Absa Cape Epic 2024: Grand Finale | Mountain Biking | CBC Sports

Watch the 65KM Stage 7 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic from South Africa.

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[Applause] n He [Applause] He welcome to stalos in the beautiful Western Cape of South Africa the second oldest town of the country plays host to the e8th and final day of the 2024 Absa Cape epic it’s the grand finale as a spiritual home of mountain biking in the country fitting that this town

Welcomes and celebrates the world’s finest Riders and hundreds of amateurs to the finish of this the world’s Premier mountain bike stage race in fact it’s just a mere 10-minute ride from these fields here at kenberg that the first abser Cape epic ended at spear wine estate 20 years ago today just over

A thousand courageous bold athletes amateurs and professionals alike will complete this UNT named African mountain bike race some for the first time others as category winners or medalists and even two for hopefully for them the 20th time stored colorful history thrilling racing it’s been a spectacular week

We’ve had here on the abser cape epic and it comes down to the final day in both the men’s and women’s professional categories with the closest races in the history of the event and it’s all coming down to this the grand finale here on the fields of kenberg in stellos

All set up and ready to race are the Riders as they head into the mountains here in yonas Hook and this is how it transpired on the first of two days in the mech mountain biking in South Africa here in stellos on stage six as they headed off towards the simburg

Mountains to Mike stage race taking place in the Western Cape of South Africa the route takes in spectacular mountain ranges picturesque Vistas rugged tracks and manicured bike trails the route changes every year and this the 20th Edition is a tough one 605 km with over 16,000 M of climbing over the

Eight days the teams of two both Pro and amateur must work together to conquer this challenging race today’s penultimate stage marks stage six day seven of the ABS Cape epic and the course is Relentless the Riders Loop out of stellos through the incredible Trail Network on the simburg

There is climb after climb to test the legs but the rewards of perfect single tracks are to follow the Sawtooth profile should not be underestimated it’s 87 km with 2,300 M of climbing on the stellos start line we have buff Meo hunts becking and V alaman currently in

Third 8 minutes and 43 off the pace Sebastian finny and Nino sha from World bicycle relief are in second almost 3 minutes behind and in the yellow leaders jersey Toyota specialized 91 Matt bears and Howard grz the gun goes for the men’s Elite category they have almost

450 km of racing in their legs but they still have to perform because today is going to be decisive the past few stages have been brutally hot so the overnight rain will bring welcome change in the temperature the dusty trail surface will also be slightly dampened giving more

Grip than previous days the narrow single track will make it difficult to overtake today so positioning tactics are the name of the game The Misty forests surrounding stellos add a moody feel for the top teams Danish Champion Sebastian finny and 2016 Olympic champion Nino Shera from World bicycle

Relief are currently in second almost 3 minutes off the leaders again it’s not their day shurter and Finny don’t have the legs and it seems like shurter has a rare laps of concentration he has dirt on his shorts The Front Runners seize the opportunity Canyon City is leading

The charge with buff Mega Toyota specialized 91 in yellow both teams want to make time on world bicycle relief buff meamar less than six minutes behind World bicycle relief in the overall as the Riders Traverse through the treacherous idas Valley Trails BFF megao lead followed by Toyota specialized 91 Canyon City and the

Willia Victoria team of Fabian rabensteiner and Samuel poro they are Cape epic veterans with previous stage wins but this is their best Stage so far in 2024 the rough trail strike down buff mego Dutch Champion becking has a puncture in his front tire he quickly plugs and bombs it problem solved and

They chase back next it’s the turn of Canyon City to puncture Swiss Marathon Champion Mark stutzman is quick to fix the rear tie and get back on the trail buff megao just managed to pass him as they fix the problem the Alis Valley Forest has taken its toll Toyota

Specialized 91 and willia Victoria both emerged unscathed at the front of the race at the 76 km Mark buff Mega Mount Canyon City are 47 seconds behind the final climb on bma’s cop and the race has been turned on its head ravenstein has set the pace through the single

Track with teammate por on his wheel the yellow leaders jersey staying in close contention they now have more than S minutes in the virtual leaders jersey they buy their time and wait to strike the two teams fly through the caveman trails and it’s down to the last 4

Kilometers Toyota specialized 91 want to stamp their mark on the event with a back-to-back win beers and grots have saved some power for exactly this scenario they outsprint ravenstein and por on the final climb and put the hammer down to the Finish Line toyoto specialized 91 Howard grz and Matt beers

Crossed the line in just under 3 hours and 47 minutes willia Victoria follow 41 seconds later for their first Podium of the 2024 k fex and buff Meo take third and a not just over a minute of second in the GC stage six podium in third sees

Buff Meo V alaman and hunts becking in second willia Victoria Sami poro and Fabian rabensteiner and a convincing win for deota specialized 91 Matt beers and Howard grz the yellow leaders jersey remains with Toyota specialized 91 Matt beers and Howard grz they’ve increased their lead to 9 minutes and 22

Seconds on the rmx women’s Elite start line is Toyota specialized 91 Sophia Gomez vfan and Samara Shepard in third in second we have canadale Factory racing Candace Lil and Mona mitala and in the lead with six straight wins is Ghost Factory racing Anna turpster and niol ker by Just 2 minutes and 51

Seconds the start gun goes and this is the stage for the teams to make a move on the orange leaders jersey almost 23 hours of racing in their legs and just 11 and 1/2 minutes separating the top three teams it’s all still to play for Gomez via fan from Toyota specializ 91

Has been talking about going for a stage win and pushing the pace she goes all in early in the stage to stress the other two teams but can’t make it stick canadale and ghost Factory racing teams are just too strong canadale keep putting pressure on the orange Jersey

But all efforts are quickly quashed by the Tactical ghost team tster and cola work well as a pair to manage each other’s energies and take turns positioning them M themselves in between Lil and Mna it comes down to the final climb and ghosts get the upper hand they control

From the front going into the final 2 kilm ghost Factory racing cross the finish line in sambos in just over 4 and 1 half hours for their seventh win in a row canadel Factory racing followed just 1 minute later with Toyota specialized 91 in third over 10 minutes later the

ARX women’s Podium sees Toyota specialized 91 on the bottom step canadale Factory racing in second and ghost Factory racing take another convincing win on the penultimate stage the orange leaders jersey stay with an tster and Nicole ker ghost Factory racing now have 3 minutes and 51 seconds

On second place going into the grand finale tomorrow so after stage six this is how it looks on the general classification Nino sh and Sebastian finny well they are now 9 minutes and 22 behind the Toyota specialized 91 pair of GRS and beers the battle behind them is going to

Be intense because hunt Speck andart alaman have found their legs a little better in the lat stages lat stages of the week they are 1 minute and 11 behind sherter and Finny s and stman don’t discount them just over 3 minutes behind a place on the podium ravenstein and

Poro their best day yet was yesterday and they are in fifth place Steve JN and Jakob Hartman are getting stronger as the week progresses in the ARX women’s category Anna tster Nicole ker have a perfect seven out of seven stage wins and a 3 minute and 51 second lead over Mona

Mitala and Candace Lil of canadel factory racing and the Toyota speci 91 pair well they’ve tried and tried and tried again but not been able to succeed in putting the the pressure the heat on the teams above them and they have 21 minutes nearly 22 minutes behind the

Overall leaders behind them in jro and Haley PPR have been exemplary in the way they’ve gone about this race and they are holding firmly on to fourth place here 11 minutes the head of the defending champion verossa and Alexis scar so the stellos mountains await these riders today but I’m afraid there

Are a couple of riders who won’t be taking part and one of them is Lucas Bal the German Rider who of course with G gega won the race in 2022 was second last year but unfortunately B took ill two days ago and tried to race yesterday

But pulled out at the first order point at mariti so G geger has said he will ride on today and he will continue on in the outcast Jersey to finish the journey around the ABS pepic likewise yaroslav kav a couple of days ago the three-time winner former world champion and Olympic

Champion sadly had a fall and injured his shoulder his collarbone and he is no longer in the race with flip Adel Superior lines team they’re among a few of the elite pros and many many more amongst the amateurs who have fallen by the wayside as the Absa Cape epic lives

Up to its reputation as the race that measures all today’s final stage so I’m going to introduce my two colleagues alongside me Neil Gardner who’s been with the absap Epic since its Inception and alongside wonderful to have an privilege to have a former world champion Olympic champion and abs epic

Multiple stage winner Sabine Spitz morning Sabine good morning Gerald and also good morning to Neil good morning it’s great to be here it’s a fantastic day out for sure and a great weekend in St that we’re all looking forward to the way it unfolds we’ve had a thrilling week and

It’s going to be a fascinating day still so close it is and that’s what lies ahead for them the yonas the famed and Fable yonas hook Trail network is going to be explored almost in its entirety today on both sides of the slopes of those mountains and then they’ll come

Out and the work is not done they’ll swing past the finish here at kenberg and head out on some of the roughest rockiest Trails imaginable through Eden and montbury and back again down the famous G-spot Trail which which will be the turn to tough section and bring them

Home to be celebrated like Heroes every single one of them who is it going to be in the lead here when they get to this finish if it is tight it’s going to be absolutely thrilling right let’s go to the start just before they rolled off

The start line this morning we had our man a former winner here former world champion and an Olympic champion no not have spits because we’ve got so many of them around us here this is of course B branches another nice day was so hard those clowns y got no joke I think most

People know it because everybody that comes to South Africa will ride in yonas so it’s going to be interesting yeah I think the weather’s playing nice with us it’s cool but it’s not wit so I think it’s going to be a good day out the grand finale are you feeling yeah ready

To go um it’s always an nice I it’s been a super week already and it said it’s over after today but also nice that we are have some good rest and feel human again after 18 and 10 days so you definitely feeling it yeah yeah there if

Somebody says it’s not tired now it’s a it’s a big liar I don’t believe anything everybody have still fresh legs today so but on the other hand the finals the the grand finale Everyone likes to win that stage yeah I think everybody have something extra to push like to give it

Like that of how do you say it to empty the tank completely and always this giv some extra push because you know tomorrow you can just lay on the beach all day so of trails today a lot of single track uh beautiful trails to ride

Uh you know more of them yeah I think I’ve rid all these Trails so I know them um I know the area so it it helps a little bit it’s a fast stage for sure I think it’ll be a fast stage but also I think it’s going to be tough good luck

Thank you very much I hope we we have another a good day yesterday I struggled quite a bit uh but today I really look forward for a bit longer climbs where I usually can get in my mood and go it’s not an easy stage even if it’s the

Final no no really not uh yeah but yeah we will see yesterday you were very close to a stage win is that the goal for today yeah we’ll see uh day by day you know uh as I say that I was quite sick three days ago and every day getting

Better for sure yesterday was a crazy theing day I got everything I had so yeah I like to to push one more and try to figure out how to beat these specializ because they are really strong on a day like this in the leader Jersey do you take

Also extra parts with you if it goes wrong in a race um yeah I mean we’ve been prepared the whole week for for things to go wrong and sometimes they do uh and so you yeah you mitigate that risk as much as possible uh just by maintaining Focus uh so getting through

Yoner zuk especially the first two or three descends um and yeah hopefully nothing happens you won every stage so far leaders jersey what’s the goal for today yeah I think we we wanted to to to still control the race and uh yeah for sure we we we

Wanted to to do good and uh yeah we will give our best again we will see if we fight in the end for for another H stage Victory but uh yeah the main goal is for sure to to keep this orange [Applause] [Applause] Jersey uh as they charge away 67 kilm 2,000 M of climbing I don’t think we’ve had a grand finale we certainly haven’t had a looped Grand Finale starting and finishing in the same venue before but one that uh is as technically challenging as this and physically

Challenging as this final stage so be spits what what are your thoughts on on today yeah I was very impressed so with um how actually how tough it is I was 2 days before was out and saw actually the the last 17 kilm so when you know after

Way um taking the Riders back out of yuno’s hook uh back to the kenberg stadium and then we have to head out to mie it works it works the Riders it’s not an easy rolling like we had it in the in the previous years and I mean

Neil you went out with your gravel ride with your gra made it look made it look very easy I think let’s put my put choices out of the let’s let’s forget about those that was very rough on bike and I think it’s uh it’s testimony to the fact that uh suspension has been

Invented and there’s a reason for it but it was beautiful to be out there and incredible to see the course and a challenge right up until the very last kilometer um we managed to navigate the trails of G-spot just to see what the Riders will go through on the last

Section and uh just how red hot the racing you can imagine it’s fine taking it at our usually Pace but imagine taking it at Red Hot racing pace and uh we’ll get a glimpse of the Riders at that red hot here we are we can see the

Likes we Toyota specialized 91 they are already on the pace and uh clearly the race is on yeah the early climb up into yonas has separated that group of elite men out now we look at the ARX women’s start and in those t orang jerseys are the ghost Factory racing who’ve been

Utterly Untouchable this week they won every stage and 3 minutes and 51 seconds their overall lead as they go into this final stage it is a stage that things can change and we’ve seen it before in the men’s and women’s races so do not discount a change in the general

Classification but you feel over 67 kilom that for candas L and her part Mona m uh there would have to be something fairly serious go wrong with the team of an turra and ni Cola for them to make up that 3 minutes and 51 seconds today yeah it’s got to been

Interesting if maybe also other teams maybe trying on the last day on the grand finale uh to make a move and uh I mean we know that uh it’s it’s like quite a Prestige uh stage and uh to have a win at the prologue or the golf finale

It’s a bit outstanding they rolled up the uh tar road that takes you up to the yonas gate just before the gate they took a left turn into the plantation area of yonas before they would hit the cake Nature Reserve area and well the climbs did the did the job early on scar

Here’s sahili PR digging deep to get past scar joining the wheel of her French teammate Lena jro and Alexis scar with the defending champ at Vera as her teammate but the climes immediately stretched and in some cases broke the elastic and uh we could say that it is a

Big big weekend ahead of us in stos and of course we know that stos is world renowned for being Wine Country but it’s certainly this week it’s renowned for mountain biking country some of the best trails in the world and uh last two days where the race really culminates and

It’s actually almost unfair to say that the race is culminating in the grand finale because it has been red hot all week from the very first time check we’ve seen the tooth and nail fight for that overall General classification go Cher leaders jerseys both in the men and

The arag women’s category and uh it’s certainly the closest women’s race I’ve ever seen in the 20-year history of the race and it’s said to be another Thriller we’ve seen the dominant team of Team Ghost and they have hardly put a foot wrong and right on the front in the

Leading The Way with Candace Lil and the world champion the World Marathon Champion Mona Manda close behind they’re on the first section of the Armageddon descent one of the many descents they’ll tackle here in yonas Hook it’s beautiful Trail but uh it can trip you up occasionally there are are Little Rock

Drop offs and uh rocks that you have to be very very Vigilant and focused about avoiding yeah and we see also here the the this even all the big boulders and we sometimes all you or maybe like that they have like like tables or that are

Little Gap jumps which you can you can take if you know uh if you know exactly the the downhill of Armageddon um one famous spot is of course like also um it’s like a big boulder which you can almost take like like a wall yes where

You where you ride along that wall and uh we definitely going to see also some spectacular SP um pictures of of that section well beers and grots are alone up front not quite alone up front because I think they’ve got team camc it may well be or it might be rabensteiner

And poro who’ve bolted out of the pack they’ve come down Armageddon they’ve gone back up and they’re making their way across to a trail called red phoenix which red phoenix was built after those terrible fires in 2015 2016 hence the name and they are dropping into red Phoenix now great fun they’re half

Halfway down the whole trail of red Phoenix and they are on the charge these are trails that these Riders all know very very well they come and train here year in and year out and prepare for this event and for the rest of their Year’s mountain biking beautiful riding

It is off the slopes of the mountain here in jonguk the yonas mountains on one side and uh on the other side on the other side of the valley that’d look straight into lenford if they were to get to the top of the valley so I think it is KC who might be

Their swinger and reuter they were prominent yesterday until reuter lost touch with his partner the indigenous Forest section here well good move by the pairing to you could say collaborate with the yellow jerseys yellow jersies are really set today to defend their overall lead the lead is 9 minutes and

22 over World bicycle relief on the early climbs we saw Nino sh and Sebastian finny being distanced and that battle for the second third the second and third spot on the podium really looks to be heating up buff mega mo hunts becking and VOD were still more or

Less in touch with the charging pair of beers and Howard GRS we did expect did expect to see Matthew beers and Howard GRS defending their leads there but they have been aggressive from the start looking to uh take I guess it’s the it’s attack as the best form of to Defence

They managed to distance their rals very early on including the likes of Andrea sealt and Mark schutzman who also are very much in the fight for that final spot on the podium World bicycle relief seem to be out of the picture at the moment we haven’t seen them on the

Trails haven’t seen them at the time checks um but Toyota specialized 91 look dominant as ever winding down it’s you can see the Boulder Field there that is going to test these Riders all the way through this Trail the red phoenix they these the highly skilled Riders here are quite

Phenomenal the way they handle these Trails what alaman and Hunt becking they are chasing alaman and Beck taking a place on the podium which they have at the moment at 10:33 behind the leaders but they are hunting second place here one minute and 11 behind World bicycle relief on the general classification so

Every chance that they could Vault up a place on the general classification the races within the races and what paps go to Define today there’s a general classification there’s this position and of course there’s the glory of winning the grand finale this final stage of the

20th edition of the ab to cap epic something to uh really really chase today and we’re just watch watching right now wat alaman and Hans Bing Alan in the the more white colored uh European World Marathon championships Jersey and hun Bing Andes national championships Jersey the uh site of the

Belgian and the Dutch Rider heading down in pursuit of the lead of the race the head of the race and still looking good for a stage but they’ll need to make up this deficit and take a maybe take a couple of risks on this downhill section

To get back in touch there still a long way to go on the stage they still have to pass the first water point the water point at yona’s hook at the 21 k Mark and then we’ll know exactly what the time deficits what the time gaps are

From the head of the field to this team right now H baking and V Alan beautiful visuals from the bike of Stefan S these Trails the Ace of Spades benett Nell is the man who sort of basically curates these trails and looks after them prepares them and maintains them and has

Been responsible for building a lot of the trails as well but there’s a massive team Morant B was the original Trail builder in yonas we’ll see his original Trail later on the trail Builder is doing a magnificent job down they drop here great Spectators out in Yong

Getting out a close look at these Riders yeah you see like it’s definitely very important that that you know your line because if you go over like a little drop and there’s like uh a rock behind and you have you haven’t Chen your line nicely it’s easy to land on that rock

And to punch her absolutely and that is a point Sabine makes well about looking after your equipment today and it will be tested there’s some very very Rocky terrain here that little drop there they’ve all picked the line that rolls down as finny and a sha drop down Oh sha

Doing his characteristic whip as he drops down onto the road meanwhile up ahead it is ravenstein and poro I think it is who are putting their head down with beers and grots well all they need to do the yellow jerseys of Toyota specialized 91 is just

Keep on their bikes and make sure they look after their equipment and they’ll be at absolutely spot on well looking back at the history of the race the last five editions if we look at the Grand Finale which is an extremely prestigious it’s prestigious to win a stage of the

Abic any stage but especially prestigious to win the grand finale with the crowds with the heroes welcome as the Riders head into the finish and the grand finale in The Last 5 Years just having a look back there are currently five Riders still in the field today in

The race that have won a grand finale and one of them is Mr Raven Steiner and he’s in there he was the stronger the two yesterday poro was as his interview suggested wasn’t feeling too good in the previous days but uh and he suffered yesterday on that final climb are

We are we certain that’s ravenstein and por s to me it almost looks looks like Simon schella behind him um was H just by the riding style and also I just thought just sizewise this can’t be actually Robin Steiner he’s not that tall and Simon scheller definitely yeah

