World Champion Headlines Highly Competitive Absa Cape Epic Elite Women’s Field

Time parity racing, a deeper field, greater coverage, and more competitive racing are the goals for the Elite Women’s race at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic. Structural changes have been made to the route that the elite women’s teams will race to ensure these aims are met, and this has encouraged stars like Kate Courtney to enter. Alongside the reigning UCI XCM World Champion are six National Marathon Champions and a Continental Marathon Champion, plus stars like Candice Lill, Rosa van Doorn, and Haley Smith.  

The announcement of the Elite Men’s and Women’s fields for each Absa Cape Epic is always eagerly anticipated by cycling fans. This is doubly true for the Elite Women’s race in 2026, following the change to time parity for the first time in the event’s 22 edition history. As the world’s premier mountain bike stage race, the Absa Cape Epic sets the tone for not only stage racing across the globe, but also for single-day marathon events. As such, the move to sharpen the spectacle would be a net benefit for women’s mountain biking generally. The enthusiasm of star riders, like reigning World Champion Kate Courtney, multi-disciplinary and multiple-time South African Champion Candice Lill, former European Marathon Champion Rosa van Doorn, as well as African and Namibian Marathon Champion Vera Looser, speaks volumes for the initiative.

16 countries will be represented in the Elite Women’s field at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Dom Barnardt/Cape Epic.

In cycling’s other disciplines, including cross-country and road racing, women compete for the same duration, rather than across the same course length, as their male counterparts. Due to the organic nature in which the Absa Cape Epic evolved, everyone took on the same routes for the first 21 editions, until the Epic Series investigated the logistics of amending the elite women’s routes. “The aim is for the Elite Women’s stage winners to match the stage-winning time of the Elite Men,” Race Director for the Absa Cape Epic, Shannon Valstar, explained. “In year one, this means remote starts on Stages 3 and 5, and deviations from the Stage 1, 2, 4, and 6 routes. The Prologue and the Grand Finale, Stage 7, fall within our criteria for the percentage of time we feel is acceptable for the women’s winners to exceed the men’s by.”

“We have seen in recent years, when the Elite Women’s fields have been the deepest and strongest in the race’s history, that the early kilometres of each stage, which are often flat and fast, do little to split the women’s field. In the Elite Men’s race and in the age category competitions, these sections of open gravel road or broader dual track are essential to string the groups out ahead of the first singletrack. In the elite men’s race, there are 100 riders, and safety concerns mean we need to provide them with the opportunity to spread out. The same is true for the mass start batches, where 100 teams, or 200 riders, start every 5 minutes. In the women’s race, the sooner the 25 teams, or 50 riders, can start climbing or get into the trails, the sooner the racing can become exciting for fans,” Valstar stated. “To sharpen the spectacle, we need to allow the Elite Women’s teams to race on the most captivating terrain for as much of each stage as possible.”

The changes will also lead to improved media coverage. Photo by Dom Barnardt/Cape Epic.

“The change will also provide the Elite Women with more recovery time between stages, allowing them to race more aggressively the following day,” she continued. “Recovery time has been a benefit that riders themselves have already highlighted as a major benefit.”

“It will be a great honour for us to see both the men’s and women’s UCI World Champions in action at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic,” Valstar continued. “Kate Courtney is one of the biggest stars in the sport, and having her headline a stacked field this year lends a lot of credibility to our efforts to boost women’s mountain bike racing.”

“The change to the race length wasn’t a major factor in my decision to race, but I am curious to see how it impacts the racing dynamics, Courtney noted. “In cycling, there’s an important distinction between equality and equity. While the race distances may not be equal, the finishing times will now be closer to the men’s, which I believe has the potential to make the race more equitable overall.”

Kate Courtney won her second world championship title, adding the XCM crown to the XCO title she won in 2018 to her palmares. Photo by Michal Cerveny/SWpix.com.

