The Queen Stage of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic saw Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller put the hammer down and exert their dominance over the Elite Women’s race. The Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team won their 90-kilometre stage by 9 minutes and 29 seconds, from Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald to take their general classification lead to a hearty 14 minutes and 19 seconds. The men’s race, despite racing for 134 kilometres and over 5 hours, came down to the fourth sprint finish of the week. For the first time at the 22nd edition, Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto crossed the finish line first, adding another 13 seconds to their general classification buffer over the three-time champion, Matt Beers, and his Toyota Specialized Imbuko teammate, Tristan Nortje. David Valero Serrano and Marc Stutzmann finished between the top two teams on the overall standings, to move their Klimatiza Orbea outfit up from fourth to third, after Canyon lost 70 seconds on Stage 5.

 

 

 

The overall leaders in both the men’s and women’s races of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic proved why they are at the top of the results page after a wet and muddy Stage 5 ‘Queen Stage’ from Greyton to Stellenbosch on Friday.

In the men’s race Italians Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) finally got their first stage win despite having led the race overall for the last three days. The two finished the brutally hard 134km, with 2750m of climbing, in 5 hours 9 minutes and 51 seconds, with David Valero and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) eight seconds back. The all-South African pairing of Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) hung on for third to retain their second place in the overall classification.

In the shorter elite women’s race – over 90km with 2150m of climbing –  South African champion Candice Lill and World Short Course Champion, Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi), were unstoppable as they finished just over nine minutes ahead of Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) and now lead the overall classification by 14 minutes, 18 seconds.

Wilier Vittoria

Simone Avondetto and Luca Braidot were able to sit up and celebrate their stage victory in yellow. Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic.

Elite Men’s Race

Trailing the leaders by just 1 minute and 28 seconds, Beers and Nortje were aggressive early on as a crosswind on the open gravel roads played into the powerful Beers’ strengths. At 14km, the two South Africans put in a strong attack in an attempt to break up the lead group. The attack was brought under control and it was eventually the 7C-Pedregal team of Luis Meija and Keyron Fonseca who managed to get a gap up the road just before halfway. On stage 1, Meija and Fonseca suffered major mechanical problems, including broken wheels, which forced them to ride two-up on one bike at times just to get to the finish.

But their time in the limelight was eventually snuffed out just after the Houw Hoek water point as the leading riders started upping the pace towards the big climbs of the day. As they have done all week, the two Italians rarely took the lead, simply following the attacks and minimising their energy expenditure. The race also included a compulsory portage section down the Gantouw Pass at 90km, which further split up the leading group.

By the time the race had summited the long Lourensford climb and reached the Eden trails of Stellenbosch, three teams remained with former Olympic bronze medallist Valero setting a furious pace. But the Italians were eager to get a stage win, and as the group entered the final section of singletrack 3km from the finish, Avondetto darted ahead. It looked to be the race-winning move, but moments later, he crashed off the trail. Quickly remounting, the Italian finally rejoined his partner up front, and the two recovered to open up enough of a gap over the pursuers to have time to celebrate before the finish.

Cape Epic

David Valero Serrano (leading) and Marc Stutzmann regained the final podium place for Klimatiza Orbea on Stage 5. Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic.

“We really wanted a win and it’s nice to get it on the Queen stage,” said the 25-year-old Avondetto, a former World Under 23 champion. “Today was quite challenging in the first 40 to 50km. We are now looking forward to the final two days.”

Beers and Nortje, despite their best efforts, were unable to break the Italians but were happy to have hung on to second place overall.

“We saw there was a crosswind and we threw in a haymaker,” said Beers. “I think it caught a few teams off guard and there was a lot of panic. But we were hoping to burn a few more teams. By the time we got down the Gantouw Pass, our legs were dying and we had to go full cockroach mode all the way home.”

After their second place, the Klimatiza Orbea team moved up to third overall, 5:59 behind the leaders.

Cape Epic

Alessandra Keller (left) and Candice Lill (right) added double their pre-stage general classification advantage with a storming ride on Stage 5. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

Elite Women’s Race

If there was any doubt that Lill and Keller were the class act of this year’s Absa Cape Epic, they certainly proved it on Friday.

After just 10km Seiwald was forced to stop when a stick got caught in her rear mechanism, and it was the signal for the Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team to fly the coop. By halfway, they had already opened up an almost nine-minute gap as Seiwald struggled to keep pace with her World Marathon champion partner and the Chemchamp Honeycomb team of  Hayley Preen and Haley Smith (Chemchamp Honeycomb) closed in.