So I think this is a um mck’s Team o Huber is was the overall winner in 2016 with car Platt it was KL Platt’s fifth Victory o Huber’s first ho a last minute call up to the race and he’s living up to it he spent the week

Riding into it the had a close they a close brush with the stage win uh on stage five it was not to be there was still a major GC battle going on at the time as is still at the moment but uh with the uh Bulls Mavericks team looking

To put their Name In Lights it’s been a very long time since the Bulls have won a grand finale the Last 5 Years we’ve seen the likes of edar and Bal the last two years they’ve won the grand finale in the men’s category but sadly Lucas

Bal has had to retire from the race G Ager will still continue as an individual finisher and last year we also saw in the ARX women’s category Monica Calderon riding with CR stanberg mon Calderon is also stolen the race as an individual finisher and the split times confirm that that the Bulls

Mavericks team are on the charge looking very motivated for a stage win they’ve been on the uh on the front of the Affairs pushing the pace looking to push put time into their Rivals because of course they do have hunt back and uh vout Alan breathing down their

Necks hunping won the grand finale in 2021 and he will know what that Victory tastes like and you’ll be Keen to share that Victory with his new partner new trade team for vout alaman and new pairing for becking and uh and alaman and in 2021 now that we’re talking of

2021s grand finale victories that was won by Laura stiger and Cena fry a dominant performance it was eight out of of eight for that pairing and in the aramax women’s category it it could well be another 8 out of eight for ghost Factory racing but we still with the men

As they head into the water point and we’ll get a Chim check in just a moment exactly to see what the uh what the time Gap is back to buff mea and we’re calculating around about a minute or so but we’ll get those official results to you in a moment and Canyon CD

Are also in close attendance we spotted them our spotters out on the road saw the canyon CD team also looking to Leap Frog the world bicycle relief team into a Podium spot overall and we had seen actually the earlier this week uh the Bulls Maverick team also in in a leading

Group um and it was in Bellington but um so with us huba actually just getting quite late or like as a as a spare Rider um called out for for the cape epic so he wasn’t like 100% prepared and uh so that also paid toall in in Wellington that he in a way

Had to then also to back off uh but they actually have have been that stay quite long with the leading group and showed also quite good performance so far it is the Bulls Mavericks who are laying down the law early on in this Grand Finale stage toota specialized 91 marking them only

In as much as they just want to stay out of trouble and up front buff megao well they are going well in respect of chasing a second place in this race because the world bicycle relief team Nino shra and Sebastian finny they’ve just gone through that checkpoint and

They’re around 40 seconds 30 seconds behind buff Meo so they are buff Meo backing and alaman slowly but surely eating away at the general classification standings that’s how close it is between second place and third place in this race 11 minute difference between the top two teams suggest that they stay

Where they are now and riding like they are now that Toyota specialized 91 could well be on their way to another victory for beers a second consecutive Victory and for grz a second win since his first in 2018 and the tactic of the day certainly with when we’ve we’ve seen the

In the early stages we saw Matt beers on the front and the IDE with Matt beers being on the front as he likes to put pressure on really early because he’s not the kind of Rider that likes the stop go stop go kind of riding he’s uh

He’s a pure marathoner and enjoys the gravel circuit as well so it’s really much he’s very much an endurance Rider and he likes to keep a steady Pace that he doesn’t like the elastic Pace that uh just uh it’s just more of his comfort zone so he can set a super high rhythm

With his massive power that he puts down on the trails and uh they did some calculations before the uh before the race today and they worked out that the other Riders would have to ride significantly faster to make up that deficit and their plan is working this is a brutally steep climb

As they’ve now completed two of the four significant single track descents that they’re doing in in yonas Hook Armageddon and red phoenix they are heading up on the other on the same side up towards the drop down never ending story which is one of the original

Trails here that’s one of the very first at the far end of the uh the yoka natur reserve 11,000 hectares it is Alexa Scara and ver Lett it’s been a tough week for the defending Champion ver Los a new partner Alexis guard efficient Infinity but perhaps today they can

Redeem some of the disappointment of th the week and make it all happen here there are up front so they got away from the Battle for General classification they’re not in that General classification battle any longer indeed that is the canyon Factory team with Candace Lil and Mona mitala and then the

Ghost Factory racing team behind them they are not concerned with what is happening up ahead with LSA and Scara they’re more concerned with each other yeah yeah but also we saw actually um Vera laa and um Alexis scar bit actually they had a bit of bigger

Gap and now cand is really tries here to to close that Gap and uh like I said I was U like I said earlier I mean the gr finale has quite a Prestige and so um K is also in a way on the other hand also

Wants to put pressure on the ghost girls or the ghost ladies um and make sure that um yeah don’t don’t give up and uh so the canil factory team we definitely fighting to the end and uh trying to make uh maybe today a good result and maybe a stage absolutely Candace zil wouldn’t

She just love that it’s been a uh a very good week for the Canada Al Factory racing team but uh Candace Lil is a rider who has finished second at the ABS back four times and it may well be that it is going to end up that way again a

Little push from Sophia Gomez we have fun for Samar shepher and it’s and it’s not easy if you see also the underground too um you have to also really have um your you have to hold your handlebar very tight if you get one hand off to

Give your partner a bit of push um yeah so it’s it’s not easy under this in in this um on this tar Road or on this road to really also to give your partner a bit support push they’re closing in here Lil and mital they’re leading the the GV

To Orange leaders jerseys and they’re closing in on the back wheel of ver loss and Alexis Scara Lil of course has some experience at winning on the grand finale she and Marisa stas a couple of years ago 2022 again finishing second overall in that year second overall two and two

Sophia Gomez V she road with Haley baton and L St had a fantastic Grand Finale into Valby in 2022 like to repeat that but their main objective is the overall General classification and they’re going to be looking at two ghost Factory Racing for any weakness and we’re back with the

Men’s category Ur Huber in frame the 2016 winner overall and multiple stage winner is Huber and uh he has ear marked it’s clear they’ve ear marked today’s stage they are well over an hour on overall General classification and to be exact they are an hour and 46 minutes so

They let that time slip and PS tapped tactically first of all giving them a bit of a chance to rest to recuperate the other Riders were on the on the pace all day all week and uh these Riders have a chance a couple of days to recuperate and just save their energy

For where it really counts a prestigious Grand Finale Victory and credit to ur Huber last minute call out and he’s uh doing his partner proud Simon schnella the young German marathoner a well-known campaigner and he wouldn’t he love to get his name and lights the grand finale the new

Grand Finale the all new grand finale in stalos it’s an exciting one because it’s quite unique in that it’s a loop course not only and Spectators will have a chance to see the Riders come really close the the course passes the kenberg dam just meters away from the Finish

Area Gerald this is your backyard you know exactly what it means and what it’s like to watch one of these races race like this a prestigious race like this live especially the grand finale well aren’t they enjoying these Trails this is The Neverending Story Trail uh it’s been recently rehabilitated probably

About opened only a couple of months ago but Bennett Nell and his team have done an incredible job in rehabilitating this Trail and creating uh a sensationally fun section to ride this Sab I know you’ve probably written this haven’t you yeah I have as it is now and and you and

You see I mean if you’re just saw a bit earlier I mean it’s look actually quite smooth like and the other the other like coming down amagon um it’s it’s quite like yeah it’s quite Rocky and uh like I said earlier you have to just also watch

Your line and you have to know what is behind the next little yeah like jump or drop and here it’s like really it’s it’s it’s nicely done it’s smooth and uh you just have to you have to have your handlebar tied and and when it goes around the corner with the yeah not

G-spot but we if you just speak if we just speak about also like the force CH Force let it take you going around the corners yeah well it is the rehabilitated Never Ending Story is considerably smoother than the uh the old version and uh it is fast and fun

Absolutely fun this is as I said the trail that about 20 years ago I think was uh first dug out by manand ber and his team manand now we saw a lot of his handy work out at morati yesterday but the trail builders make for fantastic

Fun on the bike here in stellos that’s for sure beers following contentedly almost behind the Bulls Mavericks here who’s setting the pace here have eyes on the big prize in the grand finale for Simon schella and uba and we’ve seen them earlier in the week did try some uh aggressive riding

But they’re clearly saving themselves and have been saving themselves for something big on this final day and um you definitely won’t find a lot of riders um which don’t have during the week a week day um so it’s like you have a suffer day and then I mean we saw it

Also with hin becking and uh V alaman so V was riding very strong at the beginning and then he had like um one two days where he was like really suffering and and hun was actually the one who tried to push and pull him and uh and then turned around again so it’s

Yeah it’s I think it’s normal over the eight days where you have one or weak day like where you’re not strong and and you’re suffering and also with Vera Loos she had two days ago she didn’t had a good day she’s she told me that she also like it was so tough so

And today we saw her in the lead she’s finding her legs as we sit behind Howard gr’s mat beers as they chase Ur huba and Simon schella down the extension of Never Ending Story and these rocks you see them there you ride between them and you get the line

Slightly wrong a bit of fatigue and lack of focus and your derail is gone so that’s the the danger here absolutely you have to really be careful um and and uh if you see oh I bet that rock comes to close I mean these These are skilled Riders and then

You also in a way try in a way to save your also you or you minimize the risk also with just lifting your rear whe a little bit to the side that uh the risk that your derill goes or gets damaged um you just try to take that off baman and

H becking charging down the trailer they exit the middle section of Never Ending Story and drop into the lower section now and they are in third place and all about the clock for them they’re those rocks we’re talking about it is’s a a Rocky Trail initially and then it

Flattens and Smooths out this little section the next section A little bit lower the river trail is a lot more Rocky although again they’ve made it slightly less dangerous for man and machine but that is going to challenge the Riders and then they’ll cross the

River the e river and that head up boss on the other side beautiful scenes in yonas Hook Nature Reserve about 7 km east of stalos is yonas hook Holland mountains to the South the OAS range to the north and uh well it has been a favorite and famed

Place for mountain bikers for many many years as you know shter and Sebastian finny try and mitigate their losses here they are under pressure they’re second place under threat from buff Mega but you see like like like n as he knows these Trails so well uh that even

Sebastian finny has really problems to stay on his wheel and uh and it’s like just if you’re actually a little bit far away when it doesn’t work he’s sitting behind Sebastian finy the champion of Denmark and the world champion cross country ahead of him Nino shter for World bicycle relief as they

Chase down the bottom end of Never Ending Story Trail here in yonas on the grand finale stage this is the team in their sights they are ahead of them on the trails today they’re behind them by a minute and 11 seconds on General classification that’s the buff megao

Team that’s the race within a race today up ahead the Bulls Mavericks are leading the stage and this is our ghost Factory racing team who are leading the women’s race the rmx women’s race over the canadale factory racing team and I think they’ve closed up and pass the Early

Attackers Alexis SCA and Vera lossa and it’s as you word as you have been throughout the week with anst NI Cola on the front here in dominant shape again and they’ve been dominant from a firep point of view but also from a tactical point of view they had a really uh

Fantastic showing at the prologue and uh it was their job from that point to defend the jersey and they marked every single attack and just a decisive moments they picked their moment to uh just Eek A little bit more time into their Rivals canadel Factory racing ghost Factory racing master class in

Composure and control and uh just it’s all about that mental game as well just not showing a single bit of weakness we haven’t not seen an inkling of it and their Rivals also have uh just there just been as a professional cyclist you always look for a weakness and Sabine you’ll

Talk to this you’re not only looking at the trails in front of you you’re not only managing your own efforts but you’re managing and you’re monitoring your Rivals efforts as well yeah you look for weaknesses and if you can maybe just also start uh to maybe put a bit

More pressure on on um on the competitors on your Rivals and um with uh what you see also with Nicole Cola um she’s not just with the ghost Factory team here in Stell but she often also joins the Swiss national team who is also for many years become on a regular

Base um for in jary or for for some some uh training and the Swiss Riders In general be very very good technical Riders yes they were here earlier this year it’s not uncommon to see the gold silver and bronze medalist from the last Olympic Games riding up the trails here

In Stell Bashan early in the year as they escape the uh Northern Hemisphere Winters and come and enjoy the heat in the summer down here down off the red Phoenix Trail this is our leading women’s pack now three teams and they’re all together we are following our rmx

Women’s race here the leaders in the orange jerseys an turpster and Nico ker for the ghost Factory racing team and just going to the front there the canadale factory racing team South Africa’s South African Champion Candace Lan alongside of the World Marathon Champion Mona mitala and

They are second overall on the in the race and just behind the Vera laa and her American champion partner Alexis scarter a perspective on where they are lots of trails up and down the side of the mountain here on the yonas side and then they head across to the other side

And we’ll come down the Fire trail having gone up the h l you can see where the men are Thomas ditch and Stefan S on the Bulls media ebike and Jesse Nixon is following the women’s race as they start the long climb up towards the never- ending

Trail s we with right now and they’ll turn out of that river trail head down a gravel road across the low-level bridge at the eer river and then up onto the other side this could be uh tricky there’s a little bump a river crossing down at least a a drainage bump down

Here they’ve got to be very careful no problem at all for these top professional Riders they handle it comfortably enough little kicker and then they’re on single track again once they’ve gone up out of this little Valley and it can happen Gerald you talk about tricky to sense and we we’ve

Talked a lot already about the uh the technical Trails but sometimes it can be something as benign as a small rock in a wide open road that could ruin the chances of not not only a stage win but overall and heading for defending that third spot overall is Hans becking and

Vout alaman a great pairing they both have found their perfect match you could say this is a team in absolute symbiosis and their third spot overall General classification is proof of that they have they’ve done they’ve put together an amazing campaign they’ve won uh they’ve won the yellow Jersey they’ve

Won a stage and a fantastic day out and a fantastic week out for them here from Stefan S on the bike as they hit boss now Stefan having fun out there absolutely yeah I know these trails from back in the days when I lived in stellin

BOS so that’s is just a pleasure to ride here hunt backing and devat alaman really attacking second place it seems now they’re hunting that second place on Nino shter and Sebastian finny going well absolutely they’re not doing crazy things keeping it controlled in the downhills don’t risk anything keep a

Steady Place uphill really going a good Rim had some problems on the on the uphill to armagedon yeah it’s going to be interesting for today these two look as though they have regained their form they had earlier in the week and they’re looking uh very very hungry here absolutely working perfectly as a

Team never leaving big gaps yeah this is how it should look like is that the speed we see on your device and on your bike there7 27 25 uphill easy isn’t it easy absolutely for me oh the guys are hauling it’s crazy because it’s just as for all the amateur

Riders when you also just realize the speed these professionals are riding on these Trails it’s uh yeah it’s really amazing stepan you followed every kilometer of their race this year and uh Hans becking was talking about how fatigued they all are you you’ve had you have a grandstand seat on that you can

See it can’t you I can see it yes oh it’s not you for me it’s it’s so much it’s so much fun to the guys see the like developing the race throughout the weekend like yeah like we always say we have the best seat in in town in the race it’s just a

Privilege to follow these guys yeah and if you see the pictures it’s really like you see at about Al he is on a mission he really uh doesn’t make it easy for his partner hunts backing he whenever comes a little kick out of the settle trying to keep the

Momentum and take actually also um the speed over carry the speed over with little uh kicks and back to the Bulls the leading man the Bulls team is a legendary team at the ab epic now on the 20th Edition it’s only appropriate that they’re at the front of Affairs the

Bulls team uh really started they they arrived at the uh at the race in 2007 for the first time and were dominant uh in the uh in the proceedings and fighting it out with Team canadel fredin back in 2007 eventually winning the race col plat and Stefan S and both of them

Winning three races three ABS Cape epics together and car plat winning five including the original the very first the inaugural absap epic and just on these two team the Bulls team is a well-known trade team in Marathon racing and perhaps not being as dominant as

They have in the um in the last few years but uh I think it was going back to 2008 we looked at the stats looked at the numbers the last time Bulls won a grand finale stage was in 2008 and that was car plat and Stefan S onom we

Remember that day very well had another epic battle with canal fredin and eventually conceding to the team of R paison the two-time winner and yakob fugang who went on to successful Care on the career on the road and uh Bull’s team are looking fantastic out there it

Looks like a really good day for them Ur huba and Simon schella yeah and Simon actually makes nice pace and uh in a way also caring about his partner not going too fast but uh for us it’s it’s a tough one um and of course if you yeah if you

Get uh the last like last minute call out for the cap epic um you you you also you know what you’re in for and he has like I mean he has also his pedigrees and he has um also um a lot of winds in in under his belt so and uh it’s it’s

Suffering for him but I think also that he knows uh how to suffer imagine that it’s certainly worth it when you have the uh the carrot dangling in front of you of a grand finale stage when Ur Huber has not won a grand finale stag when nor has he won nor has Simon

Schnella so hyper motivated prepared to put any of the uh the pain is worth it basically is what I’m saying they would absolutely um be super motivated for the stage and they have clearly earmarked it the ear marked stage stage five and never didn’t quite get there with the battle for overall General

Classification going on and uh they have uh saved themselves for the grand finale and in the picture now setting a high rhythm is mat is on the smooth roads this is his terrain just a slightly less steep climb is perfect for him hard GRS matching him pedal stroke pedal stroke

Grz there were question marks going into the race with Howard grz he had big shoes to fill Matt beers is a two-time champion he won in 2021 and in 2023 both with the cross country Partners very fast cross country races Christopher blevens is the world was the

World champion in the short track and uh Matt bez’s partner in 2021 was Jordan suu also a former world champion of the Olympic discipline both specialists in the uh short track or shorter races the 90-minute efforts the 20-minute efforts and he has had uh Howard grz has done

Has filled those boots admirably well Thomas D is sitting on their wheels on the Bulls media eike and uh Thomas they’re on a downhill now they’re looking very very comfortable Thomas would that be right is heading down that trail they’ll hit a corner here and head up there’s a

Short little kicker they’re coming up to now and they’ll head up to the second level of the firad Thomas how are they looking these two the the yellow jerseys they’re looking strong from our perspective this is short kicker a cement dual track for a little while and

Then it breaks down into a rougher Trail and not too long ago this was completely unridable the floods the heavy rains that struck this part of the world in June July last year devastated a lot of these trails an incredible amount of hard work’s gone into rehabilitating not

Just the trails but these tracks as well and has made them ridable again and they’re giving the Riders The Experience here diff the the very marked difference in the Cadence of these two Riders there yes um Howard CRS definitely tries to keep a bit higher spinning pedal stroke

Um but I mean it’s also M be feature he is a very strong Rider he’s big he’s and he has also the the lead like from his legs he definitely can push also with uh higher like with bigger gears and this is what I mean this is also his quality

If you if you see like more flatti or even so slightly climbs back with stepan s the buff Mega they hook left now onto that cement track climb it is about alaman and hun becking doing all they can to try and get escape the world bicycle relief team not only defending

Their third place but attacking fourth place second place at least that’s their motivation today to get up onto uh one step below the top on the podium at the conclusion of this race they wore the yellow jerseys for a couple of days after taking them from MTA and Finny

After they winded on the prologue but that’s the helicopter behind them well that’ll tell this pair where the Chasers are Sim schella and uba behind him schella in fact rode the T track early this year finished third there with Axel rud CA his original partner unfortunately the Frenchman had an

Accident just shortly before the coming out to South Africa for the ABS piic they’re dropping into the fire hut Trail one of the real favorites here one of the older Trails here and it is a trail that well some of the legends of this part of M biking here Paul the plumber

And the like got hold of Bennett Nell and said come on we need a trail here and they built it many years ago and it’s gone through a number of rehabilitations number of fires and so on but it is an absolute thrill this yeah and if you consider that um the

