Matthew Beers and Howard Grotts conquer the Cape Epic 2024

Matthew Beers and Howard Grotts claim victory in the Cape Epic 2024 after a final stage in which they knew how to control and keep at bay the remaining remote threats. Schurter-Fini and Becking-Alleman faltered and handed the victory to Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne on a silver platter. In the women's category, Terpstra-Koller achieve the impossible and win the Cape Epic with eight victories in eight days.

Matthew Beers and Howard Grotts place Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne on the highest step of the podium for the ninth time

The Cape Epic 2024 drew to a close after a week of intense competition with a final stage of 67 km and 2,000 meters of positive elevation gain. The riders once again rode through the trails of Stellenbosch, where they had to face the tough climb of Irish early in the morning before traversing a series of ups and downs that gradually eased as they approached the finish line.

Matthew Beers and Howard Grotts once again showed that they reached the end of the Cape Epic with the freshest legs. Their lead in the general classification allowed them to approach the seventh stage with relative calmness, although prematurely anticipating victory is a sin in any race, especially in an event like the Cape Epic. It was time to sweat again, hope that the mechanics behaved as they had so far, and pay attention to the movements that could trigger World Bicycle Relief and Buff Megamo.

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The pair continued the good feelings they had shown in the past few days. After a low-key start, they gained momentum as the race progressed and appeared in the final stage with a comfortable cushion of minutes that they were even able to increase.

While not neglecting the battle for victory, the fight for second place was on between World Bicycle Relief and Buff Megamo, separated in the general classification by just over a minute.

The BULLS Mavericks pedaled strongly and spread their wings early; Simon Schneller and Urs Huber made their move early, and by kilometer 22, they had managed to break away from the favorite pairs. The pair was able to maintain the lead - almost mathematically - throughout the rest of the stage. The passing kilometers only highlighted the great intelligence with which they had planned to attack the final stage.

The race was shattered into several pieces: Schneller-Huber led alone, Rabensteiner-Porro rode alone in second place, and Beers-Grotts did the same in third place, knowing that those who could snatch the yellow jersey were battling among themselves.

Thus, Becking-Alleman distanced themselves from Schurter-Fini, with the Dane once again struggling more than necessary but working well in harmony with the Swiss to salvage the situation. Buff Megamo came close to silver, but in the end, World Bicycle Relief managed to maintain their position.

The BULLS Mavericks crossed the finish line alone and secured victory in the seventh stage. More than two minutes later, Rabensteiner-Porro arrived to step on the podium again after another great day. However, the spotlight soon shifted to the arrival of the yellow jerseys of Matthew Beers and Howard, who emerged as the winners of the Cape Epic 2024.

The Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne completed the final kilometers without incidents and sealed the triumph with a comfortable margin; this is the ninth victory for the team, the third for Beers - after 2021 and 2023 - and the second for Grotts - after 2018.

Cape Epic 2024 Results - Stage 7 - Men's

1. Simon Schneller - Urbs Huber (BULLS Mavericks) 2h 52' 08"
2. Fabian Rabensteiner - Samuele Porro (Wilier Vittoria Factory) +2'16"
3. Matthew Beers - Howard Groots (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) 3'08"
4. Hans Becking - Wout Alleman (Buff Megamo) +4'11"
5. Nino Schurter - Sebastian Fini (World Bicycle Relief) +4'53"
6. Sergio Mantecón - Pawel Bernas (Scott Calabandida-Mazowsze) +5'32"
7. Andreas Seewald - Marc Stutzmann (Canyon SIDI) +6'58"
8. Daniel Geismayr - Jakob Dorigoni (Wilier Torpado) +7'10"
9. Simon Stiebjahn - Jakob Hartmann (Singer Racing) +8'21"
10. José Dias - Enrique Morcillo (Buff Megamo 2) +8'51"

Cape Epic 2024 General Classification

1. Matthew Beers - Howard Groots (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) 25h 22' 17"
2. Nino Schurter - Sebastian Fini (World Bicycle Relief) +11'07"
3. Hans Becking - Wout Alleman (Buff Megamo) +11'36"
4. Andreas Seewald - Marc Stutzmann (Canyon SIDI) +17'47"
5. Fabian Rabensteiner - Samuele Porro (Wilier Vittoria Factory) +27'13"