Lill and Keller maintained their pace in the difficult conditions, eventually crossing the finish line in Coetzenburg in 4:29.08.

“It was a tough stage but we didn’t want to get involved in racing the She Sends Foundation team the whole way,” said Lill. “My favourite way of racing is to race from the front, where we can set our own pace and rhythm.”

She Sends Foundation

Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald were powerless to stop the Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi team once they were up the road. Photo by Michael Chiaretta/Cape Epic.

Meanwhile Seiwald admitted that she had struggled.

“Kate was my hero today. She literally pushed me up every hill,” the Italian said. “I just didn’t have the legs today.”

On Saturday, the penultimate stage is a relatively short 76km but with 2460m of climbing while the women’s elite race will be raced over 62km with 1850m of climbing.

Cape Epic

Will Wilier Vittoria and Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi be able to hold the leaders jerseys on the penultimate stage? Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic.

2026 Absa Cape Epic Results

Elite Women’s Stage 5 Results:

  1. Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi: Candice Lill & Alessandra Keller (4:29:09)
  2. She Sends Foundation: Kate Courtney & Greta Seiwald (4:38:37 | +9:29)
  3. Chemchamp Honeycomb: Hayley Preen & Haley Smith (4:40:41 | +11:32)
  4. Massi ISB Sport: Monica Calderon & Tessa Kortekaas (4:43:33 | +14:24)
  5. Torpado FSA Kenda: Katazina Sosna-Pinele & Giorgia Marchet (4:44:44 | +15:35)

Elite Men Stage 5 Results:

  1. Wilier-Vittoria: Luca Braidot & Simone Avondetto (5:09:51)
  2. Klimatiza Orbea: David Valero Serrano & Marc Stutzmann (5:09:59 | +8)
  3. Toyota Specialized Imbuko: Matthew Beers & Tristan Nortje (5:10:02 | +13)
  4. Canyon: Luca Schwarzbauer & Sam Gaze (5:11:01 | + 1:10)
  5. Toyota Specialized Imbuko 2: Marco Joubert & Travis Stedman (5:11:56 | +3:05)
Cape Epic

A crosswind and the power of Matt Beers forced a split on the gravel roads, but the Toyota Specialized Imbuko man and his co-conspirators were unable to hold the advantage into the trails. Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic.

Elite Women’s General Classification after Stage 5:

  1. Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi: Candice Lill & Alessandra Keller (18:48:03)
  2. She Sends Foundation: Kate Courtney & Greta Seiwald (19:02:21 | +14:19)
  3. Chemchamp Honeycomb: Hayley Preen & Haley Smith (19:31:27 | +43:24)
  4. Torpado FSA Kenda: Katazina Sosna-Pinele & Giorgia Marchet (19:39:07 | +51:04)
  5. Symbtech.net: Margot Moschetti & Claudia Peretti (19:53:03 | +1:05:00)

Elite Men General Classification after Stage 5:

  1. Wilier-Vittoria: Luca Braidot & Simone Avondetto (21:15:51)
  2. Toyota Specialized Imbuko: Matthew Beers & Tristan Nortje (21:20:41| +1:50)
  3. Klimatiza Orbea: David Valero Serrano & Marc Stutzmann (21:24:50 | +5:59)
  4. Canyon: Luca Schwarzbauer & Sam Gaze (21:25:11 | +6:20)
  5. Buff BH: Wout Alleman & Martin Stosek (21:34:25 | +15:34)
Cape Epic

Katpas came too early in the day to prove decisive in the Elite Men’s race. Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic.

Absa African Women’s General Classification after Stage 5:

  1. sani2c Efficient Infiniti: Samantha Sanders & Bianca Haw (19:59:46 | 6th)
  2. Fortress Toyota: Ila Stow & Cherise Willet (20:55:35| +55:49 | 9th)
  3. Graaf Fruit x De Grendel: Chloe Bishop & Nicolette Griffioen (21:24:18 | +1:24:32 | 12th)

Absa African Men’s General Classification after Stage 5:

  1. Toyota Specialized Imbuko: Matthew Beers & Tristan Nortje (21:20:41| 2nd)
  2. Toyota Specialized Imbuko 2: Marco Joubert & Travis Stedman (21:40:20 | +19:39 | 7th)
  3. Insect Science | Safari Essence: Wessel Botha & Johan Van Zyl (22:18:04| +57:23| 15th)

To view the full results from the 2026 Absa Cape Epic, please click here.