Bulls Maverick teams and also the um the the Toyota specialized 91 team actually had been closed together earlier and so here Simon sella and UA they managed to pull quite a bit away um but also it could be that mat beers um I mean he

Knows also all these trails that he in a way just tries to keep them inside and um makes the move and later on the stage when it goes actually again very rough into the trails down to M yeah it does get it does get rougher and that this

This this stage has that sting in the tail once they pass kenberg some might say cruel it is as you pass so close to the finish right past the finish I think I us you’re happy with that and then head out in a way it Hawks back

To the early years of the ABS Cape epic that was a bit of a a Hallmark of some of the early race directors that they bring them close to the finish and then send them away and that’s exactly what the story is today on this Grand Finale

As they explore the trail Network around sell bosan beers leading grz down the fire hut Trail it is spectacular stuff fast and smooth a few little drops but uh and a couple of jumps near the bottom two little sections here they’re riding today there is a a higher section A

Little More twisty and switch back Laden but Beer’s loving this and we did a very informal time check at the uh turn off as they went down into fire hut and it’s around about a minute Gap or so and uh shows that the Bulls are absolutely motivated and then buff Mega go through

There around about looks like just under two just over two 2 minutes behind the Bulls so the gaps are already stretching out early on in the stage and we are around about 35 km in to the 67 km Trail so we’re just past the halfway mark on board with Stefan S down the

Fire H trail behind hunt becking the Dutch national champion and ahead of him is his partner vaman the European Champion the Belgian and they’ve been one of the The Stand Out teams at this year’s ABS cap that they gone and off the bike their Spirit has been incredible they’ve when they lost the

Yellow jerseys they were incredibly uh comfortable with it happy that they just enjoyed their two days in the yellow jerseys and they were happy to just continue on their Journey here and they brought a great spread they seem to have the fire back today though as they know

They if they go really well today they could put pressure on Sebastian finny particularly in the World bicycle relief team is here and Nino sure to try and stay in second place 1 minute and 11 keep emphasizing that but that’s the Gap back and we perhaps we get an idea

Fairly shortly as to what the Gap is between these two teams well we did get a time check at the 22 km Mark they’re already past the 35k mark But at the 22k Mark World bicycle relief were uh only 30 seconds in uh in front of um world

Bicycle relief B Mega World bicycle that gap on overall that be the virtual leaderboard that buff megao are now eating into that advantage that 1 minute 11 Advantage is now down to 30 seconds just to show you where we are on the trail right about the halfway mark in

The middle we can see fire hat they’ve already they’ve past that section there the top section of fire hut and now they’ll be heading into yona’s drift in the the final section of the trail before they hit the Toyota tough section called G-spot that’ll be a highlight to

Watch the uh the rly the rolling jumps from G-spot will be uh fitting end oh and disaster for the buff Mega team can they fix it saw willia tear past them and now it’s all about how quickly they can look you can see there V Alan is putting a

Plug into the tire they’ve spotted the issue now great teamwork from the from these two Hing will look to inflate the tower as fast as possible and that was extremely quick quick attendance to what potentially could be something that uh put that Podium spot for the stage win at

Risk well that is a great example of how professional these Riders are in affecting repairs to a puncture absolutely and and work as a team you could also see that um hun becking already had the the bomb out ready to to bomb the tire while um V alaman still

Tried actually pluck it and the moment he pulled the pluck out the the bomb got got released and uh hun put the the pressure the the CO2 in these are things that they practice to get right when they’re on the trail and not waste any more time than than that has gone yeah

And and it’s also like little things just to to save time that you have like plugs uh that you just have with a with an insulation tape you have it on your handlebar easy grip that you don’t don’t first have to fiddle around in your pockets to get these things because um

To have a a puncher that’s the probably the the the the the the most common U uh mechanical issue yeah what what you have so and these things bomb and also then the the PLU vs you need to have accessible well there’s shter and Finny they sense now they can see them they

Were about 30 odd seconds behind uh uh when last we checked on the checkpoint now it is much closer due to that mechanical issue and becking and Al now will feel the heat from the world champion he knows these Trails he loves these Trails they’re a few better but he

Can’t go too hard he’s got to look after his partner Sebastian finny here in the Danish Champions Jersey and uh Nino sha the two of them are wearing different trade team outfits and different outfits completely in fact and they formed this partnership especially for the race

World bicycle relief um the N know shter is well known as a 10 10 time world champion he is not the World Marathon Champion however there is one title that is that’s I think it’s the only World title that has eluded him he’s been Olympic champion world champion several times

World Cup champion and uh also an ABS epic Champion twice he can see them and this is his playground that’s for sure he’s closing in so quickly n know shter yeah little things can make a difference um I just noticed also that Sebastian fin had like

You know in in the in the trails where it’s just ever slightly goes down um how to in a way use the dropper seat post are you putting it down or if leave it do you leave it a bit higher up that you still can also have a pedal stroke um if

It’s too low then it’s like yeah you don’t actually create that force that power um and here actually in a way youo also managed to open up a gap uh a gap uh to uh Sebastian down the low reaches of the fire hut Trail again cannot say enough

About these Trails the work done the uh the love put into these Trails by everyone involved here in stos to maintain and create and drive it the passion is amazing you know shter almost taking off unbelievable over that last little uh jump out they go head across back across the bridge in

The river and then it is onto the dentist Trail which runs along the the river close to the river through the forest pop out of that and very soon they’ll be into the yonas drift Trail shter looks over his shoulder sees where finny is that’s the race today how is

Sebastian finny going to manage the pace that nino sh is laying down here today and just up ahead well they are chasing I think that’s Daniel gire and his partner and then further up the road is becking and alaman the buff Mega mop that’s the uh race on today

Meanwhile up the road the Bulls Mavericks Simon schella and his partner uba and we’re now on the dentist Trail this is the handiwork of the dentist in town and a passionate Trail Builder Cory Miller and the stos trail fund who come and rehab this every year because it gets washed away by the

Reigns and we’re on the wheel of Andrea calt and his partner Mark stutzman Canyon City yeah and this Trail actually from the road from the yukook road is not so easy uh to to see but it’s really like the road it’s it’s maybe just 50 or

100 m on the right hand side from this Trail heading up to yon look that’s right it’s a I love it it’s a you get a sense of being in a forest yet the road is just there but it’s a lovely little Trail and there’s there are two Trails

This is the outward Trail and there’s a different one coming in down below this in fact you can just see it there is the inward Trail so it does you don’t ride into anyone you can go flat out here and no problem at all you’re not going to

See anyone and these two Riders here the canyon CD team are going flat out indeed this is It’s the narrow Trails this is as fast as you can ride them as the the world’s best marathoners in front of us the World Marathon Champion the former World Marathon champion Andreas sealt in

Front of us right now and ahead of him is his partner Mark schutzman the 2023 Swiss epic champion and uh the Swiss Champion also they looked they went into today’s stage in fourth spot over overall General classification and they did have a a 3 minute 24 to make up over

Buff megao but it doesn’t look like today is going to be their day we expected more from this team because we had uh very high expectations we we argue expected them to be one of the favorites for the overall General classification win not to be for them

They had a disappointing first couple of days but made good uh with a stage win and uh sealt and schutzman are on on the charge now and hoping to get back into contention with the top uh with the top with the very front of the field and uh

We will remember them winning the stage in stage three is the stage they won and uh looking to repeat that but it looks unlikely with the the motivation of the Bulls Ur Huber is coming good at the end of race week drop down now off that tra

They’ve come out brief on the tar and they head through a section known locally as kir quak they’ll R down the paving air stretch a little bit it’s that sort of day today with so much single track it’s intense all the way not too much opportunity firstly to

Stretch and secondly to refuel you’ve got to be very very uh clever about when you refuel like now maybe on this grael now it be definitely possible yeah and I mean it’s also every all of the rides like the lower back you we also saw it with Sebastian fin he also try really

Like to to use uh each opportunity to maybe just give his back a little bit of stretch um yeah it works it just really works your whole body and um yeah you need to also then to take advantage if you can quickly uh give give your body a

Bit of stretch given an opportunity just to to talk about your off the bike when you were racing at the sharp end you’re off the bike preparation physical training what was that what did you do yeah I did um I mean cor core Core workout core training is very important

For um especially like Al for mountain biking because your upper body also it’s not just static but you just have actually hold the handlebar so you work the whole time um lower back is very important your uh the shoulder um um neck area needs to also be strengthened

And um abdomen training like core needs to be very very solid train so this is the leading women on the race both in general classification and now on the trails on stage number seven as they head down the dirt road across the river and they have completed

The trails on the Northern side of Yong and they’ll be very shortly up the short little dirt road track drag and then onto boss the single track climb which will eventually lead them out to fire hut that’s an turst and nickol cola and Candace Lil Candace Lil it’s we don’t

See Mona metala in the picture right now and Candace Lil will be highly aware there’s a bit of a gap she she’s trying to get to the front here to get on the single track which is where an O she’ll have an opportunity to just slow the

Pace a little and bring her partner back into the game here Mona midal the CER still clever riding here the single track is just across the road and uh I’m not sure that the ghost team are going to be able to prevent her from getting onto that trail first indeed she is into

It early she is in oh very clever move tactically by Candace Lil and just neutralizing the attack from Ghost Factory racing and the ghost Factory racing are they’ve proved their tactics to be very effective and just letting Candace little get ahead of them in the trail Candace still taking a drink and

Obviously just letting the pace lull a little bit allowing her partner Mona mitala to come back Mona mitala the world champion the World Marathon champion and arrived at the race her first and uh at the young age of 22 has achieved so much already two World Cups two World Championships

Jerseys and uh the ABS epic the long week that she’s had at the ABS the longest stage race she’s ever done and clearly extremely fatigued at this point in the race Jesse Nixon is on the Bulls media ebike here Jesse bit of a gap here Mona just trying to stay in

Touch yeah so the the main group’s pulled away from Mona on the downhill a bit um so we trying to catch up well clever clever tactical work from Candace to get on the front there definitely amazing move what are the conditions like there Jesse really nice um so there’s a bit of

Moisture on the trails at the moment um so the trails are running really fast really you enjoying riding with uh these these Riders been a good week yeah it’s the best the last person who rode the Bulls mey ebike is in fact now riding the race Andy

Cheers is Stow um you know does this does this Stoke that fire yeah Isa is doing a great job out there she’s actually my sister so it’s really cool we could share this experience with each other well fantastic you keeping a close eye on that and Mona is closing up

Candace doing a good job thank you yeah and we also saw something what made me a bit uh smile um when Candace went into the trail just bit calming down like just slowing down a little bit have a drink have a sip which in a way also invites the other Riders also to

Just okay grab your bottle and it’s like it uh I I noticed that many times that it’s like yeah if you just also start the that other rers now also just slowing down a bit take the advantage to also just nurse yourself a bit and it’s

Almost as if she’s saying look I’m in charge just for now and I’ll dictate when when the pace goes up and when we drink I mean there’s no there’s no need for the ghost Factory team now in a way to uh push past uh because it’s like you

Also can’t on this very narrow single trailers well the uh the UCI women’s category the ARX women’s category they have passed through the 22 km Mark and we do have some time checks for you with canell Factory racing and ghost Factory racing passing through that time check 1

Hour and just under 1 hour and 20 minutes and efficient Infinity insure Vera Loza and Lexa Scara with a next on the trails Next To Arrive 17 seconds later that Gap is obviously extended since then but Toyota specialized 91 losing Time 1 minute and 44 they arrived

At the 22 km Mar so we’ll be able to get a chance later to look back the trail and to see where the third spot overall General classification position Riders areana and Samara Shepard looking to get some Podium time on today’s Grand Finale the prestigious Grand Finale Vera laza

And Alexa SC the defending Champion riding with the American champion Alexa Scar and uh looking to uh to break the record or break the streak of the top three teams we haven’t seen any other teams on the podiums all week of it’s been canell Factory racing ghost Factory racing in Toyota specialized 91

Dominating the podium and breaking that streak efficient to ensure ver Loa Alexus SC they’ve got their work cut out for them got to keep Toyota specialized 91 at Bay it will be a great highlight for the namibian and the American this Trail the boss Trail has been ridden in the other direction of

The Absa Cape epic and Years Gone by and uh it has become a a climb and in fact back to the extension of Boss when they come out onto the road just now and in fact there is a a section that goes straight up short circuiting the the

Road climb that these Riders will do you can take the single track up there that race director hrio berer decided that he’d put them on the road to take them around to the top that you can just see the entrance to the next section Straight Ahead there great to see the

Support on the trail it’ll really encourage these Riders and again Mona mitta really is struggling to stay on the wheel for any consistent time world champion gets out of the saddle and drives well she spoke yesterday in an interview with one of our colleagues about how much she has

Learned this week she’s alluded to the fact that she’s probably never learned as much about mountain biking as she has this week it is uh something of a PhD in mountain biking if you come into a young raw and and King Le and you learn about yourself

Absolutely I mean it puts you uh this week or the the EP Cape epic puts you really into the HT box and uh it’s you learn about yourself you learn which things worked for you and uh also for yeah for future um times when she would

Come back to the cape epic but uh she would maybe also make some changes in the preparation well I mean we’ve had many one-time visitors here and winning the race the likes of Kate Courtney uh also Haley baton came and one an Brean once off and uh they would

Have learned a great deal and went off and perhaps took some of those lessons into their careers further on this is the Bulls Mavericks Simon scheller on the front and uba they’re on the yonus drift Trail which is high above the road up to yonus hook this is not a public

Accessible Trail this is perhaps the only Trail all day today in which the uh general public cannot have access to it through private land so thank you to them for allowing us to use this land but it’s a wonderful Trail and Simon schnella and usuba off first through the yonas drift Trail

Here just over the next rise will be the B they’re familiar with that and then the the race Village down below them on the fields get a look at that this is a Trail built by the caveman Conrad stals four or five years ago and uh he

Built that jump line that the Riders finished on yesterday and a lovely Maisy Trail but it’s uh takes some work to get to the top of the trail here schella and Uber looking to race to glory on the grand finale day today as that’ll give you a perspective of where

We are just over halfway on today’s stage but there’s some gnarly sections to come before they get to the Finish they definitely won’t be counting their chickens at this point and Simon schet setting the pace the German setting the pace on the downhill the German’s an experienced campaigner at the ABS epic

He’s finished five already based position fifth in 2022 riding with of course Ur Huber And the tried and tested Partnership of the Swiss and the German with the Huber with 12 epics under B 12 absap epics six stage wins and one overall win so fantastic record for the

Swiss Rider and uh it’s a multiple national champion and uh worthy of a stage win at the Grand Finale and it’s almost a surprised that that he has not actually seen the top step of the podium in the grand finale sometimes perhaps uh allowing just being cont content for the

Other teams not contending for overall General classification certainly in his heyday wanting just to consolidate his effort in the final but now with the stage win potential stage win under his uh well in his sights he’ll be looking to really make it count and stay in touch with his partner Simon schneller

The powerful German yeah in a way doing what uh beers and and grots are doing here not too concerned about if a attack goes off the front just defending their position not taking too many risks too much to lose and schella and Uber trying to capitalize here and capture a win but

As we leave the Yona drip Trails they know they’ve got a lot of hard work to do OB for the Finish to be just around the corner as they’ll go to the uh the Y River on their right hand side they’ll pass the the lowlevel crossing very very shortly where they exited Gutenberg

Which is right there and they’ll head up a familiar climb again quite trail that came in here yesterday and know only too well but they are in fine shape at the moment the Bulls Mavericks will get a time check very shortly as they go through kenberg

At around 47 km and we’ll know the Gap back to Toyota specialized 91 buff meamo is a team of great interest today they’re in third place but they have lost a little bit of that Advantage they had over World bicycle relief which was around 38 seconds going through the 22

Kilm checkpoint they lost that due to the puncture they suffered on the fire hut descent and uh we saw the professionalism and how quickly they managed to repair that damage the plug in the tire the tubist tires letting the sealant inside the tire already pre-sealed and added before the Before

The Race by the uh diligent mechanics sealant doing its job just the plug giving it just a little bit of extra reinforcement and letting the sealant do its job at a really fast repair some great teamwork and uh just back with the bulls right now and talking of the bulls

The bulls were one of the uh the teams that absolutely mastered the art of damage control if there was ever any issues on the trail there Huber and uh car plat and uh also Stefan S were able to manage the damage so quickly and so efficiently and with Precision that any

Issues that they had they were able to deal with and get back on the trail and that was pivotal in their uh in their victories and they always came with a a really strong backup team as well so they were able to mitigate those issues should they need them with their backup

Team so this is schella and Uber Uber bending and tucking in behind the taller his taller partner the Swiss Champions former Swift Champions logo on his arms well he’ll know he is suffering greatly but he knows it is absolutely worth it plus he can always call to his partner just to

Slow on back off maybe half a percent a percent that’s what it’s all about it’s just managing their efforts to the Finish still a bit to go as they head towards the trail towards the grand finale in kenberg looks so pretty shoulder to see if anyone’s roaming up

Behind them well this is you know shter and Sebastian finny and probably guess my the Austrian champion and his partner behind them siman schella and L Huber reaching the summit of their short kicker in the B Trail which brought them to the finish yesterday on stage six but today is just

A precursor and a teaser as they’ll see the finish of the the race Village just down below them the grand finale finish but they will have to ride on and ride on some very rugged trails to come as they take hold of this Grand Finale stage they will head up the gum up

Climb again the race director hrio Burger’s Wicked slightly W sense of humor the Riders up trail that everyone in celos writes down yeah and I think it’s not just that one yes yes there are enough of those yeah there also in Paradise clove there also like some Trails which

The Riders have to go against the normal Direction so that’s actually quite um um roty and you you bump into this Roots all the time it’s like yeah you get stopped by the root that’s on the in the Eden Forest the root structure they very prominent and uh above ground there so

Yeah you’ve got to keep momentum going this is beers and GRS they’re riding a section which they captured yesterday stage when they rode away from Fabian rabensteiner and samw poro but beers and grots looking for all the world very very comfortable at the moment the Toyota specialized 91 pair in second

Place on the trail but of course in those gbt yellow jerseys denoting the race leaders they’ve won two stages in a row now the third team to have won the yellow jerseys CH and his partner finny on the opening after the prologue and then becking and alaman and then this

Pair and took them from them Matthew beers the South African Marathon Champion looks over his shoulder first at Howard gr who just check he’s okay no problem at all the American has been absolutely Rock Solid all week and then to have a little further look to see if any team is

Ranging up behind them up ahead of them well not too far ahead of them are Simon schella and uan look there’s the race Village that is the finish of the grand finale of the Absa cap epic they sweep past it they’ll go across the dam wall

Get a fleeting glimpse of glory and then have to go and work extremely hard to make sure they retain their position at the front of this Trail D people out on the trails lovely great opportunity if you see the start then you can come up on the trails here watch them go past

Here and there’s enough time to get across to G-spot if you want watch them come down there because they’ve got to go way beyond that through Eden and MTB before coming back to G-spot so great spectator areas and at the the dam which we are approaching very soonly I guess

We also would get another split time that’s the water point and uh also definitely important uh that you take a bit something more to eat for the last couple kilometers so you will definitely uh need need to have a bit some more fuel to refuel so Shimon Simon schella and of

Team Bulls Mavericks roll through the point oops a little bit of an overshoot and schella has to drop behind Uber look at this what a sight fantastic an Avenue of spectat is lining the dam wall here the kenberg dam wall welcome the these Riders stos has come out Cape Town the

