The all-South African team of Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) line up as one of the pre-race favourites ahead of a wide-open 2026 Absa Cape Epic that starts at Meerendal near Cape Town on Sunday.
Beers, the champion in 2021, 2023 and 2024, was meant to ride the race with his partner from 2025, much vaunted American Keegan Swenson. But the American champion was forced to withdraw at the last minute after being diagnosed with a fractured hip after a collision with a car during training. Into the breach stepped fellow South African Tristan Nortje, who, together with Marco Joubert, finished third in 2025. The pairing will be attempting to become the first all-South African men’s team to win the overall title in the event’s 22-year history.
“It’s great to be able to sort everything out after all the turbulence of the last week and partner with Tristan. And the fact that we are an all-South African team is cool,” the 32-year-old Beers said at the pre-race media conference. “We are going for big goals and we know each other well, and that’s a huge benefit.”
Nortje, 24, believed that his experience racing for the podium in 2025 was the ideal preparation for his role in 2026.
“Last year I learnt quite early that I could ride in the front. Once you make that switch in your head you get a lot more confidence,” Nortje said.
Fresh from their victory in the Andalucia Bike Race in Spain, the Klimatiza Orbea outfit of David Valero and Marc Stutzmann will also be fighting for a podium spot by the time the race reaches the Grand Finale in Stellenbosch.
“We are both in good shape after Andalucia, and it went really well for us,” Stutzmann said. “It was the first time that we had ridden together as a team, and we did the race as preparation for this race. To go for a win at the Epic is always hard, but we will be going for at least a podium.”
Both Stutzmann and Valero will be riding in their fourth Absa Cape Epic events.
Australian cycling legend Lachlan Morton teams up with Canadian Andrew L’Esperance (EF Education First) for his fourth appearance can’t wait to get the wheels turning.
“It’s such a unique environment, the course is always different, and it’s just good fun,” Morton said. “I don’t really have an idea of where we will finish, but we’ll definitely have a red hot crack at it.”
Former World Under-23 champion Sam Gaze of New Zealand returns to the Absa Cape Epic after having to retire from his first attempt in 2019 with a head injury. Gaze will be partnering with versatile German powerhouse Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon) who has won both World Cup titles in short-course cross-country and German national marathon titles.
“This is the world’s biggest stage race and everyone who rides a mountain bike knows it,” Gaze said of his decision to return. “I’ve come back with a strong teammate, and I think there is a great opportunity to do well. We didn’t come here to finish second, we came here to win, but we know it’s a stage race and there will be some gritting of teeth and suffering.”
Former World Marathon champion Andreas Seewald is also back with an Absa Cape Epic record that includes a second, fourth and fifth in the race. He will be partnering with fellow German Jakob Hartmann for the second time.
“The shape looks good and we have done some good training in South Africa in January and February,” the experienced 34-year-old said. “This race is unpredictable, so it’s difficult to have expectations. But we will just take it day by day and work together as a team.”
Women’s Race
With 2025 winners Annika Langvad and Sofia Gomez Villafone not participating in 2026, the women’s elite field is both competitive and open, with no clear favourites.
Current world marathon champion, American Kate Courtney, was forced to make a last-minute partner swop after her fellow American Melisa Rollins was forced to withdraw through injury.
Courtney will now partner with the four-day Tankwa Trek winner, German Greta Seiwald, in the She Sends Foundation team.
“In every difficulty, there is opportunity,” Courtney said. “Greta and I share a coach and, in many ways, this is the best-case scenario.”
Seiwald was due to ride in the mixed category before she got the call from Courtney.
“I’m just really excited. I was looking forward to racing in the mixed, but my fire burnt more when I decided to ride with Kate. I knew it was the right way to do my first Epic.”
Local favourite Candice Lill teams up in a new partnership with explosive Swiss 2025 World Short Course champion Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi). Lill, who finished regularly among the top 10 at the World Cup races in 2024 and 2025, has finished second five times at the Absa Cape Epic.
“Yeah, I definitely feel the pressure to win it,” the 34-year-old Lill confessed. “But I try not to let it affect me. It doesn’t do me any good, and you must learn in a race like this that you can’t control everything. The hard work is done, and we will go out and do our best every day.”
For Keller, racing with the experienced Lill in her first Absa Cape Epic is the ideal scenario.“Yes, eight days is super hard, but we will take it step by step,” Keller said. “I’m excited to be working together as a team.”
Another South African looking set for a podium challenge is Cape Town’s Hayley Preen who teams up with Canadian Haley Smith (Chemchamp Honeycomb).
“This has been my big focus for the start of the year and racing with Haley is exciting. I just don’t want to let her down,” Preen said. “The podium is always the goal but to finish among the top five this year would be proper. The field is at another level this year.”
