The Cape Epic explodes: only 13 seconds separate the leaders before the finish in a stage won by Buff-BH

With just one day left until the end, the Absa Cape Epic 2026 experienced one of its most decisive days. Stage 6, short but explosive, completely shattered the race and left the overall classification with a minimal margin. The lead remains in the hands of Wilier-Vittoria, but now it hangs by just 13 seconds.

Buff-BH ignites the Cape Epic and the overall is down to just 13 seconds

The pace was extremely high from the first kilometers, with Luca Schwarzbauer hardening the race on the initial trails and causing a quick selection. In just 15 km, all the favorites were riding together, aware that it was one of the last opportunities to change the overall standings.

The situation was clear: Canyon and Buff-BH were looking for the stage win, Toyota Specialized Imbuko wanted to cut time, Wilier-Vittoria was defending the lead, and Valero and Stutzmann were trying to maintain their podium positions.

The first serious move came from Canyon and Buff-BH, who found the perfect understanding to open a gap. Between the two teams, they managed to consolidate a lead of nearly 40 seconds while behind, the race fragmented into several groups.

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From there, the script became even tougher. Mistakes also played a role, and Canyon made an error at a crossing, which allowed the breakaway to regroup momentarily, but the pace remained extremely high.

Behind, David Valero tried to organize the chase with the aim of defending his position in the overall standings, but the race was already completely broken.

Key attack from Beers and Nortje… and sentence from Buff-BH

With 16 km to go, one of the decisive moments arrived. Matthew Beers and Tristan Nortje launched a direct attack against Wilier-Vittoria, managing to drop Braidot and Avondetto and putting real pressure on the lead.

Meanwhile, at the front, Wout Alleman and Martin Stosek took advantage of the general fatigue to break away solo in the last 10 km. Their attack was decisive and allowed them to secure a high-level stage victory after a day marked by fatigue and mistakes.

Behind, Toyota Specialized Imbuko managed to surpass Canyon in the final stretch, adding key seconds in the overall standings.

The big loser of the day was Wilier-Vittoria. Although they managed to maintain the lead, they lost significant time and now face the final stage with only 13 seconds advantage over Beers and Nortje.

Additionally, Canyon regained the third spot on the podium, while Buff-BH entered the Top 5 after their victory.

Results Stage 6 Cape Epic 2026 Elite Men

1. BUFF-BH – Wout Alleman / Martin Stosek – 3:13:49
2. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO – Matthew Beers / Tristan Nortje +18s
3. CANYON – Luca Schwarzbauer / Sam Gaze +30s
4. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO 2 – Marco Joubert / Travis Stedman +1:46
5. WILIER-VITTORIA – Luca Braidot / Simone Avondetto +1:55
6. SINGER KTM RACING 2 – Simon Stiebjahn / Martin Frey +3:53
7. ORIGINE-WILIER – Mathis Azzaro / Juri Zanotti +5:25
8. KLIMATIZA ORBEA – David Valero / Marc Stutzmann +5:59
9. DOUBLE DUTCH – Hans Becking / Teus Ruijter +7:51
10. BIKE BUSTERS | BIKEFIX MANNO – Andrin Beeli / Lorenzo Trincheri +8:06

The Overall Will Be Decided in the Grand Final of the Cape Epic 2026

The stage has compressed the classification to the maximum. Wilier-Vittoria retains the lead, but loses almost all of its margin and faces the final stage with only 13 seconds advantage over Beers and Nortje, who have been the big beneficiaries of the day. Canyon regains the third spot on the podium after surpassing Valero and Stutzmann, who fall to fourth place after losing time in a very fragmented day. Buff-BH, thanks to their victory, consolidates in the Top 5.

With these differences, the overall is completely open and any move in the final stage can decide the race.

Overall after Stage 6 Cape Epic 2026 Elite Men

1. WILIER-VITTORIA – Braidot / Avondetto – 24:34:35
2. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO – Beers / Nortje +13s
3. CANYON – Schwarzbauer / Gaze +4:55
4. KLIMATIZA ORBEA – Valero / Stutzmann +10:03
5. BUFF-BH – Alleman / Stosek +13:38
6. TOYOTA SPECIALIZED IMBUKO 2 – Joubert / Stedman +21:20
7. DOUBLE DUTCH – Becking / Ruijter +22:46
8. SINGER KTM RACING 2 – Stiebjahn / Frey +27:33
9. KLIMATIZA ORBEA 2 – Porro / Pérez +30:10
10. METALLURGICA VENETA MTB – Taffarel / Evensen-Lie +41:09

The final stage, with a start and finish in Stellenbosch, proposes a short but very demanding route with 58 kilometers and more than 2,100 meters of positive elevation gain that concentrates the difficulty in multiple chained climbs and technical sections.

There are no major long climbs, but there is an explosive profile, with constant changes of pace and key areas such as the intermediate ascents and the last kilometers on narrow XCO-type trails. It will be a day without margin for speculation, where any attack can be decisive and where positioning, technique, and effort management will determine an overall that arrives completely open.