Western Cape come out to support the Absa Cape epic in its 20th Edition and what better place to do it here the mecra mountain biking this is where we had a World Cup here in 2018 uh and a very significant one when Nino sh’s run of Victories consecutive

Run of Victories of seven consecutive World Cup victories was snapped by Sam gay and a thrilling finish on the fields down below us here but they heading up into the mountains now and Ur huba almost for the first time since we’ve been watching is on the front of the

Train not far behind GRS and beers now you can just imagine what it’s going to be like as these two go through that water point and that Forest of Spectators there but it almost seems like that um was Huber and Simon schella managed to um to actually open up the

Gap a bit more so we’re going to see what’s the the split time tells us this is the yellow jerseys yep the stage it would be fantastic to win the stage but not at the expense of the yellow jerseys for Toyota specialized 91 a legacy likes of which no other team

Has as well as the Bulls have done over the years to specialize he won the specialized Rand in all its incarnations have been the most successful team in the history of the absap Epic sweeping down above the stone Pines they’ll head into this water point and will absolutely there was very good from

Howard gr just dropping his bottle and any gel packets in the water point to make sure that he didn’t litter anywhere else on the trail and you can imagine the noise here firing these Riders up absolutely fantastic we can see there the TW minute Gap so the Bulls Mavericks are making progress

They’re making they’re gaining time on Toyota specializ 91 at the first time check that wasn’t the that move had not happened at that point but the Bulls Mavericks and uh Toyota specialized that Gap 2 minutes and we still have to wait for buff megao Canyon CD and uh the most

Uh importantly losing time on the day we’re going to be keeping an eye on world bicycle reliefs Nino sh and Sebastian finny 2 minut at the first water point that was the 22 km Mark and now at the 48 km Mark have to see how much how much damage Toyota specialized

91 have done to World bicycle relief but most importantly that spot on the overall Podium buff megaan Canyon CD charging ahead and looking to gain time on their Rivals so in between like vertually the that uh um world bicycle relief had still like about 30 seconds um a gap to buff

Megao but then also remember that um they had a puncher we did it quite quickly we fixed it quite quickly um yeah we were going to see when when both teams are coming into the into the water point and we getting also of their split

Time bit of a drag up this dirt road it gets steeper and steeper before they hit the rocky trails and introduction to gum up the trail bu specifically for this year’s event or rehabilitated specifically for this event redirected out of a a rock garden into a slightly

More ridable Trail and uh beers and grots just ticking it off grots is the superior climber of the two and so he moves just onto the front here to lead the way as the gradient increases that’ll give you an idea as we stand at the top where the camera is now

They as will be heading to out of the left hand side of your frame and onto the the trails in this Blue Gum Forest we’re just seeing the time checks coming in at the moment at the kenberg section that’s the 48 km Mark 48 K into

The 67 km time the 67 km stage and Bulls Mavericks cross through their 2 hours of racing in Toyota specializ 91 at 2 minutes willia Victoria Factory at 241 buff Mega Mo 332 and Canyon CD at 413 still waiting for World bicycle relief at third spot of the podum looking under

Threat here they come Nino Shon and Sebastian finy riding for World bicycle relief going to be clicking the stopwatch and seeing exactly where they are and at 449 back but we’re not looking at the deficit to Bulls Mavericks we’re not even looking at the deficit to Toyota specialized 91 we’re looking at buff

Megao Canyon CD and World bicycle relief that’s where it’s all about it’s those four fifth and sixth spots passing through that time check that are looking for second third and fourth so we could well be seeing a shuffle in the general classification going into coming into

The Finish 6 seconds what a race what race we’ve got on our hands here for the second place on the podium Nino sh spoke yesterday he was no question he and Sebastian finny are really really fatigued and the of hunts becking anyone who says they’re not fatigued is lying

But uh they are digging very very deep but when you get a bike number and a board on your bike and uh you danger of losing a position you want to win 6 seconds in it and Canyon CD in fourth spot currently on before we went into

The stage the were fourth spot on overall GC and still around just under 4 minutes back off third spot so Canyon CD looks at this point looks unlikely they’ll be able to unseat World bicycle Rel or buff megao from that spot but R Meo already a little ahead 6 seconds

Ahead of world bicycle relief if the race were to stop now that’s on overall the virtual overall General classification the other team in there Scott KH bandida Mai from p bernos in the Polish Champions Jersey he’s on the front roie um predominantly in fact that’s his trade team jersey and Serio

Manon gutterz a regular here at the ABS epic and the Spanish marath Champions Jersey now into the gum up climb steep climb it is and we are sitting with the balls this is o huba on the back here and Simon schella yeah and they just in we managed

Two days ago to clear out here the last bits and pieces of this um Blue Gum who came yeah also probably with storms uh who had fallen over and uh I just was two days ago I was here on this section and we’ still worked on it and Tred to

Get these massive stumps out of the way yeah this is a rock garden like no these trees in the storms last year some of these huge blue gums that’s what can happen yeah and it’s it’s really like blocked like you it’s like and then also

To see really where to go where is now the actually Trail to ride it’s not so easy because your focus is like I mean also if you you have you watch your your partner who is ahead and but also to have a good uh side for the line to that

You not in a way again um smash or like that your derer doesn’t take uh any tall so you have to be very focused and also a bit farther ahead um there’s also a lot of rocks and you have little kicks and you to you have to lift your rear

Wheel to make sure that you that you don’t get a puncher by definition this is a technical uphill just with the amount of work the amount of just the upper body work that you would have to do to get over this Trail and also if

You’re if you’re a team or if you’re a rider who’s just on the limit trying to stay in touch with a small group and some of these little rocky sections we saw earlier requires just a bit of a boost of power if you’re already on the

Limit that’s just going to be all that much harder and then forcing an error forcing uh forcing a rider to walk we saw uba making a slight mistake there but true professional back on the pace back onto his partner Simon Stella now we’re with okay we’re back with the back

With the bulls we just caught a glimpse of in the trees Matt beers and Howard grz and we’re back with the bulls media ebug Stefan S he knows what it’s like to lead this race he knows what it it’s like to win a stage and he gets a

Perfect Riders eye view in bringing the world the Riders ey view from the Bulls media ebike and these are the sections where we’re talking about blocked tricky sections they are if you have if you’re freshh and if you go through the Section not on the limit then it is ridable but

Uh with the full Pace set by Simon schnella just makes it just a little bit more difficult these tricky Rocky sections hopefully that won’t delay uba too much on their campaign they have a twom minute buffer on the team of Toyota specialized 91 Matt beers and Howard

Grots content to leave uh the Bulls team let them go up the road they have a one hour 46 lead over them on overall General classification no threat to them on overall GC and the Bulls are set free to to Rampage and uh look for the gr finale

Stage win the G-Spot Trail is down to their right a much smoother uh much much more fun trail down down to right they’ll come back for that very very shortly but this Trail is a very favorite for hikers uh some bikers and uh it is used very very often by uh the

Local community here little kicker up here again some rocks that will be ridden over and dealt with no problem at all work done here amazing this stos Trail fund naum s the man who drives those Trail Builders and just he himself comes out rides just clears areas makes

Sure everything’s okay there’s a log that’s Fallen across they quickly get it out the way and saw away if it needs to be you can see the glimpse of the feathers and the flags of the Toyota TP section the Glorious G-spot awaits but they got work to do before they earn that

Reward yeah there’s still a bit something to yeah still still some kilometers before we get back uh before we’re coming back to gsport wondering if we also like blocking it because for the people who don’t know G-spot I mean there are quite some lines which you actually can take because it’s like

Different width of uh Gap jumps you can take and if you don’t know the trails it can be very tricky quite tricky and and there is a a hospital no more than half a kilometer away with an army of well positioned Hospital very with an army of orthopedic surgeons

There who uh yeah um they they are kept busy every weekend that’s for sure because a G-spot as fun as it is if you don’t know the trail it can be very very dangerous we saw beers and GRS riding over that Rocky section there very efficiently indeed and dealing with it

Into Eden Forest again one of the original Trails here in stellos way back harking to the days of well when young hrio Burger was a young man here and uh SP Koval another of our commissaires and race uh root planners and they were part of

Uh the team school kids used to come and play in these forests and create Trails here and they’ve sustained maintained and they are being ridden in the 20th edition of the ABS pic what sight fantastic they go up to the top of this forest and then drop down some nice fun single

Track so they’re making use they really are riding as much of the trail as possible here in celos getting a full CER on all these wonderful Trails schella leading the way Uber almost bent double the experienced uh Swiss Rider it’s won the some of the toughest races in the world multiple

Times a crocodile trophy renowned as one of the wildest events uh down in Australia in its early years and would go back year and year after and win that solo and also two times trop winner r hubber a well-known campaigner in stage races and he would definitely say that

The crowning achievement of his of a of a long career considering he was third in World Marathon championships in 2008 long career certainly for the Swiss Rider the multiple Champion the multiple Swiss Champion considers that the his 2016 abic Victory is the Pinnacle of his career on the

Right hand side of your picture there the women the rmx UCI women’s race they are heading up the yonas drift Trail and it is as you were now the ghost Factory racing team have opened a significant Gap it appears on Candace Lil and Mona mital the second place team for canadell factory racing

It was clear as they were leaving yuk that Mona mitala was certainly the weaker of the two in that Canal team with the again Coler on the frontier and she certainly did look vulnerable vulnerable Mona mavala in the world championships unusual sight for the double World Cup when a double world

Champion but it is early in her season and she’s a young Rider still uh understanding her her physiology understanding how she’d react to an 8 day stage race toson Coler looking very much in charge completely smooth and uh almost virtually no threat and it could be a complete full flush for them a

Absolutely spotless record eight out of eight stages for the Swiss and the Dutch Rider as they head up their final assault their last stage and the last half of the stage heading into the grand finale and a Heroes welcome for them their backup team they they brought a

Their trade Team Ghost Factory racing is an all women trade team and one of the best in the business on the world cup scene but in this picture we also could now see that the the Gap way could open up was now quite massive and they could

Uh have like this in this sharp band They also could have a look back to see where are now Mona mner and Candace Lil and uh not inside at all they’ve raised their white flag in a way because Candace Lil has put her alien partner on the front and we will ride in

Her her mind we’ll ride at Mona’s pace and get through the the stage and see if she does recover um but there’s not many opportunities to recover in the remaining uh kilometers of this stage that’s rugged Trail the last the latter half is is all it’s heavy going and we

Saw early the men’s category going through that uh to climb up through the blue gum trees and some very tricky sections if you’re fatigued at this point it’s just going to be an extra challenge certainly not smooth roads from here on and uh you see in front of

Us Candace Lil in the South African National Championships jersey she’s a South African Marathon champion and multiple South Afric multiple South African champion in the cross country Olympic discipline and Mona meta it’s a we don’t often see the world championships Jersey at the race in fact the first time we saw the World

Marathon championships Jersey at the race was Ralph nef in fact in 2007 and we also last year we saw was it two years ago we saw Pauline faran proo in her National in World Championships jersey in the women’s category that was the first time we saw

That uh we saw those stripy jerseys n sh has worn his jersey many times but it’s now the rules the the rules of the race and the governing body rules say that you have to wear the marathon championships Jersey at the ABS Cape epic this is uh one of the outcast

Riders I think riding past the second place women’s team here an outcast Rider is one of the UCI Elite men who has lost his partner and there have been a number of those the likes of Tristan L lost his partner Mark priton Johan lost Alex Miller of course G egar lost Lucas Bal

Yesterday they can ride on but they wear a spe specific Jersey and not allowed to involve themselves in the racing in any way at all they also starting in a in a different batch yeah starting after the the women’s category exactly and it gives the chance the UCI Riders it’s

Unique to the UCI categories both in the men’s and the rmx women’s category the the U special the lone leopard Jersey is the jersey that is given to the UCR Riders it help identify them identify riders that have lost their partners of course the sportsmanship out on the

Field means they wouldn’t interfere with the racing and we saw just how fast they went ahead they should be approaching this team he should be approaching this team very soon but not interfering with the racing that’s in the spirit of the event and uh but it still does give the

UCI Riders who’ve lost their Partners a chance to continue and enjoy the race enjoy the spectacle as we are now enjoying the spectacle behind Mona balner and in front of us right now just trailing her partner and keeping an eye keeping a close watch on her partner is

Candace L four time second place finisher and uh she’ll have to wait another year by the looks of things to uh launch an assault on Victory no easy feat winning this race in the ARX women’s category it’s getting more and more competitive in fact this year was the closest on time we’ve ever

Seen going into Stage seven going into the grand finale and these two ladies are these two Riders from the ghost Factory team you don’t really make out uh a weaker or stronger partner we really like taking turns and um so both are also technically very very good

Riders and um yeah it it it’s just like a a perfect combination for such a race absolutely and the Synergy between the two I mean they barely left each other’s so well they’ve taken the turns at the right moments it really has looked like nothing’s perfect but it looks like the

Perfect combination for the absap Epic and they’ve ridden so far so far the perfect race high up on the mountain slopes of stalos mountain on the yonas drift Trail now it’s almost as high as they’ll get here and then they’ll head down towards the bat kenberg Glimpse at

The finish and then on towards Eden and bonbury and back to gspot all done everything they possibly could right here they’ve not put a pedal in the wrong place and uh well just feel that they the way they’ve written they richly deserve the glory that comes with

Winning the ABS epic of their first attempt and we’ll never speak too we don’t want to speak too soon but up until now up until this point they as you said haven’t put a single foot wrong which is highly unusual every team it seems that comes to this race whether

They’re at the front or the back they have a bad day but no bad days for ghost Factory Racing for sure beautiful expression uh of the trails here as they flow beautifully along the hillside here gradient just helping them as they get some speed down through these wonderfully crafted

Trails and cleared yes storms and the weather that affected this part of the world last year resulted in a number of rock falls and bridges getting washed away but they’ve all been rehabilitated and rebuilt to create this wonderful spectacle and a chance to ride ni ker on

The front the 36y old Swiss Rider and 33y and tur strip have couple of World Cups and a rider who has an eye on big fish to fry later this year in the Olympic Games and the world cup scene both these Riders will be heading to the World Cups it start in Brazil

Back-to-back races in Brazil in 3 weeks time so this good preparation I believe so that it’s a good preparation because also I mean they are yeah so we didn’t got really put under so much pressure so we can still I so the fatiguing for these two Riders is definitely not on the highest

Highest end of course we need to recover for before we’re flying out Etc and before we’re heading direction to Brazil ansta and Nichol CER on their way in the JV to Orange leaders jerseys here on the grand finale stage on the abser cape epics stage number seven we had the

Prologue and then stages 1 to7 so eight days of racing the prologue and lenford then we headed out to tbar and sburg for some brutally hard stages in that part of the world not least of which because of the uh incredibly hot temperatures endured in the vitenberg valley and in

The tilak valley transition day from tilak they headed over the mountains onto Baines CL pass and into Wellington and rode some of the wine Ball Trails with which they would become far more acquainted over the next two days two great trail raing riding days in Wellington and uh of course the queen

Stage and who will ever forget images of the cliffhanger certainly the Riders won’t forget it but if you have not yet seen it please look for them that Queen stage was reduced in distance but it didn’t reduce the drama and thrill of riding those Trails on stage number four

Stage number five was another loop around Wellington on the kenberg mountain side in some senses many thought it might be a rest day nothing of the sort on the abser I think every day is hard particularly deeper into the week because the combat effect of fatigue mental and physical does come

Into play and that was a day that thoroughly gave the the Riders a great enjoyment of those trails and then they all transferred through to stellos by vehicle before yesterday stage six which explored the Simmons BG Conservancy in the morati trail Network before finishing at Gutenberg and now the grand

Finale here stage 7 67 km 2,000 M of climbing and this pair ghost Factory racing have done everything they possibly can to put it to bed and they’re on their way it seems at this stage to a glorious overall and perhaps stage Victory here on the grand finale

At kenberg an a turra second Rider here and niol K tster from the Netherlands and cola from Switzerland riding their very first abs cap epic they haven’t put a foot wrong we’re on board the helicopter following the leaders in the women’s race ghost Factory racing as they head

Back into the kenberg complex now they’ll ride up onto the bat trail that they rode yesterday at the conclusion of yesterday’s stage however this is just passing through they still have just under 20 km of racing to get to the finish and Anna turra and ni K have got

Away from the canadel factory racing team of candyville and an ailen Mona mner and are now in comfortable control of this Grand Finale we’re on a trail called elements just near montbury element Trail another fast flowing with some jumps not too many rocks it really is a thrill and you can see Simon

Schella and U absolutely loving it and they’re they’re loving it and they’re reeving in the trails we saw a little bit of a whip there but they’re also highly motivated this is the first time since the Bulls the trade team Bulls have won a grand finale well let’s not

Speak too soon but this could be the first victory since 2008 a long gap for a prestigious Grand Finale victory of course they’ve won many titles and many stages between then and now but that grand finale stage win is just something that has eluded them for so long

And uh that’s we spoke too soon what do we do let’s not curse anymore let’s just keep uh keep quiet about winning that stage win but o Herber let’s just keep an eye on if he’s back on back in touch with his partner Simon schnella just over shooting the corner coming out of

That element Trail it is one of those you just want to go at as fast as you possibly can a little Rocky River Trail here that’ll drop them out at the uh Lawns of the modbury wi estate on the right hand side and uh then they will

Start the track back along the lowest section of Eden towards G-spot scary moment for usuba there for a moment that is the type of thing that can uh Scupper your hopes of let alone winning the stage finishing the the event itself and uh so he got away with

It and uh and sound on the wheel of shimell just look behind him said everything okay seems to be very very minor incident there for Ur Huber but a good uh good that it happened because there’s no loss there and um also a little bit of a wake up call just

Reminds Ur Huber that just how on the edge the uh the pace is at the moment Simon schella absolutely cracking the cracking Pace set by the German the powerful German and Huber not quite in the condition he wanted to be it was a late call up for him replacing uh Axel

Cord Cordina and uh just uh riding himself into form this week and taking it easy on a couple of days ear ear marking today’s stage and also having a good goed on stage five not to be on stage five R Huber fights to get back in touch with his partner Simon schella

Simon schell’s job right now is to keep the Pace High he’s got two jobs keep the Pace High and also look after Ur Huber they’ll pass through the usn hydration Hydro Spot at Mont bie it is the race leaders today on the grand finale stage stage seven the Bulls Mavericks Simon

Schnella and uba in control of the stage just at the moment as they pass through that checkpoint and they are now closing in on the Finish probably just over 10ks maybe 9 and 1 half km from the finish some Vineyard climbs to come and very close is also I think from um

Dylan Lewis also like this beautiful uh sculpture garden it’s right there yes absolutely one of the world’s foremost sculptors he’s got his sculpture garden there you may see some of his incredible artwork for there you need a proper Garden to have F you need a fairly

Sizable Garden if you want to have one of his pieces in your garden yes they are not things you put on your mantle piece that’s for sure so this is the Toyota specialized 91 pair Howard grz and math beers in the yellow jerseys secure for now in that position and they

Are looking to bring it home on the grand finale very close in fact to the headquarters in southern Africa of specialized on at G clippin Farm just no more than perhaps from where they are there uh 2 or 3 km so they’ll get a very very warm welcome uh when they get home

They have a passionate support and Incredibly professional setup uh they do have the best record of winning this event exactly this is what I also just wanted to mention that if you just take uh the the winds over the all the years I mean Specialized or was very very much

Uh in the lead here with all the wins well then now chasing willia VCT Victoria perhaps not chasing as much as beers is looking down he just looked down at his uh drivve train there I mean we have seen like this uh this downhill in this uh in this Forest um there are

