Description
March 20, 2024
Cape Epic 2024 🇿🇦 – Stage 3 – Saronsberg, Tulbagh – CPUT Wellington : 94km | Climbing 2100m
The Absa Cape Epic, founded by Kevin Vermaak and also known as the Cape Epic,
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March 20, 2024
Cape Epic 2024 🇿🇦 – Stage 3 – Saronsberg, Tulbagh – CPUT Wellington : 94km | Climbing 2100m
The Absa Cape Epic, founded by Kevin Vermaak and also known as the Cape Epic, is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa. First staged in 2004, it has been accredited as hors catégorie (beyond categorization) by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The eight day race consists of a prologue and seven stages, and typically covers more than 680 km (420 mi) with some 16,900 m (55,400 ft) of climbing. Professional mountain bikers from around the world encompassing up to 650 teams compete teams of two. To qualify for a finish, teams have to stay together for the duration of the race. The race is also open to amateurs, who enter a lottery in order to gain a slot. The times taken to finish each stage are aggregated to determine the overall winning team in each category at the end of the race. The course changes every year, but the race has always taken place in the Western Cape.
Blending the buttery smooth tarmac of the recently resurfaced Bainskloof Pass with the rugged remoteness of the Waterval Nature Reserve Stage 3 is a mix of natural and manmade. An asphalt run out of Saronsberg starts the day before the course gets complex with a dual track climb into the wild. The summer sun will have slowed the waterfall to a trickle and turned Zuurvlakte to a valley of rock and sand, so be prepared for a rapid change in conditions. Kluitjeiskraal and Blueberry Hill continue the off-road climbing challenges, before Bergsig Wine Estate signals the resumption of smooth roads at the foot of Bainskloof. A loop above Andrew Geddes Bain’s most famous pass adds a sting to the tail of an otherwise manageable day, before a taste of the Wild Boar Trails introduce teams to Wellington. A route divided between asphalt and the untamed, it is the only transition stage of the 2024 race.
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