Consistency prevails as Beers, Blevins, Looser and Le Court declared 2023 Cape Epic champions

After eight gruelling days, Matt Beers and Christopher Blevins (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) and Vera Looser and Kim le Court (Efficient Infiniti Insure) won the UCI men's and women's categories at the 2023 Absa Cape Epic.

Riders during stage 7 of the 2023 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West to Val de Vie, Paarl, South Africa. Credit: Sam Clark

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While Looser and Le Court held a comfortable 25-minute lead in the women's category heading into the final stage, Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing) started the day only 90 seconds ahead of the Blevins and Beers and five-and-a-half minutes ahead of 2022 winners, Egger and Baum.

After three hours, seven minutes and 26 seconds, the final stage was won by Lukas Baum and Georg Egger (ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company), ten seconds ahead of Beers and Blevins.

Beer sand Blevins knew they’d put some time into the lead of SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing, and sensed it was enough for the overall win, but it was only when the time passed a minute-and-a-half, with Schurter and Frischknecht nowhere to be seen, that they knew the 2023 Absa Cape Epic title was theirs.

“We knew from last night that there was only one way to win today, and that was to go for it right from the start,” Blevins said. “We train so hard for these races and went through so much this week; it’s very special and satisfying when it all comes together like it did today.

"We heard bits and pieces of news from the route, so we knew we were ahead but you never really know. The only answer is to keep going as hard as you can. We suffered out there from start to finish but it’s worth it and such an honour to win the Absa Cape Epic.”

Matt Beers, now a two-time champion of the Absa Cape Epic, was thrilled with the performance and the crowd support. “That was a great win, not just the ride today, but the entire week," Beers said.

"There was so much crowd support out there for us; I think we rode that last stage on pure adrenalin. I am completely spent now.”

In the women's race, Looser and Le Court led the stage throughout the 80 kilometres, alongside eventual stage winners Greete Steinburg and Monica Yuliana Calderon Martinez (Cannondale Vas Arabay). Once on the Val de Vie Estate finish stretch, Le Court and Looser dropped back slightly, allowing Cannondale Vas Arabay to take the stage.

“This is amazing,” Steinburg said. “This is our first season together and to win the Grand Finale of the Absa Cape Epic is something incredibly special. We started well, stuck with the leaders and just kept going.”

At the finish line, Le Court could barely get her words out. “We did it” was all she could muster as champagne sprayed all around her.

“This is such an amazing feeling,” Looser added. “It’s been a long hard week and we had to dig really deep, but we made it. I think we need a week or two to let it sink in!”

“We had a reasonable time gap this morning, so we knew we just had to ride well and stay consistent," Le Court said.

"We were happy to let Cannondale Vas Arabay do the work at the front. We did say to them ‘if you guys do the work you can have the glory of the stage win and we’ll have the glory of the overall win’.”

Watch all the best action from the Cape Epic on SBS On Demand, along with a host of other cycling replays and highlights.