► Facebook: goo.gl/plspsr The Absa Cape Epic route changes every year. The dedicated route team takes two years to plan where in South Africa's rugged Western Cape province riders will test themselves with a distance of around 800km and 15 000m climbing. What is guaranteed each year is a challenging traverse of the area's iconic fynbos valleys, majestic mountains, deep ravines, indigenous forests, spectacular coastlines and flourishing vineyards. The terrain is as varied as it is harsh...

The Witzenberg Valley was undoubtedly one of mountain biking’s most challenging playgrounds, making Stage 2 a fitting holder for the title of Queen Stage. Sheets of sandstone provided the ultimate testing ground for the riders. Crossing the Ceres Valley was the first step on the journey, followed then by the Old Gydo Pass. On the Bokkeveld plateau the dual track climb gave way to singletrack.

You can’t win the Absa Cape Epic on the Prologue but you can prove a point – and that’s exactly what the Centurion Vaude combination of Daniel Geismayr and Nicola Rohrbach did by winning yellow. Conditions couldn’t have been any better as the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Prologue kicked off on Table Mountain National Park for the first time in two years. With a somewhat technical course featuring washed-out corners and steep, tricky climbs the 20km route has been touted to favour the cross-country spe...