Cape Epic 2025: Valero-Ferreira narrowly miss the podium in the endless time trial of stage 2

The Absa Cape Epic 2025 premiered a long and demanding 66 km time trial with 950 m of positive elevation gain in stage two of this edition. An agonizing day for the cyclists in which Wout Alleman and Martin Stošek, from BUFF MEGAMO, were the fastest and the SCOTT SRAM team emerges as the leader. The BH team formed by David Valero and Tiago Ferreira gave a first warning and finished just 11 seconds off the podium.

Buff Megamo wins, SCOTT SRAM leads, and Valero-Ferreira almost reach the podium

We had never seen such a long time trial in the Cape Epic before, a demanding day of almost 70 km that took the cyclists from Meerendal Wine Estate to Fairview. With no direct references and individual effort as the key, the favorites pushed themselves to the limit on a day where it was difficult to open up big differences but ultimately shook up the Top 10 of the general classification.

The SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing team, with Nino Schurter and Filippo Viero Colombo, started with the yellow jersey after their victory in stage 1. However, their lead in the general classification was only 11 seconds over the WILIER-VITTORIA duo, composed of Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto, which meant that any mistake or faltering could change the leadership.

Once again, the ORBEA Leatt Speed Company team of Lukas Baum and Georg Egger was one of the most generous teams in effort and recorded the best times in some sectors, although they ultimately could not maintain the pace in the final part.

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But the real protagonists were Wout Alleman and Martin Stošek, from the BUFF MEGAMO team, who delivered an outstanding performance. With a solid pace, they managed to prevail in this demanding time trial, demonstrating that they have the level to fight for the overall victory.

The BH Coloma team, with David Valero and Tiago Ferreira, was another pair that issued a warning for the upcoming stages and with the fourth best time of the day, climbed to the seventh position in the general classification.

Among the favorites, the SCOTT SRAM team of Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo did not fail; they were second on the day, and their finish time allowed them to extend their lead in the general classification by over half a minute. Behind them came their direct rivals, Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto from WILIER-VITTORIA, closing out the podium for the day.

Elite Men Stage 2 Classification - Absa Cape Epic 2025

1. BUFF MEGAMO - Wout Alleman - Martin Stošek 2:13:05
2. SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing - Nino Schurter - Filippo Viero Colombo 2:13:32 (+27s)
3. WILIER-VITTORIA - Luca Braidot - Simone Avondetto 2:14:05 (+1:00)
4. BH Coloma - David Valero - Tiago Ferreira 2:14:16 (+1:11)
5. ORBEA Leatt Speed Company - Lukas Baum - Georg Egger 2:14:50 (+1:45)6
6. Outride | Toyota | Songo - Matthew Beers - Keegan Swenson 2:15:22 (+2:17)
7. Imbuko ChemChamp A - Marco Joubert - Tristan Nortje 2:16:21 (+3:16)
8. Torpado x Singer - Fabian Rabensteiner - Simon Stiebjahn 2:16:22 (+3:17)
9. Singer KTM Racing - Andreas Seewald - Jakob Hartmann 2:16:28 (+3:23)
10. Honeycomb 226ers - Marc Pritzen - Wessel Botha 2:17:09

General Classification Elite Men after Stage 2

1. SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing - Nino Schurter - Filippo Viero Colombo 7:04:402
2. WILIER-VITTORIA - Luca Braidot - Simone Avondetto 7:05:24 (+44s)
3. ORBEA Leatt Speed Company - Lukas Baum - Georg Egger  7:09:12 (+4:32)
4. Torpado x Singer - Fabian Rabensteiner - Simon Stiebjahn 7:12:21 (+7:41)
5. Outride | Toyota | Songo - Matthew Beers - Keegan Swenson 7:13:57 (+9:17)
6. Imbuko ChemChamp A - Marco Joubert - Tristan Nortje 7:14:18 (+9:38)
7. BH Coloma - David Valero - Tiago Ferreira 7:14:42 (+10:02)
8. BUFF MEGAMO - Wout Alleman - Martin Stošek 7:14:47 (+10:07)
9. Klimatiza Orbea - Samuele Porro - Marc Stutzmann 7:14:48 (+10:08)
10. Torpado Kenda FSA 2 - Jakob Dorigoni - Gioele De Cosmo 7:17:40 (+13:00)

Third victory for Langvad-Gómez. Cannondale ISB Sport makes the podium and enters the fight for the General

In the women's category, the Toyota Specialized team, formed by Annika Langvad and Sofía Gómez Villafañe, continues their absolute dominance in the race. With their third victory in three stages, they reaffirmed their status as top favorites and set the best time in the time trial at 2:43:14.

The surprise of the day came from the Cannondale ISB Sport team, with Monica Yuliana Calderón Martínez and Tessa Kortekaas, finishing in second place. This pair, who had narrowly missed the podium in the first two stages, pushed themselves in the time trial to join the fight for the general classification. With this result, they jump to the third position in the General.

Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda, from the Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM team, rounded out the podium with a solid performance, although they conceded another 3 minutes in the general classification compared to the leaders.

Elite Women Stage 2 Classification - Absa Cape Epic 2025

1. Toyota | Specialized - Annika Langvad and Sofía Gómez Villafañe 2:43:14
2. Cannondale ISB Sport - Monica Yuliana Calderón Martínez and Tessa Kortekaas 2:45:23 (+2:09)
3. Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM - Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda 2:45:38 (+2:24)
4. TitanRacing SE Honeycomb - Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen 2:47:26 (+4:12)
5. Torpado Kenda FSA WMN - Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Claudia Peretti 2:48:25 (+5:11)
6. BULLS Swiss - Irina Lützelschwab and Alessia Nay 2:50:56 (+7:42)
7. BUFF MEGAMO - Rosa Van Doorn and Janina Wüst 2:52:03 (+8:49)
8. e-FORT x ChemChamp - Margot Moschetti and Samara Sheppard 2:53:30 (+10:16)
9. MAAP - Haley Smith and Ella Bloor 2:58:18 (+15:04)
10. Cannondale ISB Sport 2 - Costanza Fasolis and Stefanie Walter 2:59:16 (+16:02)

General Classification Elite Women after Stage 2

1. Toyota | Specialized - Annika Langvad and Sofía Gómez Villafañe 8:39:22
2. Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM - Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda 8:48:44 (+9:22)
3. Cannondale ISB Sport - Monica Yuliana Calderón Martínez and Tessa Kortekaas 8:54:49 (+15:27)
4. TitanRacing SE Honeycomb - Bianca Haw and Hayley Preen 8:58:18 (+18:56)
5. BUFF MEGAMO - Rosa Van Doorn and Janina Wüst 9:01:09 (+21:47)
6. Torpado Kenda FSA WMN - Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Claudia Peretti 9:04:23 (+25:01)
7. e-FORT x ChemChamp - Margot Moschetti and Samara Sheppard 9:07:01 (+27:39)
8. BULLS Swiss - Irina Lützelschwab and Alessia Nay 9:07:39 (+28:17)
9. Cannondale ISB Sport 2 - Costanza Fasolis and Stefanie Walter 9:22:07 (+42:45)
10. MAAP - Haley Smith and Ella Bloor 9:26:58 (+47:36)