Christopher Blevins and his partner on Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne, Matt Beers, were a dominate force at this year’s Absa Cape Epic. On Sunday, they completed their comeback to win it all.
“We showed up, again and again, and gave it our all. It turns out that this time that was enough to win the hardest MTB race in the world (the Cape Epic),” Blevins posted. “As I’ve said, this race can bring out the full spectrum of emotion. In Stellenbosch before the race, I thought a lot about this quote of ‘Courage being a heartfelt participation with life.’ Sometimes, courage is simply a willingness to feel what there is to feel, while choosing to love the present moment as it is. It’s one thing to think about nice quotes before a race, or write about it after, but it’s a whole different thing when the harshness of the race hits you, and you have to enact courage. More than anything, I’m proud of how all of us did this week. Pretty special part of bike racing!”
Despite the duo winning five of the first seven stages on their mountain bikes, they entered the final stage on Sunday in second place overall, trailing 10-time cross-country world champion Nino Schurter and his partner Andri Frischknecht of SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing by 90 seconds.
With another strong race on Sunday, however, Blevins and Beers were able to overtake Schurter and Frischknecht to win the race’s general classification by almost four minutes with an overall time of 26 hours, 17 minutes and 4 seconds.
In the CM.com women’s category, Vera Looser and Kim le Court (Efficient Infiniti Insure) won the elite title (33:11:37).
Lukas Baum and Georg Egger (ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company) and Greete Steinburg and Monica Yuliana Calderon Martinez (Cannondale Vas Arabay) won Stage 7 in the men and women’s races.
All eyes, though, were on the overall standings when the final day of racing began at Lourensford Wine Estate. Schurter and Frischknecht started Stage 7 in the yellow Ciovita leader jerseys, 90 seconds ahead of Blevins and Beers and five-and-a-half minutes ahead of the 2022 winners, Egger and Baum.
Frischknecht has had to dig deep all week on the brutal climbs of The Untamed African Mountain Bike Race, so it was no surprise that the early attack from the chasing teams came on the very first “Saddle” climb out of Lourensford. Schurter countered, but SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing had no answer to the power of Beers and Blevins as the South Africa-United States combo powered away. From that moment on, SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing continued to fall back.
Beers and Blevins rode alone for much of the first 20 kilometers, with Baum, Egger and Singer Racing (Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn) joining the lead bunch before the climb up Botmaskop. Also in attendance was lone Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne 2 rider, Tristan Nortje, riding in support of his A team.
The status stayed the same until the final 20 kilometers when Baum and Egger made a surprise surge for the finish line.
They couldn’t drop the Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne team or Singer Racing and all three teams made it to the Val de Vie Estate finish area together.
Frey and Stiebjahn, content to ride hard but not interfere in the general classification race, looked to have set themselves up for a stage win – until Martin Frey inexplicably went flying over the handlebars on the home stretch.
Stiebjahn powered ahead, not realizing his partner was in a heap on the grass. The crash allowed Baum and Egger to take stage honors, with Beers and Blevins calmly rolling over the line, ready for the official timer to kick in.
Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne 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 honor to win the Absa Cape Epic.”
“That was a great win, not just the ride today, but the entire week,” said Beers, now a two-time Absa Cape Epic champ. “We had to come from a really dark place after battling on Stage 1 and I think that just shows how strong our partnership is and how much we believe in each other. We both really helped each other this week. There was so much crowd support out there for us; I think we rode that last stage on pure adrenaline. I am completely spent now.”
In the CM.com women’s category, the efforts of the week seemed to finally take their toll on Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill (e-FORT.net /SeattleCoffeeCo). After a freak accident and subsequent surgery for Wakefield, plus the drama of the broken rim on Stage 6, the pair dropped off the pace early into the grand finale.
Orange jersey wearers Looser and Le Court led the stage throughout the 80 kilometers, alongside eventual stage winners Steinburg and Calderon (Cannondale Vas Arabay). There was little incident to speak of, with the leading two teams seemingly happy to ride together. Once on the Val de Vie Estate finish stretch, Le Court and Looser dropped back slightly, allowing Cannondale Vas Arabay to take the stage.
Sofia Gomez Villafane and Katerina Nash (NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized) finished fourth on the stage to hold onto third overall, finishing 43:17 behind Looser and Le Court.