Definitely also risks to for puncher or to to get a mechanical um he has just a water point and we don’t see that that he now right now it’s it seems like that everything is fine again yeah just there was a moment to he sort of looked down he drifted

Off Howard gross to have a look down at his own drivetrain but he seems to be okay with it ahead of them willia Fedor Factory Fabian rabenstein and Sam poro second last yesterday and now they’re on the charge they want to win a stage here rabenstein has had the taste of a grand

Finale win before and he wants it again today we’re just looking at the time check there over the Gap is extending the Bulls Mavericks have put 2 and a half minutes into Toyota specialized 91 but with willia Victoria Factory the Gap to will Victoria Factory at that is just

Around 2 minutes so the Bulls MAV bricks only have a 2minute advantage over there the Chasers the nearest uh the nearest team that could upset their hopes could Dash their hopes of a grand finale stage win and uh Grand Finale stage win will be great for the Bulls and be uh shades

Of the glory in 2021 when they won stage one together great performance from the Bulls and in the early part of the 21 2021 campaign with Simon schnella and Ur taking that that inaugural stage the full stage win they didn’t win the prologue but stage one they were

Victorious looking to uh they know they can do it they have the ability but it’s a matter of keeping the uh willia Victoria Factory team at Bay ravenstein and por both Keen both former stage winners at the ab epic ravenstein having won four stages and samel aoro having won just only one

Stage win to his name of course poro stage win is a prestigious thing to win but uh he is an illustrious company at the moment both these teams uh just perfect examples of uh how tough this absap epic is no matter when you ride it whichever

Year forget the terrain but it’s it’s a illness it’s fatigue and uh issues that can plague you throughout it they’ve be been through highs and lows each of these Riders and it’s all seems to come together for these two teams on this final day uh they they’ll look back and

Think we if we’d been strong earlier in the week we may have been higher up on the general classification but uh they’re taking their advant taking their opportunity now and um if the two here actually know um what the Gap is already then um it can give them also some additional wings

To really also push and uh yeah to really try to get this stage of this gr finale win uh back to the finish in u the kenberg stadium and they know that two-minute Advantage if they do have that information they may have spotters out on the course their support team out

On the course giving them information it’ll give them extra motivation and with uh just under 10ks to go they’ve already passed through M Marie that usn Hydra point is at the 57 k k k Mark at 60 6 7 km is the uh the finish and we’re

Expecting to see them in just a few minutes call a 10 10 or so minutes we’ll expect to see the crowd start roaring and expecting the uh T the top teams to arrive and uh that’s what it’s all about it’s about keeping that Gap 2 minutes is

A it’s a solid it’s a solid um Gap but they’ll need to keep riding consistently and avoid any possible mishaps they are followed closely by the Bulls media ebike step on there he knows what it’s like to be riding at the head of Affairs on the

Bike and now he is bringing the world just Riders eye view just what it’s like to ride at the front and an ominous ominous Rhythm set by Fabian Raven Steiner his partner samel had struggles early on in the week putting their overall General classification campaign

Um having to put that on the back burer but they’ll be looking for a stage to make good on a disappointing week for them did expect to see them come good in the latter half they did show some inklings of it ravenstein and porro are on the hunt for a grand finale stage

When R but so far it looks actually very good for uba and Sim s so we have so this team um yeah so I actually if I solved the last split time at a water point which was 2 minutes and 41 seconds uh to me it almost seems like it didn’t got

Smaller I almost would say it got bigger keep a steady Rhythm now they will turn up and get to enter the Eden forest from the bottom gate and then head up the trail this is the leading team sella and o yeah they looking good as they close in on the last 10

Kilometers of today’s stage they just keep this Rhythm and if is the uh it’s clear that Simon schnella is the stronger partner he has led pretty much from the very start of the of the stage uh carrying not carrying but leaving Ur H through these if they could just keep

A steady pace and uh not not crack if Ur H can stay on the pace it look likely for a stage and that’s uh the danger is of course that we speak too soon we did it earlier and of course just at that moment o went straight when he should

Have taken that that slightly tighter right hander that he anticipated left hander that he anticipated and uh was 2018 when ravenstein last one his uh well won his first Grand Finale in his his only Grand Finale stage when let’s see what the uh there he is

Ravener on the front with Samuel aoo we saw earlier in the interviews that he’d been struggling uh he was a little bit sick in the early part of the race ravenstein leading the way setting the pace and they into the gate and following them shortly will be the beers GRS

Pairing and the yellow jerseys they won’t be too concerned with what’s happening up the road in terms of the general classification both those teams are well behind or will will Victoria are in the top five but they are some distance in terms of time and this pair are doing absolutely what is required

Today they’re not putting uh anything at risk they’re securing their day they’re securing their week and they’re securing those yellow jerseys by keeping it steady this is the section up through Eden forest with those roots that are very exposed and uh it can be a a tough

Climb on tired legs at the end of a rugged week it it works you very hard yeah but also S I have to say Simon schella um he he Paces very well and he looks he you always always see that he looks a bit over his shoulder

He tries to um see how how was is uh dealing with the pace and he just really sets the pace very nicely and ho well he has been somewhat on the back foot courtesy of a late call up to the team cing at with a young French Rider

With an accident just before and so Uber well what better Rider to have on your backup list than a man who’s won the ab to Cape epic before uh and has such Rich experience in the event so he’s done the team proud here and he’s done his partner Simon schnella proud who’s

Leading the way as we watch grz now on the climb as he has been all week when they get on the road goes uphill Howard grz the American gets on the front stepping out of the sport in 2019 after winning the ABS epic in 2018 stepped

Away uh just lost the drive for it and taught maths and coached Young Riders and cyclists but is back now and uh he’s doing a lot of gravel racing in the United States and called up to race alongside his specialized Factory racing teammate Now Matt beers and they are

Absolutely going to storm it seems to towards a victory here little connection single track here and then a short kick up and up everything seems to go up here on the pick that they are heading down the the trail now they’ll they’ll have a little kick up yes just at the end of

This road and then gspot beckons G-spot beckons for sure and uh that is the one major thing that they’ll be concerned about on their run into the grand finale the the heroes welcome that they can expect the 38-year-old HBA is uh matching the pace set by Simon schneller the 26-year-old

Simon schneller at is even 26 he’s completed five absap epics his best result in 2022 is Fifth and uh having one a stage in uh on in 2021 the first stage of the 2021 race I guess in the early years he was also more like the backup team for call

Plot and uba or for um call when he was Raising with Alan Lara yes Steve John was part of that uh line up now there we go Stefan Sam is with the yellow jerseys and Thomas ditch is no big pardon Thomas is with the Thomas Stitch

Is with the yellow jerseys and Stephan s is with the race leaders at the stage leaders and going alongside not far away from them you might just have caught a glimpse of Jessie Nixon’s uh icon and she is down below there with the leading women that’ll give you an idea exactly

Where they are they’re heading up towards that gum up climb and we’ll do the loop around Eden and modm Marie before coming back on this road so the drop down into a G-spot is imminent for Simon schella and US hu Spectators along the way lovely Vibe and uh you can bet

Down at the finish in kenberg it’s a compact uh finish area but it’s almost like a stadium really really noisy and viy down there as these Riders will come home welcome home on the grand finale so they will turn left shortly and drop into the uh G-spot the handiwork of one

Man over many many years and he keeps coming back to rehab it and fix it Mark Gordon that is why it’s called G-spot Mark Gordon’s Trail and uh it is world famous they’re into it now you’re riding it I can see saine you’re on the bike you’re watching them yeah

You see my my sideways my I’m I’m lean I’m leaning side to side here on this chair it is the Toyota tough section it’s G-spot on the grand finale stage they’re closing in on the finish of this final stage of the 20th edition of the ABS Cape Epic Big crowds at that little

Intersection welcoming the Riders through and some nice little jumps here to get a little air and then onto the Crest at the bench at the top of the little Hill and they are absolutely flying what a great view we have of the very world’s finest mountain bikers oh

And Earth Huber is uh the fatigue might be setting in now he needs to take great care on this section the last thing he needs to do is go down because he has willia willia Victoria breathing down their necks and also looking for that prestigious stage when o huba needs to

Just uh take it easy on this uh on this tricky downhill and you see you have like in this burn like it’s you take it almost as a bit like with um a gap jump but you have to also you in a way you need to

Know how you in a way like go over and how you take the momentum with under the bike and then you take your bike with you yeah I mean there you just saw uh it was about just avoiding a a little Gap there just going the easier line and

Here we see you have like different options for Chums but you need to know you need to know G-spot to but it’s in a way AR ranged from uh from easy to difficult from left to the right so that you also have like a bit

That idea and we get an idea of the split times at 61 km Bulls Mavericks still hold that 2-minute advantage and uh this time the two-minute Advantage is over the will of Victoria Factory Toyota specialized 91 content to let the two teams fight it out for the stage and

Content to roll into the Finish knowing that the job is done on overall they already have a significant def significant advantage over buff meamo Mo World bicycle relief and the Swiss German pairing of Canyon CD and we’re with the front of the field the very finest mountain bikers and Ur Huber goes

Heads down G-spot and now he just with Simon schnella missing a turn there course is clearly marked but just In the Heat of the Moment In the Heat of battle Simon Stella just uh made a just a instant wrong decision there but back on track for the

German yeah they’re going at such speed down here and the adrenaline’s pumping because they are closing in on a famous stage victory in the 20th ABS aape epic and the grand finale the final jump and a big crowd to welcome there see the action and that is a perfect example of

What Sab talking about there are three or four different uh little ramps there graduating in size to some pretty big ones at the endur and Danel Riders just love and you have to know what you’re about here at G-spot safely negotiated by Simon schella now on the back and us

Huba in front there they’ll head up a little drag as we watch Matt beers and Howard grz come through as well what five they’ll be enjoying there as they fly down G-spot there’s still a bit to go after G-spot and all is not one yet they still have

To go through there’s an XO drop and uh of course just there’s a small rock garden they have to navigate before they get down onto the stadium but uh they can most likely at this point hear the announcer with the crowds and uh they just should remember the old rule in

Mountain bike stage racing step by step meter by meter and not think too far ahead and just no distractions winning at the moment for them winning the stage is a distraction they need to get down this Trail in one piece and then once they’re in the stadium then they can

Celebrate but experienced campaigners Huber and schella they know all about this it’s about resisting their Temptation down into the canopy and we’ll see them burst out in a few moments and see them on there’s a there’s a slightly wider Fire Road an opportunity for us to see them just

Before they plunge down into the stadium this is also nice section with tick boss a lovely section is it is a very very cool section stos Trail fund creating these Trails this one out of G-spot and as I saidar and Ern and hold and all the

Team putting in huge amount of time in all the guys building the trails and maintaining them little style to get out of the paddock a right hand turn and they’ll be closing in on the Cross Country course very shortly the World Cup Cross Country course hosted

Here famously in 2018 just a week ahead of the abser cape epic the Epic World Cup it was and there’s that little line as well that you can just sneak up no problem at all see Schell just jumping in getting ahead of O hu as they bring

It home here there is the split time at this stage 2 minutes and four to will Victoria to to specialized at 2:49 buff megao will bicycle relief it is going to be desperately desperately close it looks like buff meamo are going to be uh 3 seconds at

This stage outside of second place that can change in an instant in the remaining couple of kilometers on this course that’s for sure well we can still the fourth place Riders uh Canyon CI we’re also in the hunt for that uh for those last two spots on the podium they

Are not in contention so really now the battle is between second and third and who will it be which team will make will stand on which side of the uh hering of Toyota specialized 91 I almost believe that’s almost the last kilometer where Sim schella and uba are now on so it’s

Very close to the Finish there’s not so much more to come um yes there’s a bit still like some some trails from the World Cup but it’s not the spectacular uh the barrel barrel the wine barrel no no they get head down towards the rock

Garden um and they will ride on the on the side the sort of almost the sea line of the rock garden let alone the be line U but they are on the charge the Bulls as they fly through the forest here above kenberg they will now hear the

Noise down at the Finish they can sense this is a moment for Glory this is the rock garden a brutally tough trail to the left but uh these Riders on the ABS K epic afforded the opportunity to ride a a smoother line and then they’ll drop

Down and look down on the farm the St University uh Farm on the left hand side and the wine barrel approaching do not go straight at the wine barrel because uh if you’re not uh prepared for it that is the entrance right there the wine barrel a steep descent with Bridges and

BMS to take you down to the road below this is the line that was used in the uh World Cup for that uh Trail down the the wine barrel if you wanted to avoid it while the Bulls fans will be reeving in this they’ll be cheering the team of

Schnella and Huber all the way down this section as the Swiss Rider the 38-year-old Swiss Rider with six stage wins under his belt and schella his 26-year-old partner has done the job that he’s the job that is expected of him and an extra an extra 30% because he

Has led us Huber through the entire stage us Huber not coming in late to the race and making the finals making it really count in the final ridden himself into it and it will no doubt be a highlight in his career winning the grand finale he’s not won yet they still

Have a bit to go just under what around about a kilometer to go not even not even not even they’ve just gone past the pickup stick section and and almost close to the last single TR what we also saw yesterday when riders came in this

Is a little bit of open road we were speaking about and like a kicker and then they have to have to go to the left exactly a nasty little kicker and then they headit down well this is the climax of this Grand Finale stage with the stage in the hands now of bulls

Mavericks and it is uba who has emptied his tank today in fact all week called in Off the Bench so to speak to partner the young Simon schnella and he’s rewarded the Bulls for their boldness in picking the veteran Rider and they are on the final bit of Trail now dropping

Down a sketchy tricky little section here you want to be cautious and careful here don’t get it wrong right now and they will take it home there is the race Village on the left hand side this fin little Trail they will go straight along here the same finishes they had on stage

Six but the prize is greater this time around for the Bulls Mavericks as they ease up now they want to get to the St to the finish together this is the grand finale stage HBA and Simon chanella won stage one together in 2021 this is a seriously big step for them they’ve come

Together and they finish together here at the Grand Finale UA just adjusts his glasses their teammate Stefan big smile he has out they’re on to The Lawns very very shortly top right corner there they come rolling onto the Lawns at cson ber on the grand finale the Bulls Mavericks

A great record in the upser cap epic they keep that Legacy going they’re not going to win the overall but they’re going to win the grand finale Simon schella and US huba winners here in stellos on the fields of kenberg and the 20th edition of the ABAC Cape epic the

Grand finale is theirs well ridden and what a win it was dramatic from the start they were able to match the face set by Matt beers and Howard grz them having the agenda of Defending that leader Jersey and they capitalized on that stayed in touch knowing about that agenda and taking full advantage

And using that as their springboard for the stage congrats from uh from their former teammate Stefan Sam and they won’t be uh watching for at least we’ll be watching very very qu closely now because the second team willia Victoria should be coming down this Trail very very shortly with we reckon it was

Around 2 minutes back that is Fabian rabensteiner and Sami poro again a combination that have had their ups and downs as individuals in this race porro suffered two days ago with illness and yesterday he was well the slight weak Link at the dying moments of the stage

When they took second place behind the Toyota specialized 91 pair here they come down this final little Trail above the football and rugby Fields here at kenberg and they will be very soon onto the grass for their second second place of the week they finished very very strongly and for Fabian rabensteiner and

Samw porro they’re regulars here at the abser cape epic this Willard team under various geers have yet to win the overall but they always there and thereabouts they finished on the podium overall but this time they will finish off the podium but second place two days

In a row for Fabian ravenstein and Sam poro the Italian pair down they come rabensteiner and poro again just adjusting the glasses all getting set for the glory of the Finish little Trail down now onto the playing fields the crowds are waiting and a huge crowd it

Is to welcome back these Riders it is second place for willia Victoria Factory from Italy Fabian Raven Steiner and some well poro two days in a row they’ve been Runners up another Brave ride another strong ride by the Italians repeating their second place yesterday at stage six the willia Victoria Factory

The all Italian outfit proving that they are always a force to be reckoned with at the Absa Cape epic year and year out they come back and uh just seem to perform at the highest level and it’s often at the latter half of the week and they’ve proved us right that they were

Always the team to watch we are waiting the leader jerseys they should actually also come in soon and they will be onto the Lawns of kenberg in the 20th edition of the Absa Cape epic it is a moment to savor the emotions will be flowing the adrenaline will be pumping the American

Howard grots becomes a second American to win this race alongside Matt beers they’ll raise their arms the winners of the 20th edition of the abser cape epic Matt beers and Howard grotz a job brilliantly done by the toyoto specialized 91 team after they worked their way through this stages took hold

Of those yellow jerseys and have not looked anything other than winners since they put them on a magnificent performance by beers who wins it for the third time the first South African to do that and Howard grotz who wins for the second time having W in 2018 the

Champagne will flow for Matt beers and Howard GRS of Toyota specialized 91 champagne showers for too specialized 91 once again they have been the preeminent team in the abser cap epic and they are on the top step for the second year in a row in the shape of beers and

Grots and their support team Who provided such incredible backup throughout this week right with them their ninth win as a trade team meanwhile just behind them hunt becking and B Alan rolled across the line buff Mega a huge hug from Bobby Bean the genial Irishman who ends up specialized here in South Africa

Congratulating up be they will be delighted with the way it’s all turned out this team is the winningest outfit the winningest Factory team in the race in the history of the race and just every year the Joy on the faces it’s no less joyful every year they just uh

Absolutely rent we saw earlier the manager V willot remember him back from 2007 so he’s seen almost every win in the history of the ABS they this team has achieved and coming into the Finish we just caught a glimpse of Nino sherter and Sebastian finny riding for World

Bicycle relief they we are still waiting for buff meamo hunts becking and B alaman they’re in they’re in y and it’s very tight so so tight but it looks like buff Meo will have to settle for third place here they may reflect on the puncture they had 29

Seconds they needed a minute and 12 seconds to take the win manticon and beras Powell beras roll into the finish for the Scott pal calab bandida mawi team a good finish to the week for this pair we seeing a lot of teams get stronger as the week’s gone on the

Marathon Specialists have really come into their own as the race has progressed and the pole and the Spaniard are home in sixth place on on the grand finale so drama and a real battle between the buff meone World bicycle relief but just not able to get enough

Out of the stage today buff Mega they may reflect on that a couple of seconds lost on the fire hut Trail when they got a puncture as to where their hopes of second place disappeared but it is a moment of Glory to celebrate and Savor for the specialized team today as so

They secure a ninth win in 20 years of the ABS epic here in stalos their spiritual African home for the brand and uh well they are the most successful and the most popular brand in the uh under the seats of the Riders here at the absap Epic and those high-tech machines

They’re brand new these bikes are raised above the heads of Howard grotz and Matt beers Nisa and Durango meet in Victory here in stellos for Toyota specialized 91 as the Canyon City pair they’ve won a stage this week it’s been a strong finish for Andrea seal and Mark stutzman again a

Combination that was switched around fairly late in the day as they come home to finish the stage and Jacob doron and Daniel gesar the Champion finish inside the top 10 by coming home in eighth place today willia topado Smiles all around the relief the emotion can flow now there was tension

For sure at the start line they had to get through it it’s hard work it’s painful uh the racing is intense mental and physical endurance is tested to its absolute extreme here but now they can relax yeah and it’s like before the cape epic starts you like just your you can’t

Wait you can’t wait to get off the shoot at that prologue um to get it finally going and then during the week you in a way like it’s like also you mentally like you just think okay would be just can can’t it be just already Sunday

Like because also in the morning and and Sunday um the race starts later so it’s an hour delay and all Riders we just enjoy to have maybe an hour more sleep uh before the final stage yes it’s an emotional roller coaster like no other I think uh this event is singer racing

