paarl the temperatures on the mountain could hit 45 degrees centigrade. As such the race organisation shortened the route from 90 to 78 kilometres and reduced the climbing from 2 600 metres to 2450.
Going into Stage 3 Scott SRAM lead the general classification by 44 seconds over WILIER-VITTORIA. This is a result of Nino Schurter and Filipo Colombo finishing 2nd on Stage 2, 33 seconds ahead of Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto. ORBEA Leatt Speed Company are at 4:32, with Outride Toyota songo in 5th at 9:17. The Stage 2 stage winners, Buff Megamo are the men with the momentum going into the days in Paarl, but find themselves in 8th 10 minutes down.
In the UCI Women’s race Annika Langvad Sofia and Gomez Villafane, of Toyota Specialized, won their third successive stage. After their great performance on Stage 1 Buff Megamo had a difficult day and lost three general classification positions. Cannondale ISB Sport rode to 2nd on the day and into the overall podium places, with Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen of Titan Racing SE Honeycomb also moving up a place to 4th. Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda remain 2nd, at 9:22.
Read the daily stories from the race on www.diverge.info.
