Watch the Grand Finale of the Absa Cape Epic 2025 live stream for free

From March 13 to 23, 2025, the next edition of the most important stage race in mountain biking, the Absa Cape Epic, will be held with a new route.

Schedule and how to watch the Cape Epic 2025 live for free

As usual, the Cape Epic will offer a daily live broadcast of each stage with specialized commentators and live shots from the sky and at the foot of the trail. Here are the schedules and direct links to follow the race up to the minute.

March 16 - Prologue

• Time: 08:00 - 16:00 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Meerendal Wine Estate

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March 17 - Stage 1

• Time: 08:00 - 13:30 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Meerendal Wine Estate

March 18 - Stage 2

• Time: 08:00 - 14:00 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Fairview, Paarl

March 19 - Stage 3

• Time: 08:00 - 13:30 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Fairview, Paarl

March 20 - Stage 4

• Time: 08:00 - 12:30 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Fairview, Paarl

March 21 - Stage 5

• Time: 08:00 - 14:00 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Lourensford Wine Estate

March 22 - Stage 6

• Time: 08:00 - 13:00 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Lourensford Wine Estate

March 23 - Grand Finale

• Time: 08:30 - 13:30 (GMT+1)
• Arrival: Lourensford Wine Estate
• WATCH LIVE

Favorites for the victory in the Absa Cape Epic 2025

Schurter-Colombo VS Beers-Swenson?

The men's category will have 50 strong UCI teams on the starting grid, among which there are some pairs that can be catalogued as top favorites for victory, or at least for the podium.

Outride | Toyota | Songo, with Matt Beers (South Africa) and Keegan Swenson (USA), is one of the strongest teams. Beers is a three-time race champion and will be looking to defend his title alongside gravel specialist Swenson. Both will compete in support of the NGOs Outride and songo.info.

Scott SRAM, with Swiss pair Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo, is generating great expectations. Schurter is a living XCO legend, but let's not forget that he has already participated in this race up to 8 times and knows what it means to win it twice. This year he will be looking to add another title to his brilliant career, accompanied by Colombo, who is proving to be at a high competitive level.

The German duo ORBEA Leatt Speed Company, with Georg Egger and Lukas Baum, is one of the most anticipated pairings at the Cape Epic and one of the most supported by the fans since they won in 2022. Egger arrives with doubts after health problems, but Baum will proudly wear his European Marathon Champion jersey, making this team one of the big favorites.

Other outstanding teams that will surely be fighting for the podium are Singer KTM, with Andreas Seewald and Jakob Hartmann, Klimatiza Orbea, with Samuele Porro and Marc Stutzmann, high level climbers who are looking for a surprise, or the powerful BH pair that will form Tiago Ferreira and David Valero.

Annika Langvad's return will mark the women's race

The women's category has an absolute leading name: Annika Langvad, who returns after a five-year break. The multiple Danish champion will team up with Argentina's Sofia Gómez Villafañe in Toyota Specialized, presenting themselves as the clear favorites. Langvad has five titles and an impressive 27 stage wins to her name.

Among their main rivals are the Buff Megamo debutants, with European champion Rosa van Doorn and Swiss Janina Wüst, who although new to this event, come with experience in other Epic Series races.

Another pair with real possibilities is Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM, formed by 2023 edition champion Vera Looser (Namibia) and Alexis Skarda (USA), who have already demonstrated their potential in previous editions.

The Cannondale ISB Sport team, formed by the Colombian Monica Calderon and the Spanish Tessa Kortekaas, will also seek to impose themselves with the experience and talent that has led them to triumph in European races of the Epic Series circuit.

Absa Cape Epic 2025 presents its new route

New stages, a new host location, and over 300 kilometers of trails never before used in a race. This is how the Absa Cape Epic 2025 has just presented a new route that will include an innovative time trial among other features.

• March 16-23, 2025
• 608 kilometers
• 16,500 meters of elevation gain
• A large part of the route will be new

From the Prologue at Meerendal Wine Estate to the finish line of the Grand Final at Lourensford Wine Estate, the route of the Absa Cape Epic 2025 has been designed to remain the best mountain bike stage race in the world. A route elaborated for months to challenge, reward, and create unforgettable moments.

The total route will add up to 608 kilometers with 16,500 meters of positive elevation gain and will pass through Durbanville, Paarl, Stellenbosch, and Somerset West. It starts with a prologue at Meerendal Wine Estate full of steep climbs and flowing trails leading to the central episodes of the race.

Stage 1 will start and finish at Meerendal after a 96-kilometer route through the vineyards of Durbanville and the best trails of Tygerberg. It will be the first major test and a stage where the favorites will be revealed.

The next day will bring an early time trial from Meerendal to Fairview in Paarl, which could lead to losses and gains of all kinds for the top riders in the general classification.

Paarl will host two new stages full of trails never before seen in this race. "The Drakenstein municipality has always been welcoming, and for next year we have designed a route that not only passes through there, but really showcases it," explained route director Hendrico Burger.

The Queen Stage on Friday will go from Fairview to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West. Its 103 km with 3,050 meters of elevation are ready to make a difference.

Stage 6 will combine some legendary sections of Lourensford with its immense natural beauty, and it will certainly not be a rest day.

The Grand Final will take place around the Helderberg Dome, and the stage is set to be an exceptional setting where the winners can write their names in the history of this event.