If you put Mt Kilimanjaro on top of Mt Everest, you would still not match the 16 500m of climbing that Cape Epic riders do in eight gruelling days.

Add in 605km of off-road cycling and brutal daytime temperatures and you have a recipe for South Africa’s toughest cycle race. At least for most people.

Ballito’s Rouxda Grobler and Mikaela Hagemann made the recent Cape Epic look comparatively easy on their way to victory in the open women’s category by more than half an hour. The duo put on a masterclass in the Cape winelands from March 16-23, winning four individual stages and leading their category for seven of the eight days on the bike.

Cycling as the DriveTrain Ladies – coached by Ballito’s DriveTrain Academy team – Rouxda and Mikaela completed the eight days in 34:42:07.

A number of other local cyclists completed the Epic this year.

Debbi Talmage and DriveTrain owner Tyronne White (Drive Train) placed 16th in the mixed category, followed by Sanchia Malan and Paul Izzard (Index Property Solutions) in 18th.

Joel Stransky and Pretoria’s Geoffrey Lee (Absa LumoHawk) claimed 16th in the grand masters men’s race.

Cycling in the masters men’s division, Jacques Grobler and Brandon Paul (Drivetrain) finished 34th, Leon Klopper and Andrew Rose (Gunns and Roses) 50th, Hayden Quin and Laurence Murton (Liberty) 109th and Etienne Steyn, riding with Pretoria’s Jurie Bester (Disselboom), 119th.

The final local riders were Shane Root and Cuan Rootman (Square Roots), who came 91st in the open men’s division.

Another seven teams who train with DriveTrain, but are not local, also finished, while Jill Magrath did so solo.

For a full list of results from this year’s edition, visit epic-series.com/capeepic

• Note: This article differs from the print version and from what was originally posted online on April 2. It has been updated to include the results of Sanchia Malan and Paul Izzard.

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