South African marathon champion Matt Beers and Frenchman Jordan Sarrou - the 2020 cross-country world champion - have won the Absa Cape Epic won in 2021. This makes the 27-year-old Beers the first South African winner in the men's competition since the deceased Burry Standerwhile Sarrou is the first ever French men's overall winner.
The video summary of the final stage of the Cape Epic 2021.
Beating the world's marathon elite on home soil
"It's just an incredible feeling," said Beers, who was previously an unknown quantity on the European marathon scene. "Burry has set the bar very high. He was such a great mountain biker. I honestly didn't think I could ever achieve that. I have to thank Jordan. He was such a great partner all week, a real superhero. I never thought this was possible. When we started and won the prologue, I thought that was great, but to get through the whole thing, I just can't thank the team enough, we had a great team."
Sarrou was almost speechless after eight days in the yellow jersey and two stage wins. "This is just incredible," he said. "I have no words. It was such a great week riding with Matt. We had the yellow jersey from the start and never gave it back. It feels great to win the Absa Cape Epic."
Bulls team in second place, Seewald unlucky
Second place overall at the Cape Epic 2021 went to the Bulls team with Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn. "We were hoping for a podium finish in the overall classification, but second place overall and a stage win were more than we expected," said Stiebjahn. "I'm actually at a loss for words right now. It was just a great week." Her Bulls team-mates Urs Huber and Simon Schneller only finished eighth overall, although the race week got off to a perfect start with a stage win on the first stage. However, the German-Swiss duo were then thwarted by an upset stomach suffered by Simon Schneller, which prevented them from challenging for a top position. Marathon world champion Andreas Seewald (Canyon Northwave) also had his eyes on the overall classification after winning the third stage. However, his partner, the Czech Martin Stosek, was also struggling with an upset stomach and had to end the Cape Epic before the fourth stage. Seewald finished the race outside the classification as an individual rider in order to gain experience at his first Cape Epic start. The Lenggries native announced that he would be back next year.
Frei/Stigger dominate the women's competition at will
Sina Frei from Switzerland and Laura Stigger from Austria (NinetyOne-songo-Specialized) put in a perfect race at the Cape Epic 2021. They led the race from the initial prologue to the end, won every single stage and ultimately took the overall victory with a lead of almost 41 minutes.
Frei, silver medallist at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, was delighted with the victory. "It's incredible," she said. "We came to the Absa Cape Epic to ride and do well, but I never expected to win this race. We've just been a good team all week. We got on the podium and never left it. Laura and I are good friends and I think that helped us all week." The 21-year-old Stigger added that the win was down to teamwork. "Our success belongs to the whole team. Everyone has worked so hard for us. I can't really describe the feelings right now, it's just so cool."
The NinetyOne-Songo-Specialised team delivered a flawless week of racing and hardly made a single wrong steering movement or pedal stroke over the eight days. Frei/Stigger were the strongest duo on the climbs and they were also always a few metres ahead of the competition on the trails and descents. Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss (Faces CST) were the first to chase the winning duo throughout the week, which earned them second place overall. Robyn de Groot and Ariane Lüthi (Salusmed) finished third overall in the women's class, with De Groot admitting that she had struggled all week. Adelheid Morath from Freiburg finished fifth overall with her South African team-mate Cherie Redecker.
