Lowvelder Samantha Sanders and her teammate, Riaan Weideman from Stellenbosch, finished second in the mixed category at the 2023 Absa Cape Epic.

The 648km seven-stage eight-day team mountain bike event in the Western Cape started with the prologue last Sunday. The total elevation the riders had to conquer was 15 475m.

The race started near Hermanus last Monday and finished at Val de Vie Estate near Paarl on Sunday.

Sanders and Weideman’s total time was 35:15:42. The winners, the Spaniard Ibon Zugasti and Belgian Alice Pirard, clocked 34:35:07.

“I am happy with our second. I do believe we gave 110% every day and that makes me proud to have come second. Again, my partner, Riaan, is not a professional athlete. He spent the months waking up at 04:00 to train before work, sacrificing family time to prepare, and he competed against and with professional, experienced cyclists,” said Sanders.

The South African pair won three of the first four stages of this gruelling race. They claimed the green jersey (for the mixed team leaders) on stage 1 and retained it up until last Thursday’s time trial, when they held a 00:05:44 lead over Zugasti and Pirard.

Sanders and Weideman, riding for Toyota Gazoo Racing, won the 98km first stage on Monday in a time of 05:17:40.

The Orbea Factory team of Zugasti and Pirard were second, 16 minutes and 53 seconds slower than the South Africans.

Team Toyota Gazoo Racing continued their dominance on stage 2, completing the 116km in 05:32:27.

Again Orbea were second in 05:39:28.

Sanders and Weideman had an overall lead of 12:15:03 over Zugasti and Pirard.

Team Toyota Gazoo Racing held onto this lead after stage 3, despite finishing second last Wednesday.

Zugasti and Pirard won the 100km third stage in 05:14:03. Sanders and Weideman clocked 05:18: 12, but still held a 00:05:02 overall lead.

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Day 4 comprised a 47km time trial. Weideman and Sanders rode a brilliant trial, winning with a time of 02:21:49. They opened another 42 seconds on Zugasti and Pirard, who clocked 02:22:31.

Sanders told Lowvelder that up until stage 4, everything had gone their way. “I think the most important components to a successful Cape Epic are preparation, communication and trusting in your game plan. Then of course, luck and some experience go a long way, too. The Epic is an exceptional challenge; it’s long, it’s physically demanding, but what many people may not realise is that it is a massive mental challenge, too. You need to stay focused, positive and alert, and so far we have managed to tick those boxes,” she said.

Friday’s stage 5 was raced in wet conditions, with thick mud posing a challenge for the competitors.
It was on this stage that Zugasti and Pirard put in the performance that won them the race. Sanders also encountered problems with her bike’s brakes. “Stage 5 was the first super wet stage. We didn’t have a great start and ended up quite far back in the group and had to work our way through to chase back. We made contact with Ibon and Alice just before the first big climb of the day, but Ibon is incredibly strong and managed to tow a gap between us again.

“Things escalated for us after the first descent. My brake pads were completely done due to the terribly wet conditions. When your pads are done, there is a tendency for the calliper pistons to come out too far and not release back, and basically bind the brake rotors. I suffered this mishap and had to spend the rest of the day without brakes and also having to stop and force my callipers open every time I touched my brakes. It is very difficult not to touch your brakes, by the way,” said Sanders with a laugh.

“When we eventually got to the tech zone [74km], we stopped and quickly put new pads in, but obviously lost time and lost the green jersey.”
Zugasti and Pirard finished stage 5 in 05:31;20, with Weideman and Sanders third in 06:09:41.

This moved gave Team Orbea a lead of 00:32:36 overall, and for the first time in the race, Weideman and Sanders were in second place.

Despite giving their all, Team Toyota Gazoo Racing lost to Zugasti and Pirard on stage 6 and 7.

On Saturday, Team Orbea won stage 6 in 04:54:19, just edging Team Toyota Gazoo Racing, who finished second in 04:55:07. Zugasti and Pirard were sublime on the final stage. They finished in first in 04:08:27. Weideman and Sanders were second in 04:15:28.
Weideman and Sanders were simply beaten by a stronger team, but loved every moment of the challenge against them.

“It was super tight racing every day and very close, which made it really fun. In mixed racing there can be a lot of pulling, pushing and towing by the male partners in the pairing, and this was the case with Ibon and Alice. Ibon is also very experienced and did a perfect job reading the race and quickly learning what he needed to ride on the climbs to escape us. This was Riaan’s first Epic and mixed race, and with being a full-time father with a 9-to-5 job, much of the pacing was left to me as I have the experience.

“Race conditions on stage 6 were worse than stage 5, but I thrive in wet conditions, and it was actually a super fun day for me. We knew the 30-minute deficit would be near impossible to close, so we tried to ride for a stage win. We managed to open a gap on them near the end of the stage, but Orbea managed to close and pass us. Although I wanted the win and carried on pushing hard, they stayed ahead. At the end of the day,

I believe we did as well as we could, and it was only good enough for second.

“The last day started with a lekker 10km climb, and it was evident that Riaan was not comfortable. We lost Ibon and Alice early on. I knew from his body language that he was a tired man, and my goal was to get us home and across the finish line. I commend his effort, though.
Team Orbea won the mixed category of the 2023 Cape Epic by just over 39 minutes over Team Toyota Gazoo Racing.

“A massive thank you to Glen and his team from Toyota Gazoo Racing. Also Avis Van Rentals for the support vehicle and also my sponsors, LiquiMoly, Biogen and the team at Specialized. I also just want to thank my team, Efficient Infiniti, who were gracious enough to give me the freedom to pursue the endeavour with Riaan and Toyota GR.

“One never reaches the top without a unbreakable foundation. I am surrounded by an incredible group of people who offer that foundation and it’s always amazing to have people follow and cheer you on across country. My cycling roots were firmly established with the support of Nelspruit businessman, Naeem Omar, who sponsored me for many years when I rode for Valencia Cycling. I had an incredible stepping stone there with the help and guidance of many other Nelspruiters in the industry. Also, while I was racing epic under the banner of Toyota Gazoo racing, my contracted sponsors and team, Efficient Infiniti, are committed sponsors of woman in cycling,” concluded Sanders.

One of the most-difficult MTB stage races in the world

How tough is the Epic? It is is tough. It is likely the toughest thing that many people who ride it will ever do in their lives. It is incredibly difficult to put into words – you have to be there to experience it- even as a spectator or support staff, describing it is challenging. I guess my best description would be to say that it is not a bike race, it is a life experience. You take yourself out of your comfort zone physically and mentally for eight days and learn what your capable of. So much of it is mental, physically your body is done and it becomes about how much grit and mental toughness you have. For me, as a professional, someone who pushes my limits as a job, it is a challenge, but for the average person who does the race, it is such an achievement and probably the best display of the human spirit I have experienced. It’s is difficult to summarise, but the sense of achievement and comradery shared is almost spiritual.