Simon stej a former teammate of us huba and Simon schnella he rolls across the line with yakob Hartman his new partner for singer racing and a good day for them again another team getting stronger and stronger as the week went on perhaps over coming some illness and they are

Home let’s hear from the stage winners down at the Finish Simon congratulations the grand finale you did it thank you very much what an amazing day for us it was a difficult week was came here with not an ideal preparation but we take it easy yesterday and go all in today and

It worked out perfectly so awesome awesome day for us was congratulations even it wasn’t a plan that you should do abs epic this year yeah it’s amazing to win the last stage is the first first time for me um it was a hard week for us

And uh yeah we make the decision to take some days easy and go the next day full gas and uh the plan worked out very well and Simon was very very strong today thanks to him and to the whole team s we saw you pushing so hard actually from

The beginning you did all the work yeah I felt already in this morning that the legs are still super fresh and yeah that’s the reason why I could push like I want And how is it to come here to finish here in stos with all the spectators this Grand Finale yeah it’s amazing so many people here the the crowd is uh go wild and uh it’s a yeah Special feeling to win here this is one of the best

Stages you have ever won yeah for sure I mean the competition gets higher every year and to win a stage it’s uh something special and doing on the last day even more congratulations again and and have aot lot of fun and enjoying it thanks well former winner 2016 with Carl

Plat and at the age of 38 he wins the grand finale here alongside the 26-year-old Simon schella what a glorious moment for the Bulls rampaging to Victory let’s hear from the team who finished second today will Victoria young congratulations second place the podium again yeah thank you

Was a nice uh day again and uh we had some fun we start again a little bit slow but then we go full gas to catch the other teams and yeah unfortunately the bull guys was too fast to to come back samel another second place congratulations with that how is it to

Finish here in stellos with so many spectators not only here but uh all day long on the trails was amazing we there were a lot of guys uh just KP Pi is a one and only I think and how is it to finish after KP Pi after so many hard

Stages what’s your feeling now yeah it’s uh yeah we all tired but yeah I’m a little bit uh disappointed that now it’s finished I would go for other four five stage maybe so you are happy I’m fine like I’m fine maybe next year okay I need to recover a bit before

Yeah thank you guys well that’s exactly the uh the the type of emotion that comes out at the end of the abser cape epic rabenstein has finished strong and here’s a strong finish a very very impressive week for this young team rouso Becker on the right hand side is from stellos his

School pole R just down the road here and alongside a veteran of this sport mates beus who emerged from retirement this year and they have ridden superbly over this back end of this race here and they are going to find themselves on the podium in the ABS African jersey they

Second across the line of the African teams today but what a week it has been for the Valley Electrical Titan racing team confirming the results on stage seven the grand finale in the men’s race here at the absap Epic Simon schnella from the Bulls Mavericks alongside his

Very experienced PARTA HBA in his 11th half the cape epic have taken the stage win by 2 minutes and 16 seconds from the Italians Fabian rabenstein and samip poro second again for willia Victoria Factory stronger and stronger through the week second yesterday they finished second yesterday to beers and grots

Third today the Toyota specialized 91 3 minutes and 8 seconds back becking and V alaman did all they possibly could to regain or gain second place from Nino sh and Sebastian finny they started the day a minute and 11 down and they finished today well just just to behind them so

Ahead of them but not enough Sher and Finny in fifth place Manon guz and Powell bernas in sixth GC looks like this and it is so so close between shter and spean becking and alement but the glory this year in the overall General classification goes to Toyota specialized 91 Crown Champions

Once more in the shape of Matthew beer for the third time and Howard GRS for the the second time a combination that looked super smooth and efficient throughout their various strengths complemented each other brilliantly GRS on the climbs was wonderful and beers on the flats and Rolling Hills drove a

Fearsome pace and together they combined to win the abser cape epic in 2024 let’s hear from the winners of the 2024 abser K epic Matt beers and Howard grotz to the specialized 91 how go met beers first feelings uh yeah today was awesome it was a really fun day of

Mountain biking uh we played it safe I think um had a little bit of fun but it was it was hard Bulls were on an absolute tear this morning Matt how is it riding but Howard and Howard how is it to ride with Matt yeah today Howard

Was hurting me most of the day so I was just trying to I just went pretty hard in the beginning up that first climb I emptied myself just to just to get the group as small as we could and then from there I just hung on and uh yeah thank

Goodness yeah we play I think we played it perfect and so much crowds on rout so many people cheering and definitely when you’re feeling a little bit sore and it it definitely boosted you I saw your I think girlfriend at the Finish Line your parents as well yeah they’re here every

Day um coming to support me you know driving early and um super special obviously they know what it takes lot of sacrifice and um but yeah they’re here every step of the way so I’m lucky it’s your third uh up big win yeah pretty crazy

Um um yeah I don’t really know it’s it’s a weird feeling like it just felt like yesterday I won the first one with Jordan and then then Chris and now with Harvey it’s just yeah it’s a wallwind for sure seems to be you a good partner for for everyone

Yeah well I think I I just have I’ve been lucky with really nice good people as well you know Chris is amazing Jordan wasn’t amazing and then how he’s also just an absolute pleasure of a human so I mean I’ve just been very lucky with with these awesome people and that come

Across in my life how it is how that you have to ride with a partner you wanted with josl before and how was it with mat this week yeah it’s a little similar to riding with the arlav you know I had to kind of tuck in uh but Matt was a really attentive

Partner you know we were working together always you know never never pushing each other beyond what was reasonable uh to to get the best result possible and it was yeah it was just a fun week you know I think uh we just have the same kind of mellow Vibes and

That that works really well have we already spoke about this uh earlier this morning about it’s not only you as a rider together but also the whole team around you oh yeah I mean there’s 15 people at least uh working around the clock uh here here just in the village

And not to mention you know the engineers and and the the the support the the people that that are on our Jersey and so it’s a massive team effort uh and you know today and and this week hopefully is a big thank you to them which was the hardest day for you this

Week today for sure I was suffering uh didn’t get a lot of sleep some stomach issues so yeah I don’t know I I knew I could get through it but um I knew it was going to be super hard but yeah glad it just came at the right time is it

Also that it’s kind of relieve what you left uh yeah you know it’s we almost there but you still have to be focused till the Finish Line yeah yeah exactly it’s not over till it’s over uh you breathe a little easier every day but but now now now it’s time to let the

Body fully recover thank you guys for all what you have showing us this week it was an incredible week I hope you are enjoying it and also celebrated it with the whole team and uh good luck for what’s left for this season yeah thank you Bart definitely will well two very well matched

Individuals those two it seems on and off the bike and Matt beers does seem to have an neck of finding the right partners and uh so they are the winners in 2024 2025 well it’s not far away is it early bird entries open tomorrow at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon it’s

Uh South African time and you can get online and enter as quickly as you possibly can because those early bird entries and the restricted number of them I think just 100 of them they go very very quickly but once you’re in you’ve got your entry you are part of of

The journey your journey can start so get on line and get that done 3:00 tomorrow afternoon those open we going to be now we with our aramax women’s race and this is the pair of niik cola and an turra in a familiar formation now here Sabine yeah and they actually quite

Close to get back to uh the Eden God or Eden Forest so for them it’s also quite close to G-spot and uh the last fun part of of uh yeah of eight eight very intensive days of riding racing it’s wonderful to finish down that e gspot as

The last Toyota tough section every day has provided some serious challenges in fact going back to the prologue some might reflect that that prologue Toyota tough section was arguably the toughest of the entire week the the one at uh G-spot is the funnest of all week I

Would think for these Riders so it’s a lovely way to finish the abser cape epic in 2024 reflecting back over 20 years how this event has evolved a point-to-point race early on and then evolving into a race that was centered around the Western Cape and this year big changes

With this finish here in stellos a looped Grand Finale day as opposed to a point-to-point finish here at or wherever it might have been miral lenford Val uh spear in the early years but now a loop around celos and I think these Riders Spectators everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed a couple of days here

In stos and we’re just uh with the the leading team on overall General classification of the Cher leaders jerseys and on the stage ghost Factory racing anat tster Nicole ker have a we saw it the last time check around about a half an hour ago 35 minutes ago they

Had uh a an advantage over canadel Factory racings Mona mavana and cace Lil by 2 minutes and 30 seconds team efficient Infinity andure ver Loza Alexa SC 5 minutes back let’s go to the finish and here from Sebastian finny vny how are you feeling very very

Tired it’s been a long week uh I’ve enjoyed every single day more or less uh today was a lot of love lots of uh suffering but uh finally made it to second overall was really tight and uh thanks to Nino uh really really appreciate his partnership so thanks to

Him for bringing me to the line and taking the overall we spoke earlier with Nino about it and he said the same what you telling about him you were actually an amazing couple I think you you manag it perfectly a good uh charity as well you were riding for second place in GC

There’s so much more coming up as well but how you have been riding this week was incredible for me how I look to the race only respect for you guys and was the level of racing was was so high this year yeah I think uh obviously specialized they were really really

Strong I mean uh even I think without our Mechanicals we we probably couldn’t have beaten them so congrats to them I mean yeah they really deserve it but Nino and I we we worked really well together I think uh and uh yeah let’s see maybe we come back together

I mean on the last split time on the last split time today with 6 kilm to go the difference in between the second and third place in GC was only three seconds did you know it no I didn’t know but we had we had a few places uh after gespot

For example we I measure a little bit I could see the buff in front and I looked at the Garmin and we had 25 seconds so I think we made some time up on the on t-pot I mean we we smashed it down there in in all the downhills today there was

Where we could uh take time I was uh totally kaput uh in the climbs and yeah and and when I saw that with three CES to go that that we actually had the second place that gave me a little bit of uh energy for sure so we

We went all out to the finish line and and luckily we secured the second place it’s actually amazing after eight after eight days of racing that the gaps in between the r are almost nothing yeah it is and I think uh between buff and buff

And our team we we both had a few Mechanicals so that was quite equal uh I mean so yeah it was a good battle till the end and how is it I mean you and Finny Nino and you did it together but what about the people around you the the

The M the mechanics is a whole team yeah the whole team has been brilliant this week I mean uh they have been they have been amazing uh taking so good care of us uh all the fysio the the mechanics the food has been brilliant we have stayed in lovely houses uh flying

Helicopters from stages to stages so we can’t ask for more um it’s been it’s been absolutely uh brilliant one more question about the Finish Line how is it to come here with all the spectators and the the Finish Line crossing yeah it was a really really nice feeling there were

So many people on the course today uh cheering and that definitely helped the US to reach the finish line and and to to finish here I don’t know where we finished to today but to know that we secured the the second overall is is lovely and and a big achievement for for

Both Nino and I so congratulations and uh give it a bit of time to celebrate it with the whole team yeah sure we will thank you very much that’s uh Sebastian finny talking eloquently about the week that has been his first abser Cape Epic Journey how the other half live traveling by a

Helicopter between stages but uh Nino shter is a helicopter pilot so he flew them yeah it’s not his Chopper mind you but he flew them across so we are now in the Eden Forest single track climb up into the upper reaches of stalos mountain and then they’ll go along the

Dir the fire roads these two the pair of anst niol K of ghost Factory racing who are looking on their way to joining a one other team who’ve won all eight stages and that is a another of the specialized combinations this is the second place team canadell Factory

Racing cville and monal they are some distance off now well they’re some distance off and we can see the fatigue has set in with Mona mavala and the with her experienced partner Candace Lil four time second place finisher of the race is uh carrying the uh carry was sharing

Not sharing the load but setting the pace at the front and looking after her partner taking her to the finish and it will be Mona Met’s first absap epic finish and looks likely to be a second place finish we saw earlier the uh the time checks that uh the Toyota

Specialized 91 team a villana and Samara Shepard were over 7 minutes back at that time check so that place on overall GC second place on overall GC is not close not like the men it’s not close between third and second and third so Mona metala and Candace can ride easy to the

Finish or at least ride at a steady Pace to the finish and enjoy it soak it up as they reach the grand finale venue but uh out up out front ghost Factory racing well over 2 minutes ahead 2 minutes steady ahead is the time check we got

That was around about 40 minutes ago no doubt extending that uh that Gap and tster and Nicole caller up the road yeah and I just also hope that uh that Mona that she after the cape epic V she also gives her body time to recover and uh to

To refuel to recharge um because um I think she stays till Wednesday before she flies back uh to Austria and um yeah the team plans also for the World Cups uh in Brazil just actually in the week before the World Cup to arrive that side so she has

Definitely also some time there she can just be and also let and it’s and it’s also that’s because she is very um she is very ambitious and then it’s also the people around her they need to in a way just hold a little bit back that she’s

Not pushing too hard in too too soon again um otherwise in an olympic year you don’t want actually that this um stress or like also I mean it’s like a a training or like a a quality stress what this uh eight days of racing produced but you also want to take out the

Benefit from from this training or like this high intensity training and Recovery is everything and they’ve been recovering well all week they have a routine but uh we’re talking about recovery on a macro scale need to take a couple of days off and just enjoy the uh the achievement of coming second of

Placing second at the ABS pepic it’s a notable achievement for anyone especially in the field as dense as we’ve seen it’s the closest we’ve ever seen going into Stage seven there was uh just under four minutes in it but ghost Factory racing did never look like they

Were under threat despite the close uh despite the close gap between them and tactically riding perfectly fir power wise perfect not a foot wrong and uh today is proof of the uh is proof of that and they look set to have another they’re going to make it a clean sweep

Eight out of eight they are it looks like that for ghost to racing to join the specialized team from Cena fry and Laura stiger who dominated the year uh two years ago three years ago that they came and won every stage so ghost Factory racing heading towards the

Finish but they’ve got the wonders of G-spot still to enjoy and then the glory of the finish line of the grand finale of the 2024 absap pepic little kicker up onto the next Fire Road just above the suburb here Paradise cliff and a beautiful scene will open up

In front of these two Riders ni and and turra as they Cruise along the road here they’re in complete control in complete control and in setting the pace for a while now is Nicole ker and uh this is uh we don’t want to read too much into it but Nicole ker has barely

Left the front and they’re setting the pace for anater anster happy to sit in her slipstream and just a just a thought we didn’t we heard from Matt beers that he was suffering from stomach ailment it was a big surprise to us in the teams are always holding their cards close to

Their chest we said they hadn’t shown any weakness the ghost team but perhaps uh an aurra not feeling quite on top of things and quite as as good as she normally is she’s a multiple World Cup winner and uh one of the very finest cross country Olympic riders in the

World and taking the wheel of Nicole Cola the young up and coming Rider you could say it’s fair to say that in terms of in Swiss terms because if you’re in World terms it’s uh she is one of the world’s best and she is a world champion

At 2022 got the world took a world championship title in the team mixed relay the team time trial mixed relay and uh got the fir power worthy of setting the pace at the front of the Dutch national champion the multiple Dutch national champion but going back

To that point perhaps uh perhaps ad of tster is suffering a little bit from an ailment but we will never know until the Finish we might get B to ask her if there were any in fact any chinks on the armor then they just didn’t let it show

But uh it’s a testimony to the fact that this team have held it together they have absolutely not put a foot wrong the ARX women’s race leaders on the trail and on the general classification on now on the Toyota tough section which is the G-Spot Trail

A famous Trail in stalos on the just pretty much in the middle of the suburbs here this beautiful Parkland on the slopes of stellos mountain and a Gentleman called Mark Gordon started building this Trail over 20 years ago and you will still find him here particularly in the Rainy winter months

Just tinkering and maintaining the trail and making sure that Riders get an absolutely uh maximum fun and enjoyment out of the trail it just hits the peak here the little Crest and then drops down into more beautiful switchbacks spms and jumps that they have to deal with the cross country Riders well

They’ll just love it yeah it’s well known this uh gspot and uh I guess if you would look up on Instagram with # gspot uh you would get a lot many hits absolutely it is stellos it is a iconic stellos mount bike trail and there are

Many now but this is the original one whoopsie well little bit of a wrong turn I guess it’s like it uh it’s a bit kept kept kept open yeah like so you could you could take and and you can take both lines but I guess also for the

Um if you realize that the partner is following you uh taking the other side then you’re a bit like oh W am I wrong here now so but all good it’s all easy to see from the air and we get some fantastic aerial footage here watching the world’s

Best head down there in within the three within the 4 km to go Mark probably approaching the 3 km to go Mark as they head down one of the most iconic trails that we’ve seen at the ABS epic and in fact in the world beautiful scenes of the grand

Finale here in stellos the final day of this 8 day Journey the Untamed African mountain bike race it has has been the race that has measured all here no question about that and we have been focusing very much on the professional side of the race but that is uh not the

Whole story because there are hundreds of riders amateurs who prepared for some many years some just a year or two uh to get into the shape and get into condition to find the right partner to take the time to commit to preparing for this event and then coming in completing

It today is the day that they will Savor and get the reward for all that incredible hard work they’ve put in 4 minutes and 13 seconds at 61 km ghost Factory racing we’re ahead of canadale factory racing and Candace D and mono mitala well they’re just managing their

Efforts now second place is secure that is not a problem because Toyota specialized 91 safia Gomez vfan and Samara sheeper in third overall a long long way back on General classification and on the trail as well so they they will be fairly secure and just making sure they

Get safely to the Finish little drag a little bit of a drag up and out of the G-Spot Trail area as this is Lil and mavala as they enter G-spot they’ll know this well well mavala has she’s one of those those athletes who for whom winning came early

In her life and she won a lot of races very early on and won a lot of big races very early on world champion double twice by the time she’s 22 of the marathon World Cup wins their Riders who spend 15 years on the World Cup Circuit

Of don’t win World Cup races so this will be a huge learning curve for both in personal athlete development and in terms of preparation and how to go about pleting an absap epic at the very sharp yes they’re second no question about that that’s a huge achievement for the

World champion of the marathon and her silver medal World Championship partner candas zil but I think she’s had an absolutely superb partner in Candace still to guide her through this journey and she will come back hopefully she’ll come back in the future much richer for it and uh Stronger as well and challenge

Well that’d be challenging all week but be on that TOP Step but she’s also yeah she’s a very ambitious um young Rider and her goal setting was actually quite clear when she was still in the Juniors category um she didn’t also want to stay long or she had the first year to do

Like the the U23 but then to move on and really be in the elite category um apply to to actually be able um to to ride as a U23 rider in the elites category because this is for her which category also counts and uh I mean with yeah she

Was 21 when she won the first marathon uh World Championships and then in a way also just two years later um at uh in Scotland last year so she won another title on very different courses so it also shows that she has like the she has

The quality and she works hard for for her results and for her achievements as does her partner up ahead Candace L the South African champion who has matured into the most uh consistent Rider in all disciplines she will well let’s hope she will be riding the cross country season

This year around the world she’s focused on getting to the Olympic Games but as with a lot of the South African Riders the difficulty of the logistics the costs and the sponsors to be able to uh commit to a full season of the World Cup Campaign which starts with two events in

Brazil this year so that’s a big travel commitment and cost commitment but hopefully she’ll be able to do that and focus at getting points to qualify for the Olympic Games South Africa likely to have one athlete there and the Candace is in position to occupy that

Spot the only thing what I can now think of ISS same also missed the turn the only thing what I could think of is that Candace maybe also is now in in the in the advantage that she also can use the the support of the canal Factory racing

Team so that she also in in Brazil has like mechanic and staff one year that she in the way because she was actually managing herself yes for many many years um she did the oversea World Cups by herself and with her husband Darren L so

And uh we just tried in way to wing it and maybe also with having here um Mona mner as team partner at the cape epic helps her in in return also for for the World Cup season yes she’s not officially with the canel factory racing

Team uh but yeah as you say maybe this relationship will extend to some support from the team at the various World Cups little scary moment there as they missed a turn and uh Jesse Nixon on the ebike was on their wheels and uh slid to a

