Howard Grotts and Matt Beers charge into Cape Epic lead

Cape Epic is gearing up for a massive final weekend of racing and, after Friday’s finish, U.S./South African duo Howard Grotts and Matt Beers are suddenly in the drivers seat. The Specialized duo added a stage win to their leader’s jersey’s on Stage 5 while Nino Schurter and Sebastian Fini, their closest rivals, struggled.

While the power balance of the men’s race continues to shift, the women’s field continued to search for a way to disrupt the dominance of Ghost Factory Racing. Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller earned a sixth-straight stage win to keep an impressive Cape Epic undefeated streak alive.

Ghost Factory Racing haunts women’s field

No matter what Cannondale and Specialized try throwing at Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller, the leading duo remain unshaken in their command of the women’s Cape Epic this year. On Friday, the Ghost Factory team survived another 70-km of racing by marking, then attacking the Cannondale Factory Team. That left Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne’s Sofia Gomez-Villafane and Samara Sheppard struggling to hold the pace.

Specialized would eventually lose over three minutes on the day while the Cannondale racers, XCM world championships first and second place finishers Mona Mitterwallner and Candice Lill, held on until the closing kilometres of the stage. There, Ghost attacked again to gain another 20 seconds advantage and another stage win.

“I think everybody expected us to attack where we attacked,” said Terpstra after the stage. “But we thought we’d just try and see  if we can get a gap. It was not necessarily the goal to gain more time, but more to come through safely and not  take any risks.” 

While the duo hail from Switzerland and the Netherlands, they train over winter in South Africa. That, says Nicole Koller, gives them something of a local’s advantage.

“We love these trails. We’ve also trained here before. I already knew them a little bit so it was very cool to  be out there riding on something we knew; they are so flowy and totally like cross-country style riding – great  fun.” 

The pair have two more days of racing left to defend their lead and, while they have looked rock solid so far, anything can happen in the Cape Epic.

Specialized surges as men’s field fatigues

Specialized-NinetyOne-Songo started Friday with the leader’s jerseys but had yet to win a stage. Through consistent racing they moved to the top of the GC standings as competitors surged and then faded. But, on Stage 5, it was Howard Grotts and Matt Beers turn to seize glory on their own terms.

First, they had to hold off World Bicycle Relief’s Nino Schurter and Sebastian Fini. The pair are currently Specialized’s closest rivals. Through some strategic racing, the Specialized team were able to hold off Schurter’s technical trail prowess before putting in their own surge of power to distance the Swiss world champion and the Canyon Sidi team before the finish.

Canyon Sidi minimized their loses to 12 seconds while Schurter and Fini conceded another 57 seconds to Beers and Grotts. That puts Specialized in the lead by around three minutes with two stages of racing remaining. With Beers and Grotts both prior Cape Epic winners separately, their aware that ever second counts in the wildly unpredictable stage race.

“Yeah, you know, the time gap can never be ‘too much’ in the Epic,” said Beers. “If there’s an opportunity to push  it and grow the gap, you have to take it. You have to try. Even if you feel a lot of pain everywhere, as everyone  does, it’s whoever can get that out of their mind and let the adrenaline take over. And I’m glad it worked for us  today.” 

While the Specialized teammates clearly have their eyes trained on the finish line in Stellenbosch on Sunday, they were also happy to enjoy the fruits of their efforts on Friday.

“The stage win  is a bonus!” Beers said. “The plan is just to get time on our competitors. And then, I mean, normally it corresponds with winning a stage, but yeah, it’s very special to win in Yellow and we’ll definitely remember this one.”

Racing continues at the 2024 Cape Epic with the final two stages on Saturday and Sunday in South Africa. You can watch the action live, and on replay on the Epic Series YouTube channel.