Nino Schurter and Sebastian Fini mark the first differences in the prologue of the Cape Epic

Nino Schurter and Sebastian Fini take the partial victory in the prologue of the Cape Epic 2024. The explosiveness of the World Bicycle Relief pair earned them a gap of almost a minute with Beers-Groots and almost three with Egger-Baum. In the women's category, Anne Tersptra and Nicole Koller were the fastest.

Schurter-Fini strike first by conquering a prologue that marks the first differences

More than a thousand cyclists were summoned today a few kilometers from Cape Town to compete in the traditional prologue in the form of a time trial to kick off a new edition of the Cape Epic. A first day that, although it must be placed a step below the rest of the competition days, this year presented a toughened route: 26 kilometers with 1,050 meters of positive elevation gain.

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The predictions that the toughening of the prologue could already trigger some differences among the favorites were fulfilled and the Schurter-Fini pair delivered the first blow.

The Cape Epic is so long and unpredictable that as of today any advantage or disadvantage is almost irrelevant, although the World Bicycle Relief team will start tomorrow - which marks the real crossfire beginning - with an interesting lead in their pocket.

Schurter-Fini have gone from strength to strength. Although they started somewhat subdued with a modest fifth position at the first time check - at kilometer 4.7 - by the second time check they had moved up to second position and from the third they took the lead. The pair maintained the lead until the end to close a fantastic opening day and start tomorrow with the peace of mind of having done their homework.

Following them, the second best time was set by Matthew Beers and Howard Groots. The duo from Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne had the best start, until at kilometer 18.4 they conceded the first place, although they managed to hold onto the silver until the finish line.

While the gap that Schurter-Fini opened with Beers-Groots is relatively small - 51 seconds - the difference is significant with another of the favorites for the overall victory: Georg Egger and Lukas Baum finished sixth, almost 3 minutes behind. After a discreet start, they fell to eleventh place halfway through the race and, despite recovering positions, they had to settle for sixth place.

In between, the good performances of Becking-Alleman, the local Joubert-Botha, and Rabensteiner-Porro stand out.

Results male category Cape Epic 2024 - Prologue

1. Nino Schurter - Sebastian Fini (World Bicycle Relief) 1h 02' 38"
2. Matthew Beers - Howard Groots (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) +51"
3. Hans Becking - Wout Alleman (Buff Megamo) +1'32"
4. Marco Joubert - Weesel Botha (Imbuko A) +1'37"
5. Fabien Rabensteiner - Samuele Porro (Wilier Vittoria Factory) +1'45"
6. Georg Egger - Lukas Baum (Orbea Leatt Speed Company) +2'48"
7. Andreas Seewald - Marc Stutzmann (Canyon SIDI) +2'54"
8. Marc Pritzen - Tristan Nortje (Honeycomb Pro Cycling) +3'01"
9. José Dias - Enrique Morcillo (Buff Megamo 2) +3'01"
10. Philip Buys - Pieter Du Tit (PYGA Euro Steel) +3'10"

Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller lead by a minute over the rest of the favorites

In the women's category, the distances between the main contenders for victory remained more evenly matched. Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller set the third best time at the first 4.7 kilometers and progressed to reach the first position after the halfway point of the route. From there, they held onto the lead to be the fastest to complete the 26 km time trial of the prologue.

Mona Mitterwallner and Candice Lill followed the opposite path: a good start allowed them to be virtual leaders until kilometer 18.4, when they were overtaken by the riders from GHOST Factory Racing. The spotlight was also on the progress of Sofia Gomez and Samara Sheppard, who held the third position for almost the entire race.

Results female category Cape Epic 2024 - Prologue

1. Anne Terpstra - Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) 1h 14' 45"
2. Mona Mitterwallner - Candice Lill (Cannondale Factory Team) +1'05"
3. Sofia Gomez - Samara Sheppard (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) +1'11"
4. Vera Looser - Alexis Skarda (Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM) +3'10"
5. Lena Gerault - Hayley Preen (e-FORT-PrivateClientHoldings) +5'19"
6. Margot Moschetti - Costanza Fasolis (e-FORT/MenteCorpo) +7'20"
7. Monica Yuliana - Meritxell Figueras (Cannondale ISB Women) +7'52"
8. Janka Keseg - Martina Krahulcova (8capital) +8'43"
9. Ila Stow - Laura Stark (Fortress Women) +9'12"
10. Natalia Fischer - Irina Luetzelschwab (Scott Calabandida-Bulls) +10'34"