Halt as well behind them no damage done it seems for these two and for Jesse no problem at all as she follows them up this Trail and out of G-spot stellos Mountain up ahead you over there and uh that’s where they’ve just come from the top of that and there’ll be uh hundreds

Of riders right up above the tree line there riding out along the Blu gum line towards Eden and gspot whilst the leading Riders are heading towards the finisher at the Saddle it’s uh intensely fatiguing both mentally and physically the highs the the emotional highs and lows that these athletes have gone

Through uh need to be experienced to be fully understood they really do suffer those emotional highs and lows but this will be a high I’m absolutely sure of that as they roll down towards the Finish into the uh took boss section which has been nicely cleared up again

By the stos trail fund Trail builders smoothed out a little as well and uh it’s a fun section down into the canopy of trees and then into the paddock where usually there’s a pie ball and a scool ball horse roaming around chewing the cut but uh I’m not sure that they are

There today as uh they will emerge down there with that style finish over the blue gums 2 km to go and it is back onto the road Factory is not even 2 km to go they are pretty much within the last couple of hundred M

Here roll down and a kick up is this last kicker before we coming into the into the last final um single Trail down to the fields oh they’re starting to look at each other and talk to each other we can see them facing each other

And uh they just get a chance on the open more open roads they’ve spent a lot of time on single track today for sure and uh just getting a chance to chat to each other take stock and look back not sure if they would have been getting the

Information back from the from any of their team support that they have in fact a 4minute advantage over canadel Factory racing and a an almost an 8 minute Advantage if they had a 5-second Advantage they wouldn’t mind I don’t think I don’t think they even care now

They are in the final throws the look over the shoulder there’s no Al te inside that’s all they need that’s all they need here they come an turra and ni col a team that have arrived at the abser cape epic for their very first for the first time they know South Africa’s

Trails they know about this event they’ve won other events in this country but this is the big one it’s the race that measures all and very nearly turs just slid down and took a shortcut onto the field and they have put it all together in the most Sensational manner

Indeed they have put every stage in their pocket they’ve worn that orange leaders jersey since the prologue in lenford just over the mountains out to tilb through Wellington and those wonderful Trails the queen stage they took as well and they won the penultimate stage around morati and

Simmons BG and they’re doing it again here in stellos on the grand finale ni ker 26-year-old Swiss Rider and a long Sider and turer the multiple Dutch Champion they’re on to the field here in kenberg and towards the Finish they go the broad grins it’s an emot time for

Ghost Factory racing Cola will become the fourth Swiss Rider to win the ABS epic and after Anna it is anster the second Dutch woman they are the champions of the 2024 rmx women’s category in the abser cape epic Nico ker and an turra of ghost Factory race racing incredible eight out of

Eight stage wins it doesn’t get better than that the perfect race of the stage one 2 3 4 five six winners of the the emotions will be running High earlier in this week they spoke very candidly about how the race and what they’ve been through has brought them together and they’ve

Discovered so much about each other um when you go suffering so deep uh they do find other things now the champagne will flow what a delight yeah and I mean also if you I mean both on UB to the cape epic so what it is about what it takes out of out of

The Riders so we didn’t know and it’s like I guess they also just took it day by day there no there wasn’t really pressure so we just enjoyed themsel on the bike they had they looked very composed it was a perfect match and uh yeah it was like definitely also when it

Was well deserved uh to have the eight out of eight because the performance was was very great flawless flawless absolutely you couldn’t ask for more ghost Factory racing first visit to the ABS epic as races in the RX women’s category and they’ve done the perfect race eight stages out of eight quite

Incredible so celebrations for them meanwhile just dropping down out of the beline of the wine barrel section onto the cross country course well these Riders will know this Cross Country course from 2018 it was a World Cup one year South Africa hosted an incredible day here the Epic World Cup and uh this

Mountain was alive with the ringing Bells cheering Spectators screaming fans and uh this will cross now the very trails that they rode in 2018 that is the pickup stick section down there that is written very very seldom nowadays outside of the World Cup but it’s isn’t

It also good Ed in the SA Cup it does it does as I say very seldom but they don’t we had a race here last year they did ride that and it’s fantastic because it’s a World Cup standard type of Trail and it’s giving the locals a chance to

Learn how to ride ride that type of obstacle absolutely one of those locals is Andis Lil as she rides up towards the final piece of single track from quaza nutel she was Candace ning when she won a bronze medal at the world championships in 2008 and well it’s been a long and

Arduous Road for Candace since then as she’s found her way in the sport highs and lows whether it was going to be Marathon racing whether it was going to be cross country racing trying to find the funding and the support support to get through to the highest level of the

Race it has been very very tough she’s now finished second in the upser K epic four times this will be a fifth time for her and uh well she’s done her country proud and her family proud her husband Darren Lil a former winner of the Absa African jersey here at the Absa Cape

Epic great support and Mona mavala her young Austrian partner 8 years younger than that Candice has been a fantastic Rider who will have taken so much from this experience and learn with every learned with every single pedal stroke and will be now I’m sure a f well a

Rider with so much more knowledge of the sport not just the absap Epic but of how your body survives and how your mind survives 8 Days on the mountain bike it really uh has been a a huge Journey for both of them together here as canadel

Factory ringg and that learning is uh is passed on from almost you could say from Rider to Rider with the 20th edition of the race so many have have been and so many still to come Candace L has been the perfect partner for her young Austrian teammate the

22-year-old as Mona mitala and Candace head into the finish for the last time in their 20124 campaign and there’s still lots to celebrate for this pairing as they cross the line in second place and overall General classification second place for the Austrian and the South African thumbs up for Candace well

Done Candace Lil she challenged her father at the age of three to a ride to a nearby Hotel it was 22 kilm she did that and she’s never stopped riding since and she’s delighted she’s she’s got this wonderful personality smiling all the time and great energy about her

Yeah she’s very matured for her age and I mean also when you think how many epics she now already has under her belt and I mean she was also quite young still when she did her first epic and uh yeah and also if you speak to her she’s

Always like calm and she also tries in a way to possess and uh yeah she she really reflects nicely the things and uh always tries to take the positive things out of things rolling on to the Finish Line just behind car plat and Tommy misser a legend of the abser cape epic

Call plat five time winner and he is another winner in the N data Master’s category that’s what it means for him he hasn’t lost the spark of racing as K plat never mind what category he races in so it’ll be Lil and mavala she cannot contain herself Candace Lil it’s about

So much more than uh yeah uh winning this I think the emotional roller coaster you go through you learn we keep saying about each other and about yourself that uh tells a big story that yeah and I think she was a very good Mentor for for Mona in uh on her

First uh EPS Cape epic and uh we’re just here now quickly seeing also the third place coming in Vera lossa and uh Alexis scar so way this time are they H finale making her way on the foot on the podium well there some Redemption for this combination efficient Infinity ensure

SCB stram the defending Champion ver laa she and Kim Lort won it a year ago at valde after the dramatic events in laurenfield contrived to see the earthw leaders lose the jerseys and loss and her new partner Alexis Carter have been up and down the general classification over this week

But now have had what seemingly is a very good day arguably their best day of the week and they are rolling into the grand finale in third place on the day and it’ll be the first time in the abser cape epic this year that we won’t see

The same three teams on the podium because this pair will be joining the canadale factory racing and ghost Factory racing ing pair on the stage Podium today the Toyota specialized 91 pair of Sophia Gomez V and Samar Shephard have been on the podium every other day but here they are look at the

Smile from Alexis SC the American champion the namibian champion ver lossa they cross the line in third place what a journey what a ride from this pair laa and Scara well they’re celebrating that third place on uh on the stage today and also celebrating finishing the 2024 race

And no doubt for a great bond between the namibian national the namibian champion and the American champion and uh that’s what it’s all about this race is friendships are forg are forged and uh the relations are formed and forged at the absap Epic and uh just what the

Riders have to go through all week there were tough times there are great times and they get to share that Candace Lil and Vera LA are good friends out on the trails and also and we have all pick the Epic to together I think it was like

2016 17 I remember that they have been also on out on the roots on the cap epic Darren Lil there at the canal Jersey supporting and Theresa Ral there a former top 10 finisher in the ABS Cape epic women’s race let’s go down to the

Finish with Bart and he can chat to the race winners congratulations thank you a clean sweep you w the prologue you want every single state yeah it’s it’s incredible I I don’t really know what to say I’m just super super even it’s your first

UPS yeah it’s a it’s a dream comp tour I think uh we never expected this we wanted to have a good time and uh yeah this is just I don’t know unbelievable kind of that we are winning every stage and yeah I think we didn’t we didn’t thought

That we would end the our first epic like this if you look back to the last week many hot moments we had very high temperatures what was the hottest day um well we both had our hardest day for me the transfer stage to Wellington I didn’t feel good at all uh but luckily

No one saw it uh because we won every day people think it’s easy but it’s not it’s it’s really really hot and both specialized Canon they put up a great fight and we had to go for it every single day and that’s just that’s exhausting but to then make it it’s even

More special I mean there are no easy stages in G you have to be concentrated all the time and you had a couple of Sprint finish more like Sprint finishes as well but how is it to come here in the grand finale to the Finish Line yeah it’s

Uh it’s uh so cool like uh we got a little Gap in one of the trails in Yonkers and we just try to to ride our pace and I think from the last 10 KO we just enjoyed and riding the trails around stellos cheese bot and everything it was just so much

Fun you have been also on the mobile home parking have with a small team the mechanic the team manager the M how does that work together as a team um well it’s hard work for everybody uh you would say three people as support staff for two Riders is a lot

But in a race like this it’s not because there’s so many things to do uh just like Logistics and like all the small things that add up uh they are as exhausted as we are but therefore it’s even more nice to see them at the finish line and to celebrate together because

It’s a real team effort how much time does it need to recover of a race like this oh I really don’t know I think we just take our time time and then we will see how when and how we get back on the B congratulations again

And a little bit time to celebrate it with the whole team congrats thank you emotional times you sense there you could see from mana tsta and Nicole Cola yeah so it was like I was actually almost surprised but I guess I is just like happy to be now to have have this

Achievement and uh that everything just also worked out and we we heard from ANA during the we even also like they um even if they if they didn’t showed it they had also like highs and lows and it’s so easy that from the health perspective that things are turning

Opposite around and uh yeah but we have a lot of riders also which had to in a way also to to to quit and uh because it it takes everything out of the Riders absolutely interesting to see that uh that they said that it was never

Easy and uh giving full credit to their Rivals for pushing them to the limits every single day and in particular one of the days where one of the hard aspects the harder aspects of uh what the ghost Factory racing had to achieve was hiding their weakness and they

Certainly were able to and we just heard from uh annna tster that she wasn’t feeling great on the that would been the stage the third stage um in the transition stage to Wellington and all credit to them for uh for not putting a foot wrong and hiding their weaknesses

Let’s go down to the finish here from the second place team Candace how you feeling ah so many emotions when you cross the finish line I think um Mo and I went through a lot this week together um and I was just saying to her now like we made the best

Of every single situation that we could and we fought hard and I’m I’m so proud of her like you don’t understand how much she suffered and pulled through and yeah like I’m just grateful for our partnership and our friendship MAA it has been a hard week for both of you but

How important is it to have Candace next to you yeah I mean um Candace is as I said the the best um the best athlete I’ve met so far I I yeah I really love her and um I hope we we try again at some point this epic um I don’t know

Like um the past week just threw me some challenges and um I’m just sad that I couldn’t match candy strength because life just gave me not what I expected would give me but um I fought with everything I had and it was was not enough but it maybe you expected more

But I mean you still finished second it’s it’s not a bad effort exactly yeah you know like when you coming as a world champion to the marathon Race uh it’s like there’s a little bit of pressure on your shoulders and I think like I normally like the the long racing like

Really my my biggest strength and and I think I’m just as said not on top of my game uh I mean I said it’s a heat stroke but it wasn’t heat TR but I could not say that on Sunday because then my competitors already would know uh that

I’m like shot animal but um yeah I already last W like the Wednesday before the apic I felt that something was coming and you know when it’s the cold is coming you can’t change it like uh yeah I mean I think you did a a great job together you finished second place

You many second places in the stages congratulations with that and I hope to see you back next year in the same team combination because you are a perfect team I think yeah thank you we look forward to next year already thank you whoa emotions eh really really emotional

For these Riders as they finish mind that you’re at the sharp end and this is your career this is what the ABS EP draws everything out out of you and exposes your personalities your soul I think and turst Nicole K they managed to hide their weak moments there were very

Few of those over the last eight days because they dominated the race from start to finish won eight stages in a row to complete a win by 4 minutes and 45 seconds if you would have suggest that they won eight stages in a row you’d think they won by 45 minutes not 4

Minutes and 45 and that’s how Mona mavala disappointed with her performance as the world Champion but she was exceptional in hanging with Candace still and they kept it to under 5 minutes after eight stages ver ler and Alexa scar big you part this is the stage ver Los Alexis scar 8 minutes down

A great day today they finishing in third place Sophia Gomez vfan and Samara Shephard they’ve had a tough week but they are still there and there about 13 minutes 53 down on the stage well big crowds here in stellos wonderful to see so many people obviously Riders fam coming out to

Welcome in their Riders but others just attracted by the Allure of this incredible event the abser cape epic there is a special magic about it and standing alongside the track you will feel it so get your early bird entry tomorrow 3:00 they open tomorrow afternoon 1500 hours get on and uh push

The uh enter button and be part of this wonderful wonderful Journey let’s go back down to the Finish Alexis Alexis congratulations first Podium yes I mean we had to pull off a Podium somewhere this week and I’m glad we could still make it on the last

Day no better stage than do it in the last one in the grand finale yeah it felt good we were on it today how was the stage how did it go yeah we went early on into this first climb um we went with the fifth girls in the GC of Haley and Lena

And then we saw that Lena struggling and then we put the hammer down so we actually leading the race for a little bit but then the first two teams they so strong they caught back up to us and we tried to hang on as long as we could but

Yeah I mean they’re super strong and they were also still racing for time so it was hard and then we kept our Pace just trying hard to make a Podium because that’s what it’s about or you want to stand on that Podium at least once this week Alex if you look back to

The whole week what was the hardest moment for you the hardest moment oh man um I think there were just a lot of ups and downs throughout the whole week but I think probably Thursday was maybe our hardest day but uh you know you just kind of

Keep pulling through I don’t know how is the experience from the 20 upside K pic did you enjoy it yeah and ending it on this note yes I enjoyed the whole thing it was just it was good yeah a how was it to ride with Alexis I really enjoyed

The partnership with Alexis it was great team I mean she she was super strong and I wish I was a little bit stronger and we could have raced more in the front but it is what it is and I think we made the best out of it and I think she

Gained all the experience this week and as she comes back again she’ll definitely know so much more about this race thank you and enjoy this moment thank you so much and stage four was the stage that they were referring to the ver Loa was referring and that was of course the

Queen stage which included one of the highlights in the route the Toyota tough section the Cliffhanger and uh viewers and fans of the race will have seen will wi firsthand tuning in and seeing the dramatic Cliffhanger section as the Riders navigated their way down and there were stage four on Thursday the

Loop around Wellington it was indeed now we saw the Masters finish a short while ago the NTT data Masters winners Carl plat and Tommy misser with Bart branin Carl Tommy Miss congratulations what an amazing week it has been yeah absolutely perfect for us we started

With a win and we finished the week with a win and we had no trouble no problems everything went smooth like it should be so we are very very happy Tommy for you how is right with Carl you had the perfect combination well yeah really good combination uh K is a really super

Gentleman guy and also he night on pce Races he knows everything he knows calm Tommy rise now to pushing and I understand together really well and we enjoy it a lot on downhills and uphills too it looks so easy for you guys to do

It but I mean the upic isn’t easy at all no it’s not it’s not easy so yesterday I had really in the morning already bad day I had no motivation for to ride again so on the bike it looks easy but you have to motivate yourself every

Morning and it’s it is really a hard hard race but how are the legs how is the body feeling after 8 days of racing like this well for me it’s destroyed totally destroyed I don’t know uh the power has come because after 7 Days 6 days uh

Eight days it’s amazing I can believe it that we can stay all the days pushing hard until the end and what has been the the best moment from this week surely today just crossing the finish line and surely The Spectators on course say it’s unbelievable how many people cheering

For our names and it’s just fantastic hey hey bar today people sharing Me Maybe the request from yesterday it’s working but you won yesterday you won last year and you won it again congratulations and enjoy this Victory thank you very much B thank you and we

Are very happy for our team for the elite team that they won today they won today too amazing performance amazing performance super fun thank you thank you very much they proud men and smiling faces at the end of the absap effect General classification in the women’s race here

8 minutes and 36 in the end between mitala and Candace Lil still very close they lost four minutes today but turst CA 30 hours 56 minutes and 22 seconds of front riding all the way they were the preeminent Team Ghost Factory racing so F Gomez viaan and Samar Shepard they

Could have lost a lot more time today and still finished in thir third place they did try through the week put the hammer down yesterday earlier in the week as well they tried all they could but just didn’t have the power the strength and the endurance to get the

Better of the two teams ahead of them lro and Haley PR good week fourth place for the South African French combination and now the general classification for the men beers and grots are the winners of the 2024 abser Cape epic South Africa’s Champion Marathon racer and

Howard grz comes back to the abser cape epic having W it in 2018 and wins it again with a man who’s won it now for the third time Nino shter two-time winner alongside deutan Sebastian Finny in second place a real dog fight on the final day with hunt backing IAD alaman

Me and it ended up 29 seconds between the two teams so shter on the podium once again in second place in the apps African jerseys there were lots of wearers of this jersey but ultimately at the end of it all Philip Bas wins it again alongside Peter D toy the P Euro

Steel pair finishing just inside the top 10 for p eurus steel and ahead of mates beus and rouso Becka Valley electoral Titan racing a phenomenal back end of the week for this pair the veteran and the young man from stellos rova well wherever you are in the world this is

The Premier mountain bike stage race in the world and it is the one you need to ride if you’re a passionate mountain biker commit to it by getting an early bird entry opens tomorrow at 3:00 and you too can ride these trails and explore the beautiful Cape windlands

Every year the route changes next year it won’t be the same as this year but it’ll be different and just as challenging as this year’s the 20th edition of the abser cape epic every single Rider will feel a sense of enormous pride and satisfaction at having completed this jersey completed

This event foring your name in the book of legend as a finisher of the abser cape epic is something to cherish for the rest of your lives and some have done it multiple times if it’s if you haven’t yet done it then join us next year are those early bird entries or

Indeed the lottery it’s been a wonderful Journey around the 8 days of the ABC Cape epic and their R is still riding in towards the finish of the grand finale race Village filling up uh with riders and their supporters coming in to welcome them home uh tell us what it’s

Like and there are many more riders coming in and they probably still many who just making their out their way out from seeing here the race Village and they have still to go down to mie and taking that last Loop no it’s how does it feel it’s it’s you’re just in a way

Really happy that you make it you can cross this Finish Line you make it to the Finish um because all the up and downs during a week what can happen and you’re just happy to also to make it uh and and finish finish it um on the grand

Finale day the final day of the ABS epic Grand Finale left left the fields of kenberg here in stalos with a men’s race being led by Toyota specialized 91 by 9 minutes and 22 seconds over will bicycle relief you know Shan Sebastian finny big race was for second place they Shan

Finny were under pressure from buff Meo who were just 1 minute and 11 seconds and early on it was buff Meo on the front through hunts becking the Dutch national champion but ever present near the front were the yellow jerseys as they started to go up into yonas this is

