Both the racing and the weather were hot as South African riders Beers and Nortje narrowly won the opening Prologue at the 2026 Absa Cape Epic, while compatriot Candice Lill and Swiss partner Alessandra Keller dominated the women’s race. Both the winning teams led the stage from the earliest checkpoints, with Beers and Nortje winning by a slender six seconds while Lill and Keller put in just under a minute into the chasing teams.

 

Beers and Nortje Edge Out Willier Vitoria

Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) overcome sweltering conditions and a world-class field to take the first step to making history on day one of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic at Meerendal, Durbanville on Sunday.

Beers and Nortje won the opening Prologue stage over 20km, with 650m of climbing, to take the first yellow jersey by six seconds ahead of Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) with David Valero and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) a further six seconds back. Beers and Nortje are bidding to become the first all-South African pairing to win the Absa Cape Epic despite only forming their partnership 10 days ago when Beers’ initial partner, Keegan Swenson, was forced to withdraw with injury.

In the women’s race, Capetonian Candice Lill, who has finished second five times in six starts, won the women’s Prologue with partner, XCC Short Track World Champion Alessandra Keller. The Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team finished 56 seconds ahead of Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) and the Buff-BH Efficient Infiniti team of Rosa Van Doorn and Vera Looser.

Simone Avondetto and Luca Braidot lost out by just 6.3 seconds on the opening day. Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic.

In temperatures that reached 40 degrees Celsius on parts of the course, it was a tough day out for both the elite and the 1400 amateur riders that lined up.

“Obviously, the heat was gnarly today. A lot of prep goes into this, but it was still damn hot,” Beers said.

Nortje admitted that once the riders turned with the wind on their backs, conditions got tough. “When we were riding into the wind, it was heaven, but once we had a tailwind, there was no cooling. The last climb was brutal,” the 24-year-old Nortje said. “But we plan and train for the heat. It is part of Epic.”

After winning the Absa African jersey last year with partner Marco Joubert, Nortje was delighted to wear his first overall leaders’ yellow jersey.

“I didn’t expect to win the Prologue,” Nortje said. “Even an hour is too short for me, and this was 40 minutes so I’m not sure how we did that.”

Cape Epic

Marco Joubert taking flight on the Prologue. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

The South African combination led the Prologue from start to finish even though their gap was always slender ahead of the Wilier-Vittoria team. Beers goes into the 2026 event as a three-time Absa Cape Epic champion.

THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI

The THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI. team won the opening stage by 53 seconds. Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic.

Lill and Keller On Fire

It was the same story for Lill and Keller, who were marginal favorites going into the stage. Both are world-class XC racers who compete on the World Cup circuit during the European season.

“We had a good team chat beforehand and we were well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Lill said. “It makes me excited for the next seven days. The Prologue doesn’t win the race, but it puts us on the front foot and now others must chase.”

Keller was upbeat about their chances after a near-flawless performance that saw them the fastest at all checkpoints.

“We had a plan and a strategy, and we fully committed to it. Our communication was good and now we must make sure we play our cards right over the next seven days,” Keller said.

Stage 1 of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic takes place in Montagu on Monday over 90km with 2150m of climbing.

Kate Courtney

Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald are by all accounts happy with their Prologue effort. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

2026 Absa Cape Epic Results

Elite Men’s Prologue Results

  1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE(44:37.4)​
  2. WILIER-VITTORIA: Luca BRAIDOT & Simone AVONDETTO (44:43.7 | +6.3)
  3. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David VALERO SERRANO & Marc STUTZMANN (44:50.2 | +12.8)
  4. ORIGINE-WILIER: Mathis AZZARO & Juri ZANOTTI (45:03.0 | +25.6)
  5. CANYON: Luca SCHWARZBAUER & Sam GAZE (45:35.6 | +58.2)

Elite Women’s Prologue Results

  1. THÖMUS MAXON SABI SABI: Candice LILL & Alessandra KELLER (51:24.6)
  2. SHE SENDS FOUNDATION: Kate COURTNEY & Greta SEIWALD (52:21.4 | +56.8)
  3. BUFF-BH | EFFICIENT INFINITI​: Rosa VAN DOORN & Vera LOOSER (53:33.9| +2:09.3)
  4. SYMBTECH.NET: Margot MOSCHETTI & Claudia PERETTI (54:11.8 | +2:47.2)
  5. CHEMCHAMP HONEYCOMB: Hayley PREEN & Haley SMITH (54:30.6 | +3:06.0)

Absa African Men’s Prologue Results

  1. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO: Matthew BEERS & Tristan NORTJE (44:37.4)
  2. INSECT SCIECE | SAFARI ESSENCE: Wessel BOTHA & Johan VAN ZYL (46:17.6 | +1:40.2 | 10th)
  3. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO 2: Marco JOUBERT & Travis STEDMAN (46:45.1 | +2:07.7 | 15th)

Absa African Women’s Prologue Results

  1. SANI2C EFFICIENT INFINITI: Samantha SANDERS & Bianca HAW (54:41.0 | 6th)
  2. FORTRESS TOYOTA: Ila STOW & Cherise WILLET (57:59.5 | +3:18.5 | 10th)
  3. PIRTEK HOLLARD: Kelsey VAN SCHOOR & Anri GREEFF ​(58:07.2 | +3:25.2 | 12th)

For the full results from the 2026 Absa Cape Epic please click here.

Haley Preen

Samantha Sanders and Bianca Haw lead the women’s Absa African Jersey competition. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.