“When I raced the Absa Cape Epic in 2018 with Annika Langvad, I was a first-year Elite rider who had never competed more than one day in a row. I was certainly the ‘B’ rider on the team, and it was a huge challenge to step up and be a good partner to one of the best marathon racers in the world,” Courtney recalled. “Winning that event played a fundamental role – both mentally and physically – in helping me make a successful jump to the Elite level in World Cup racing. Now, nine years later, I’m returning as more of a team leader, racing alongside Melisa Rollins, an incredibly strong American rider and the perfect partner for this event. Together, we will be representing the ‘She Sends Foundation’ with support from our respective sponsors, who all share the mission to get more women and girls on bikes.”

“Racing for my foundation and in the rainbow jersey shows how much has changed in my career since that first Absa Epic. But once the gun goes off, the goal and the racing are the same. I’m sure it will feel just as challenging as it did in 2018, but hopefully I’ll bring a few more tools in my toolbox! It’s an incredible honour to race in the rainbow jersey, as it is one of the most recognizable and meaningful symbols in all of professional cycling. To me, wearing it isn’t just an honour, it’s also a responsibility to represent our discipline at the highest level.”

“This time, the jersey feels especially meaningful. In 2025, launching my own program required asking a lot of people to bet on me,” the World Champion smiled. “Every single sponsor on that jersey said yes, not just because they believed in me as an athlete, but because they believed in the mission of the She Sends Foundation and our goal of getting more women and girls on bikes.”

Kate Courtney will be joined on the start line by the men’s UCI XCM World Champion, Keegan Swenson. Photo by Michal Cerveny/SWpix.com.

“To race an event like Absa Cape Epic in the rainbow jersey, representing that group of partners and the foundation’s mission, is incredibly special. Add to that the opportunity to team up with Melisa [Rollins] – an American athlete I loved battling with at Leadville – and it feels like a powerful full-circle moment, both personally and professionally,” Courtney concluded.

Rollins will be making her Absa Cape Epic debut in 2026 and faces fierce competition from one of the deepest Elite Women’s fields in the race’s history. The She Sends Foundation team can probably look to the BUFF-BH Efficient and Thomas Maxon Sabi Sabi squads as their strongest rivals.

Van Doorn made her Absa Cape Epic debut in 2025, but an injury to her teammate on Stage 1 left the then European Marathon Champion unable to compete at the level she and her team had anticipated coming into the race. For 2026, she lines up alongside one of the most experienced and decorated marathon racers on the World Cup circuit. Looser is not only the reigning Namibian and African champion in the longest off-road discipline, but she is also an Absa Cape Epic champion, having won in 2023.

Rosa van Doorn will start her second Absa Cape Epic in 2026. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

“I believe it [the change to time parity] will make the racing more intense, more exciting, and more competitive,” Looser predicted. “There is no holding back in the Absa Cape Epic. If you want to stand on that podium after eight days of racing, you have to give everything every day. The preparation will be key, so that your body can take the intense racing day after day. I’ll be based in Stellenbosch the weeks prior to the 2026 Absa Cape Epic, and I spent a few years of my life studying in that amazing town, so I would say that I’m most looking forward to those stages at the end of the race.”

“Over the past two years, Vera [Looser] and I competed against each other in several XCM races, and when we were both looking for a partner, it felt super natural to team up for the Absa Cape Epic,” Van Doorn said when asked how the partnership came about. “We’re both fully focused on XCM and know each other’s riding styles very well from races, which are quite similar. On a personal level, we complement each other really well, which is so important when you’re giving everything as one team. With her extensive experience, Vera brings that extra confidence and know-how you need in Africa to ride eight clean days. Last year, I learned that no matter what happens, it’s never over until you cross the finish line. The Absa Cape Epic is all about teamwork, both on and off the bike, and supporting each other to get through eight demanding days in the tough terrain of South Africa. We want to have fun too, and our slogan for the race is: two smiles, one mission.”

Vera Looser won the Absa Cape Epic alongside Kim le Court in 2023. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

With seven Absa Cape Epic finishes to her name and five silver medals to boot, Lill is the most experienced woman in the Elite Women’s field. As such, she is perfectly placed to speak to how the changes for 2026 could affect the racing. “To have the same finishing time as the men is something to aim for,” Lill emphasised. “I think the change in the Elite Women’s race is fantastic. It’s not whether or not we can handle the long distances; we’ve proved many times before – of course, we can. It’s about what can bring more attention, more riders, more media, more excitement to the Elite Women’s race.”

