Cape Epic 2023: new victory for Beers-Blevins, leaving the overall open for the big three with one stage to go

Beers-Blevins win a sixth stage marked by tough weather conditions and problems suffered by the Orbea x Leatt x Speed Company. The yellow jerseys gave up more than 11 minutes and now occupy third place overall. The result tightens the classification even more and leaves everything up in the air to be decided in the last stage.

The Cape Epic is on fire and the top three teams are still alive in the overall classification with one stage to go

The race reached the penultimate day of competition after the victory of the Orbea x Leatt x Speed Company in the queen stage that made the pair the overall leaders. The change of leadership left everything open for Scott-SRAM and Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne to launch attacks to make up for lost time.

The stage had a shorter distance than the previous days but an accumulated elevation gain similar to those of the hardest stages. In total, 78 kilometers and 2,300 meters.

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The day started in the wet and with the toughest conditions of this edition. Beers set the pace at the front of the leading group, with Schurter and Egger-Baum following behind. Soon after, they opened a gap -along with Blevins- while Frischknecht struggled to keep up with them.

Even so, the Swiss rider rejoined and the leading group consisted of eight riders: the leaders Egger-Baum, Schurter-Frischknecht, Beers-Blevins and Seewald-Stosek.

The situation soon became clearer and the lead in the race was reduced to three teams, the three pairs that were also in the overall lead.

Frischknecht's legs faltered and forced Schurter to drop back to help his teammate, leaving the stage lead in the hands of Egger-Baum and Beers-Blevins.

The race continued with equality between the two. They arrived together at km 41 while Scott-SRAM was 3 minutes and 12 seconds behind.

And then came chaos for the yellow jerseys. Egger-Baum were forced to drop back to take care of a problem with the chain. Forced to stop again to repair the breakdown, they had no choice but to give up a lot of time in the lead.

The bleeding of seconds began to trickle down as Beers-Blevins maintained a great pace that allowed them to reach the 51st km with a lead of more than 11 minutes over the yellow jerseys. Scott-SRAM was just under three minutes behind.

The stage continued with the same trend, Beers-Blevins did not falter and managed to reach the finish line to sign an excellent stage that gives them another victory and puts them fully in the fight for the overall with only one day to go in the race.

The yellow jerseys are now Schurter-Frischknecht, although they will have to show their best version to keep it until the end. Egger-Baum tasted the bitter side of the Cape Epic in a day in which problems came over them but they saved the furniture and keep their chances to climb the top step of the podium.

Cape Epic 2023 Men's Category Results - Stage 6

1. Beers/Blevins (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) 3:26'48"
2. Schurter/Frischknecht (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) +4'07"
3. Lakata/Roudil-Cortinat (Bulls Mavericks) +6'57"
4. Bou/Muñoz (Cannondale VAS Arabay) +7'22"
5. Vakoc/Stutzmann (Canyon Northwave) +7'48"
6. Rabensteiner/Alleman (Wilier Pirelli Factory) +10'04"
7. Nortje/Boichis (Toyota-Sepecialized-NinetyOne 2) +11'02"
8. Egger/Baum (Orbea x Leatt x Speed Company) +11'08"
9. Joubert/Du Toit (Imbuko TypeDev) +12'07"
10. Seewald/Stosek (Canyon Northwave MTB) +13'

Overall classification Men's category Cape Epic 2023 - Stage 6

1. Schurter/Frischknecht (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) 23:07'54"
2. Beers/Blevins (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) +1'32"
3. Egger/Baum (Orbea x Leatt x Speed Company) +5'32"
4. Rabensteiner/Alleman (Wilier Pirelli Factory) +27'58"
5. Seewald/Stosek (Canyon Northwave MTB) +46'09"
6. Bou/Muñoz (Cannondale VAS Arabay) +50'02"
7. Vakoc/Stutzmann (Canyon Northwave) +56'53"
8. Buys/Miller (PYGA Euro Steel) +1:04'56"
9. Becking/Dias (BUFF Megamo) +1:13'17"
10. Nortje/Boichis (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne 2) +1:15'45"

Le Court-Looser take the lead after Wakefield-Lill drama

The victory in the queen stage at Le Court-Looser had brought them closer to the orange jersey, although the Wakefield-Lill advantage in the general classification raised the question of whether anyone would be able to challenge them.

As on other occasions, the main riders rode the first kilometers together. And as in previous days, Gómez-Nash lost steam and Le Court-Looser and Wakefiled-Lill escaped.

Le Court-Looser made a breakaway attempt that was successfully replicated by the orange jerseys shortly after. Both squads arrived at the same time at km 31.

Bad luck visited Wakefield-Lill today with a problem that forced them to stop to work on their rear wheel before they could continue their journey.

The incident was more serious than could have been expected and left Wakefield with the rear tyre out of air as she tried to make it to the next technical zone with the help of her teammate.

Le Court-Looser kept pedaling to the finish line and took their third consecutive stage win and the overall lead after Wakefield-Lill's bad day.

Cape Epic 2023 Women's Category Results - Stage 6

1. Le Court/Looser (Efficient Inifity Insure) 4:30'02"
2. Gómez/Nash (NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized) +12'57"
3. Steinburg/Calderón (Cannondale Vas Arabay) +15'57"
4. Wakefield/Lill (e-FORT.net) +39'06"

Overall classification Women's category Cape Epic 2023 - Stage 6

1. Le Court/Looser (Efficient Inifity Insure) 29:08'28"
2. Wakefield/Lill (e-FORT.net) +25'12"
3. Gómez/Nash (NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized) +27'20"
4. Steinburg/Calderón (Cannondale Vas Arabay) +1:55'31"