Where the race started to take real shape with the proper climbing began and so it was that here the Toyota specialized pair of Matt beers and his partner Howard gr started to come to the four beers in the yellow Jersey there nicely present at the business end of

The race where he needed to be and Canyon cidi also looking to get on the podium after onville General classification and making an early charge for it but the really early on in the first sections of climbing of the day that’s when the move was made with

Matt beer setting the pace wanting to get rid of some Rivals and also wanting to keep an even Pace but falling off the pace Sebastian feni and his partner Dino shter as he shows does something for the cameras as he descends on one of the many single track

Sections it was the Bulls Mavericks pair Simon schnella and us hubo who decided they had targeted this race this stage and went out hard and they started to open a gap and in yona’s hook it was Uber and schella of bulls Mavericks who opening a gap to the rest of the contenders

Staying with them for much of the time were the yellow jerseys Matt beers and his partner Howard grz but first the back the buff Mega Mod team of v alaman and hun becking were eeking out time on the world bore Rel pair they needed to finish the stage a minute and 12 seconds

Ahead of them to claim second place and for a long while it looked as though they might just do that through the checkpoint the water point in Yona hook Bulls Mavericks led the Toyota specialized 91 pair of beers and GRS the overall leaders who were quite happy and

Content to sit on the wheels of uber and chel and we heard earlier that Matt beers was suffering overnight with some stomach ailments but absolutely at the very front of Affairs it shows that it wasn’t affecting his performance too much and but uh very content to let

Simon schnella lead the way and the Bulls started to open up a gap on the trails on the downhill sections and on extremely good day for the pairing the Bulls pring aiming for a prestigious a prestigious stage win at the Grand Finale this is a never- Ending Story

Trail one of multiple trails that they enjoyed in the yonas Nature Reserve which is a mecca for mountain bikers on the other side of the valley schella and Uber were kept pressing down hard on their pedals to open a gap to the rest of the contenders but there was problem

For becking and for alaman a puncture and alaman and becking got to work as a team here alaman would plug becking was going to have his bomb ready to reinl the tire as soon as the plug was in he waited until it was in there he pulls

The plug out and the bomb is inflating the tire that’s how quick it took this pair to re-inflate their front wheel of v alaman it was in the middle of a single track section which then allowed Nino sh and Nina and Sebastian finny to close the gap to this pair they were the

Main rivals on General classification and Finny and shter were flying they just looking they fell off on the off the pace quite early on but uh cons consolidating their efforts and staying patient staying calm and making it count really on the downhills we uh heard from Sebastian finy that they went

Absolutely 100% on those trails to defend that second spot on overall and Canyon CD looking to jump up one spot there were fourth going into the stage at uh 14 13 minutes and 57 seconds and 3 and 1/2 minutes or so behind buff meamo but not to be for the German and the

Swiss Champions both respectively national champions in their uh in their countries it was all about the Bulls though Simon schnella leading the way almost the entire stage leading the late call up of UR Huber they went through the checkpoint at 48 km at kenberg huge crowd supporting the Riders is here

Wonderful to see such great support for these Riders and for all the riders in the abser cape epic as beers and grots now secure in second that lost some time they’d gone past the race finish the village down below them there they still had lots of work to do though up at the

Gum up climb and then down the sections called gutted baboon a little problem here coming out of element for usuba overshooting the corner there no problem in the end he was back on the bike in the Flash and they were flying down the Toyota tough section the G-Spot the legendary G-spot here in

Stellos a fitting way to end all the to Toyota tough sections and they roll to the Finish to take a famous stage Victory their second as a combination since 2021 Simon schnella and uba winners of the grand finale the of the 2024 ABS Cape epic job beautifully done

On a stage they had targeted and U putting seven putting his tally up to seven stage wins as the eighth winningest rider in the men’s category fa ravenstein and Sam poro enjoyed an excellent day they managed to get past the Toyota specialized pair and for the

Second day in a row the willia Victoria team finished in second place on the stage but lapping up the huge rounds of Applause were the American Howard GRS and Matt beers the South African a third win for beers a second for grotz a ninth for trade team specialized as Toyota

Specialized 91 took victory in the 20th edition of the absap ethic what delight and a job beautifully done by a combination that was so well suited and well they might celebrate both winners of the race Matt be is putting writing himself into the history box and ranking

Himself a bit just one click higher as uh On a par with yaroslav kabi with three wins to his name Howard grz two what roll the roll the aramax women’s leaders and all the Pelon in fact 17 of the 18 teams still in here and racing off the start line here in

Kenberg the general classification had the ghost Factory racing team 3 minutes and 51 seconds ahead of canadel factory racing as close as it has ever been going into the final day of the absap evic Toyota specialized 91 with 21 minutes and 55 seconds back e for private CL 128 and efficient Infinity

Andure we’re over 1 hour and 31 39 minutes back but they were motivated today off the yonas hook tar Road and up into the plantations and eventually they would head into the nature reserve section where the trails awaited early attack by Alexis Scar and her partner

Vera lossa Haley p and Lana jro as well looking to get the the better of them there are one place ahead of them on General classification and they were all together as the early protagonists on this stage but they were reeled in by the quality of canadel factory racing

And ghost Factory racing as they headed up into the trail Network we saw Arena luch and Natalia fiser in that group going past the trails awaited these Riders and they HED up a section called Irish 5 and then along the uh the fire roads at the

Top this was the third place team on General classification to to specialized 91 Sophia Gomez vfi a former winner here with Haley baton pushing her partner New Zealand’s Samara sheeper it’s been a TD week but they still in third place meanwhile Scar and lso’s early attack

They were reeled in and Candace Lil was on the front leading her partner Mona mavala the Austrian World Marathon Champion with Nicole Cola of Switzerland behind her in the leag leaders jersey and her Dutch partner and turst hard times for lossa and Scot as they see the

Leading teams ride away from them and they drop into the red Phoenix Trail rehabilitated after devastating fires here 8 years ago and now in pristine riding condition so they rolled along those top fire roads the leaders will contend to just watch for the time being the moves of Candace Lil and and Mona

Mavala rolling through the checkpoint at 22 km and slowly but surely some pressure from the orange leaders jerseys technical Trails it was one of a rocky tough technical Trails today perhaps more Trails ridden on the final day of the abser cape epic than ever before

This was a move an early move by Candace Lil to get out front to get in front of the ghost Factory racing team knowing that they were already putting down the power with her ailing partner struggling Mona mitala and just getting a good position in the trail and getting a chance to set

Their own pace Canal Factory racing getting a chance to really ride their own way and uh go to factory racing in the single track having to be content with just riding behind Candace little good tactical move by the canadel factory racing team and also giving them a chance to consolidate and also Mona

Mavala to refuel and get back on terms with the group they’ve never ridden together as a combination cand that mid they don’t even ride for the same team really although they called calel Factory racing midal is a full-time member of that team Lil not so but is a

South African champion and a four time second place finish here at the ABS beic she was the ideal partner for young Mona mitala the 22-year-old Austrian to guide her through her first abser Cape epic race here up on the yonas drift Trails meanwhile turra and cola had opened up

And were starting to open a big gap back to the second place Canada Factory racing team whose legs were starting to fail particularly those of Mona mitala they had arduous week-long race 8 days has taken a heavy toll on all Riders even the world champion disappointed as

She might have been at not being able to match the leading riders in this race this was her first event at the absap Epic and massive learning curve for her for an turra and niol K again first time at the absap Epic but more experienced races generally and they were able to

Defend that their lead all the way through into the forest above kenberg and a really Rocky Trail along the blue gums that tested all the Riders skills and fatigue levels were tested here not a smooth trail that at all pass the monm Marine onto the Lawns that

Come out of monm and this was the last of the hydration stops before Through The Vineyards they would go towards Eden and they were going to put this one to bed were niol Cola and an turra faultless throughout the week that won all seven stages having won the prolog

And they swept down with enjoyment they spoke of the enjoyment that they had enjoying the last 10 km or so enjoying the trails and Lil and mital likewise had decided that they w’t going to be able to challenge for the stage wi but to get home safely and secure second

Place on General classification once again for Candace Lil and for a first time not a bad effort your first time as a 22-year-old to finish second at the world’s Premier mountain bike stage race onto the fields it was Ghost Factory racing a magnificent performance incredible eight stages out of eight

Ming the efforts of Aur stiger and Cena fry and dominating this race pretty much from start to finish the margin of H their victory was not as dominant as their stage wins would suggest but a combination that has worked absolutely impeccably throughout they uh knew each other’s riding Styles the strength and

Weaknesses they managed their efforts perfectly and champagne all around for ghost Factory racing Nicole K on the left and turer on the right champions in the 20th edition of the ab Cape epic and not far behind them Candace Lil and Mona mavala rolling to the finish of

This journey a journey of growth and experience for Mona mitala and she could not have wished for a more empathetic sympathetic partner than uh Candace Lil who’s guided and helped her through this wonderful journey Third on the day a Redemption ride from Vera lossa the namibian champion and her American

Champion partner Alexis scarter it meant so much to this pair after a torrid week of riding the defending champion on the podium on the final day the light for the efficient Infinity insure SCB team they’ve done a great job so that’s how the two races a short

Little look at how these two races unfolded and now time to welcome our race winners onto the podium here at Stella’s C grounds so the Riders just preparing to come up onto the podium I would think it’ll be the stage Podium first the stage awards at the end of the grand finale stage

Seven our ARX UCI to Global women’s race the ARX women’s category first and this is where you get L and and making their way onto the stage of the top three women’s teams on today stage and for the first time this week in eight days we see a different team on the Alexis

Cara inity second place effici infity third place at cand second well all but one day they’ve been second Candace still the South African champion and the Austrian world champion mon second line stage Factory racing and n a perfect Race by this perfect team and turra Nicole Cola an eighth

Consecutive stage win they for the Dutch combination for ghost Factory RAC world champions national champions and now at the cape epic champions in the top Step and six different nations represented so fantastic international field here across entire As Riders all over the world we’re going be the topall so now we come to the overall General classification for the rmx women’s race well it’s h these are the moments you Savor saine yeah I mean it’s uh now you can also proudly stand up there and uh yeah

I mean it’s it’s uh hard work over a whole week and uh yeah I guess also everybody’s then after the official part also just now just to be and enjoy you experience I mean the you know you’ve been in this bubble the 8 day bubble of

The ABS Cape epic and you come out of it and uh we all know post stage race Blues they they do happen but I think only at at an amateur level I think the your your professional level you’re racing at such a level yeah and and it’s also that

I mean if you see the amateurs like many of them they just specifically preparing for the Epic and then what comes afterwards so and these Riders we there World Cups there’s other um International Marathon racing which comes just now so it’s it’s an ongo ongoing process and for many of the

Writers of gravel gravel Campaign so this is the general classification in the women’s race they’ve got their medals the orange leaders jerseys splendent as they have been all week but in third place the Oceana champion in that Oceana Champions Jersey with a blue flash across the chest of Samar shepher from New Zealand

And Argentine sopia Gomez a former winner here the Haley third place the silver medals for the SEC for the fifth time in her career Candace L is second on General classification and in her first absap epic monal win has already wanted to shake the champag she’s used to be on

The top step well second place isn’t too bad in your first for 22y Old Stage stage four stage five stage six and the grand finale ghost Factory racing and the they’ve been through every single stage on the top step ghost Factory Racing Champions at the ABS cap epic in the ARX

Women’s category for 2024 quite phenomenal performance by this pair of athletes didn’t put a foot wrong experience no issues are T out on the trail and they manage their equipment they manag themselves physically and mentally dealt with the challenges thrown down by canel Factory racing and by specialized 91 to dominate this race

And take the overall Victory everybody was not prepared actually to make the champ champagne spray and the L the the winning ladies wake on because we have the handful very speci for you well they’ve got a full set of AR masc it weighs a ton and if you can raise that high up the trophy and if everybody you can make a louder ra it in the air it’s a very heavy trophy but the winners of the ARX women’s category here at theep turra and

Cola now be careful as you put that down we’ve got a wonderful replica for you and the best shower at the end of any race is the champagne shower are you any the more it sprays the louder here we go the celebrations amongst thex women’s category the champag show Up and the gust Glee and satisfaction of having completed 8 days of the tamed African mountain bike race the premium mountain bike stage race in the world and the Pinnacle of global Mountain Biking the epies our women leave the stage give them another round of applause no they can have a good old

Swig of the bubbles if if you’re if you’re doing well with spraying there’s not so much left it’s a great experience from s spits our UCI men will be next we’ll be back with all the other jerse I really want to ask you you wonder wonder athletes with all the medals and the

Trophies do you have them scored somewhere displayed somewhere you also with the with the medals are the three special ones where are separately framed and our once we are also like in in a little display um in between know also had to extend a little bit for those who don’t

Know that’s gold silver and bronze in different years at the at the Olympic Games yeah so and they are yeah I mean I also like you can you can be proud of this achievement and uh so for me I think B had actually just locked them

Away and I just said okay you know it’s like it’s it’s it’s the material or of of these medals it’s that’s not that much it’s more like you the emotional but I also want to see them and then you can be proud of the achievement and other things like yeah

Your trophies like they’re up there on day because because over time it gets quite a lot and uh yeah if you have them some just you can see them from below and you also don’t see what lies on top don’t want to put it too too much go into too much

Details right we a wait the presentation of our Elite men’s category and the stage and general classification a reminder that the early bird entries open tomorrow Monday March the 25th at 1500 hours GMT wherever that whatever that time might be around the world it is an opportunity to get an

Early bird entry which guarantees you an entry into an event that is uh getting is very difficult to get an entry to so getting an early bird means you are secured you are ready you are going to be part of this journey in a year’s time third position on the stage for the

Grand finale Toyota specialized 91 Matthew beers and Howard GRS third on the grand finale stage Matt beers and Howard grz two stage wins through the week another second place for this team worse will Victoria it Fabian robenstein and samuo back to back on the podium in second place samuo on the left

Ravenstein on the right will Victor great couple of days for the Italians a team that is synonymous with the ABS pippy stage winners of the grand finale Bulls Mavericks Simon schella and W huba glorious moment for one of the historically most successful teams at the absap Epic team balls on the podium

At the end of this stage the grand finale first time for br huba to win the grand finale alongside Simon schnella his young German partner and they win today’s stage with a bold strategic move by backing off yesterday saving their legs for today and then blasting away

From the rest of the field through yuk and making it sticking around for another presentation so the grand finale it is one of those special stages you you do want to win coming into the Finish saine you’ve won the grand finale yeah I I did and it’s yeah it’s it’s

Actually the grand finale and the prologue P are the the the actually the races or the part of the Epic you want to be on top definitely if you’re not going to wear the overall winnner Jersey at the end of the week then those two stages are very

Special oh just getting ready for the final presentation of our top three on General classification a collection of the very finest mountain bikers in the world and there was certainly a battle for this battle for first spot obviously we saw that was turning out to be quite a close

Battle and then as the team of Toyota specialized 91 started to Rise Above the Rest and then it became a battle for the the remaining two spots on the podium and uh saw B Mega team of world Bic relief and challenges from C from Canyon CD well

It’s been a week of great drama thrilling excitement emotions all around and disappointment and also celebration for everyone here at the Absa cap epic the yellow jerseys taken by Matt beers and Howard gr of Toyota specialized 91 A fitting team to win the 20th edition of the EP they’ve got the bronze medals hanging they brought high value and Rich entertainment to the event early on in the week they rampaged a couple of stage and then got themselves the yellow jerseys H becking and V Alam the Dutchman and the Belgian look at them chatting and smiling they clearly get on

Really really well lovely to see and second today at least on the general classification the world champion Nino sh two time winner here a 10 time world champion and another person who has all those Olympic medals gold silver and bronze and his first time partner with the ABS epic

Sebastian different trade teams getting together as team World the bicycle aess gold medals for mat Howard gr onto the top step a moment of Rich enjoyment and great Celebration by a combination who got together for the first time this year and have found the magic they have unlocked the door and they’ve burst

Through it to take victory at the 20th ABS Cape epic Matt beers for the third time and Howard GRS for the second time a team of high quality indeed our overall winnner trophy stoped by Neil Jona and the champagne sprays champagne all around the trophy in the hands of the overall

Winners and now they can have their retribution on their Rivals RS and beers there they are champions all around they are and rest and recovery for them like you see clear actually for you need two sets of clothing for if you’re on the stage if you’re on the podium you have

To have two two sets in your yours one more for Inc well there’ll be a lot of moment celebration or some a little while of celebration today a final picture of our Elite Podium world champions national champions all around European Continental Champions it it doesn’t get better than this but the

Yellow Jersey is extremely special for ands the champions in 2024 the Epic that trophy they got replic they receive afterwards to the fabulous fans the racing presentation of our Elite athletes they will return later on in a great tradition that has evolved over the ABS of K over the years I just

Thought about it to hand over medals to the the the the amateurs as they finish later so it’s it’s like over the years it became like additional procedure the professional Riders we get asked if after the ceremony if we now going over and uh because all the AME uh Riders

Were just coming in and they also getting now handed over their medal from the pro riders The Finisher medal a medal to cherish certainly here at the absap Epic on reflection the 2024 absap epic regarded as the old euphemism the toughest ever but uh you can never

Measure that so we’ll never be able to uh to do that but it was an extraordinar tough event this year it was extraordinar tough not just from the route the route is highly scientifically designed uh to uh to present the similar challenges as the Riders experience every year so that no addition is

Necessarily the toughest on paper but the conditions this year were tricky because of the extreme heat that we saw in the early part of the race in stages one to step up together on that it was of course a route that perhaps had more well certainly did have more climbing

Meters per kilometer than ever before and also more single Track Trail than before and that is definitely also what puts the weight in um what makes the the root then also tough that it wasn’t just a easy rolling it it worked the Riders even if it seems like that from the

Distance or from the elevation perspective it was wasn’t the longest or the with the most elevation but it was definitely a lot of single tra which worked all the participants and another aspect of that is the trail surface how rough and how loose the trail surface was extremely rough trail surfac is

Notably going to the vitenberg valley so every Rider who earns that medal from the very fastest riders that we see on the stage just leaving the stage now to the very last Riders the the first Riders to The Last Riders every single one one of them has earned that medal

For sure and can call themselves an ABS Camp epic finisher and even the uh top professionals some who’ve never won this race some who show promise to win they still hold that uh that medal with pride well uh obviously lots of different categories here we’ve heard from the

Grand Masters there’s Grand Masters men and women great grand Masters as well as mixed and amateurs and also the ABS African jerseys and in the women’s category that went to the Shian tame team of Haley Smith and Sarah Hill I think you know when we lost the

Jersey you feel like you lose all the hope you feel like all the motivation is gone and you actually don’t know if you can pull it together and fight back and I think that’s exactly what we did exactly teamwork realizing that um it’s never over till it’s over you never know

What’s going to happen and to come here in the jersey and winning the Jersey is such a special feeling and how is it to ride with Sarah what’s the best combin what what what makes it so special our single track are we DEC in like mumbers

And that is the best part of my day for you Sarah oh it’s been so nice taking a newbie through um an epic you know this race is not for anybody it’s a very very hard epic this year and um Haley just shows that she has the grit

She has the resilience and she can do this kind of stuff and you make it to a good dance yes congratulations thank you so much thank you that is the Absa African jersey whereas at the end of the race in the women’s category F Bas and Peter Dy won the

Men’s race for piger Urus steel the exaro category is a very special category for Riders from previously disadvantaged environments and the racing there red hot all the way through the week in third place Zara Tela second Fair Tre DP world canondale and winning that the capetto team of CLA lisan de and C

G who won by 21 minutes and 41 seconds let’s hear from them