“I think it will open the race to teams who are perhaps not in contention for victory overall to make a bold attack to win a stage, rather than having to focus on preserving themselves for the long days ahead,” Lill speculated. “I think it will condense all the exciting moments.”

“Racing for the same time as the men is already the norm in road and cross-country racing, where we race one or sometimes two laps less. Over the course of the Absa Cape Epic, we have raced for 5 or 6 hours more than the men, which limits our recovery time and, in turn, limits how aggressively we can race. I believe time parity will lead to more exciting racing,” the South African cross-country champion concluded.

Candice Lill has notched up 5 second place finishes in 7 Absa Cape Epic starts. Photo by Max Sullivan/Cape Epic.

The top-ranked teams are by no means the only squads that will be in contention for general classification and stage honours. Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas, of Massi ISB Sport, are established winners on the Epic Series. Having lost Cannondale as a title sponsor unexpectedly in January the team will now race aboard the bikes of Barcelona based brand, Massi. The transition days, on Stage 3 and 5, should suit the time trialling strength of the Colombian/Netherlands pairing. Margot Moschetti and Claudia Peretti will also be fiercely competitive throughout the eight days of racing. Having trialled their partnership in November, in the Epic Series, the symbtech.net combination knows that they are well matched in African conditions.

The 2025 bronze medallists, Hayley Preen and Bianca Haw, are not defending their Absa African jersey, as the best all-African team, in 2026. Rather, Preen will race alongside Canadian Olympian Haley Smith for ChemChamp Honeycomb, while Haw can count on the vast experience of South African Marathon Champion Samantha Sanders. Both squads are targeting a podium finish, but the sani2c Efficient Infiniti outfit has the additional target of the red jerseys to pursue.

Their primary rivals for the race-within-a-race are Danielle du Toit and Roxanne Kemp, as well as Ila Stow and Cherise Willeit. Du Toit and Kemp are untested as a combination, but both have Absa Cape Epic experience to count upon. As does Kelsey van Schoor, while her Namibian teammate, Anri Greeff, will have to rely on a mix of elite trail running, triathlon, and mountain biking know-how to remain competitive late into the race.

Hayley Preen will race alongside Haley Smith in 2026. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

In total, 15 nations, a new benchmark for global inclusion, will be represented in the Elite Women’s race. The Slovakian flag will be flown by Janka Keseg Števková and National Champion Martina Krahulcová, while Torpado Kenda’s Katažina Sosna–Pinelė, is the Lithuanian Marathon Champion, and races alongside Italian Giorgia Marchet. They are another well-established Epic Series pairing, as are the Namibian residents Julika Pahl and Linda Detering. Pahl and Detering won the white jerseys as the best open category women’s team at the 2025 SPAR Swiss Epic and will undoubtedly give a few of the elite women’s teams reason to stress at the Absa Cape Epic. Na’ama Noyman, of Israel, starts with Germany’s Tanja Priller, while Faranak Partoazar and Lejla Njemčević ensure that Iran as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina are also on the start list.

Sandra Stadelmann and Laura Tissières, Stefanie Zahno and Michaela Barz-Herold, as well as Jenna Rinehart and Leah van der Linden, complete the provisional Absa UCI Women’s field for the 2026 Absa Cape Epic. Several teams are yet to announce their participation in the twenty-second edition, so mountain biking fans are encouraged to follow the build-up to the race to stay up to date with the latest news. Like the Absa Cape Epic Facebook page, follow @capeepic on Instagram, and subscribe to the Epic Series YouTube channel for regular updates, or visit www.epic-series.com/races/capeepic for more information.

There are currently 22 Elite Women’s teams on the start list. Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic.

Key: WC = World Champion | CC = Continental Champion | NC = National Champion

The are5 national, continental champions and a world champion on the start list. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.