Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing) timed their attack to perfection late on Stage 1 of the 2025 Absa Cape Epic to claim the stage victory and move into the overall lead of the men’s race.
In the Aramex UCI Women’s Category race, Annika Langvad and Sofia Gomez Villafane (Toyota | Specialized) took control midway through the day’s racing to win Stage 1 more than five minutes ahead of second-placed Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda (EƯicient Infiniti SCB SRAM). They now lead the Aramex UCI Women’s Category overall by seven minutes.
Wind and Climbs Define a Grueling Stage 1
The theme of the day was wind, climbing and more wind. And sometimes climbing with wind. In the men’s race, that meant the main bunch stayed together for the first third of the race. At about 58km into the 96km stage, nine teams, including Prologue winners WILIER-VITTORIA (Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto), ORBEA Leatt Speed Company (Lukas Baum and Georg Egger) and SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing were all together.
From the 70km mark, Speed Company, SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing and WILIER-VITTORIA were all alone at the front, with defending champion Matt Beers and partner Keegan Swenson (Outride | Toyota | Songo) unable to match the pace at the front. From a distance, Swenson appears to be struggling, two days into the 2025 Absa Cape Epic. They now sit in eighth place overall, seven- and-a-half minutes behind the leaders.
Speed Company’s Georg Egger looked in good shape for most of the stage, pulling the lead bunch up the climbs and into the wind. Two crucial attacks at the front, though, happened in the closing 15km of the stage. First, Simone Avondetto (WILIER-VITTORIA) surged up the day’s final climb, dragging partner Luca Braidot along for the ride. It appeared to be too much for Braidot, who faltered in the closing kilometres, allowing Schurter and Colombo to race ahead and win the stage by 31 seconds. The winning margin also put the Swiss duo into the overall leaders Zebra Stiped Yellow Jerseys.
“That was a hard day,” said Schurter. “Some bits were fun but that was flat-out racing. It was hard from the start and I found the flat sections quite difficult. I really don’t like the flat stuƯ. I prefer when we go into the mountains!”
Schurter added that with a handful of kilometres to go, he sensed that Braidot was struggling with the pace. “Early on, Luca and Simone attacked hard and we got caught in rough terrain where we couldn’t respond. I paced myself a bit and then at the end I realised Luca had maybe overdone it a bit, so then we could fight back. I am quite lucky because I think in Filippo I have the strongest rider in the field.”
Langvad and Villafane Dominate the Aramex UCI Women’s Race
The leading teams in the Aramex UCI Women’s race on Stage 1 also formed a tight-knit bunch for the early part of the day, until Langvad and Villafane pulled away before the rough, rocky and
steep ‘Rhino Climb’. By the top of the climb, they held a three-and-a-half minute lead over nearest challengers, EƯicient Infiniti SCB SRAM. The Toyota | Specialized team stopped briefly for some tyre repairs, but the delay wasn’t long enough for Looser and Skarda to close the gap.
“That was such a brutal climb,” said Langvad. “This race likes to throw everything at you over the week but it felt like it all came in one day today – Sofia had a bad crash just 5km in, we had a flat tyre, there was the climb, and the wind was blowing non-stop.”
Despite the mishaps, Langvad and Villafane powered through the stage. “There are lots of positives to take from today though and I am very happy with our performance and very proud of my partner for the way she rode because that was not a nice crash – she went down quite hard. You have to be eƯicient at the (Absa) Cape Epic and you have to take your opportunities because you never know what is going to happen in the week. I think that’s what Sofia and I achieved today. I feel like I am riding myself into form and I am excited to be here.”
Villafane was in an equally buoyant mood after a commanding Stage 1 performance. “The Absa Cape Epic always likes to test on Stage 1 and today was no different. The climbs were exposed to the elements, I had a crash, everything seemed to happen at once, but we still had a good day out there and we have built up a nice lead on the second-place team in the general classification. We are in a very good space heading into Stage 2.”
Stage 2 Brings a Historic Time Trial Challenge
Stage 2 could produce fireworks because, for the first time in the event’s history, a stage will take the shape of a point-to-point time trial, with riders setting oƯ in pairs from Meerendal Wine Estate for the finish line at Fairview.
Results
UCI Men’s Category Stage 1 Results
1 Nino Schurter and Filippo Viero Colombo – SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing – 3:51:03 2 Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto – WILIER-VITTORIA – 3:51:34
3 Lukas Baum and Georg Egger – ORBEA Leatt Speed Company – 3:53:07 4 Samuele Porro and Marc Stutzmann – Klimatiza Orbea – 3:53:43
5 Fabian Rabensteiner and Simon Stiebjahn – Torpado x Singer – 3:53:53
Aramex UCI Women’s Cateogry Stage 1 results
1 Annika Langvad and Sofia Gomez Villafane – Toyota | Specialized – 4:43:35 2 Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda – EƯicient Infiniti SCB SRAM – 4:49:17
3 Rosa Van Doorn and Janina Wüst – BUFF MEGAMO – 4:51:37
4 Monica Yuliana Calderon Martinez and Tessa Kortekaas – CANNONDALE ISB SPORT – 4:53:41 5 Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen – TitanRacing SE Honeycomb – 4:55:02
