3rd place for De Groot at her final Cape Epic

GEORGE NEWS - A podium finish at the 2022 Absa Cape Epic for George cyclist Robyn de Groot and her world-renowned French teammate, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (BMC MTB), was certainly no mean feat as this year's Cape Epic will certainly go down in history as one of the toughest yet.

This year also drew the curtain on De Groot's pro-cycling career.

No two editions in the race's 19-year history have been the same and the tradition held true for the 2022 edition. This year the challenge started at Lourensford Wine Estate, before traversing the Hottentots Holland Mountains to Elandskloof near Greyton.

After two stages of rugged riding on the trails of Greyton, the race took riders towards the mountain biking mecca of Stellenbosch before ending the total distance of 681km and 16 900m of climbing at Val de Vie Estate.

After winning the prologue with a time of 01:09:5.9 on Sunday 20 March, BMC MTB racing team took two more victories and ended third overall.

The final curtain fell on Robyn de Groot's pro-cycling career with a third place at this year's Absa Cape Epic. Photo: Jeff Ayliffe

De Groot describes her final Cape Epic as an incredible adventure that she took on next to first-time Cape Epic rider, Ferrand-Prévot.

"For me it was an extremely special Epic. I never thought I'd be lining up this year. It was such an incredible adventure to take on next to her [Ferrand-Prévot] and to share the experience and to see how well she handled such a tough event," she said.

For the ever-grounded De Groot, her pro-cycling career couldn't have ended better.

"I couldn't have dreamt of it being better. We have to be realistic - with five weeks notice to prepare I feel extremely happy to have participated in the front-end racing with three stage wins and also shared the podium, which was quite a surprise.

De Groot (left) and Ferrand-Prévot finishing a gruelling Absa Cape Epic in third place overall at Val de Vie Estate. Photos: Jeff Ayliffe

"Obviously we fought hard. I definitely feel happy and super content with this being my last one. The support was amazing out there. It was incredible to get one last chance at the event. It was really nice to have something to call it a day," she said.

The final women's time sheet gave NinetyOne-songo-Specialized's Sofia Gómez Villafane (Argentina) and Haley Batten (USA) the overall Cape Epic win with 12:31.9, over the South Africans, Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss (Faces Rola).

Hello and good-bye. De Groot (left) on her last Absa Cape Epic podium with teammate Ferrand-Prévot, who participated in her first Cape Epic this year.
Photo: Jeff Ayliffe