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GEORGE NEWS - Starting Stage 2 in the yellow jerseys this morning, Tuesday 17 March, in Montagu, and once again among the leading group, Matt Beers and former Outeniqua High learner Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) showed their resilience after fighting back from a major setback on Stage 1 of the 2026 Absa Cape Epic on Monday.

After suffering a rear wheel puncture just before halfway, the yellow jersey leaders fought back from what appeared to be an unassailable deficit to finish with the lead bunch and retain the overall lead.

Belgian Wout Alleman and Czech rider Martin Stošek (Buff-BH) claimed the stage victory after holding off five other teams in a chaotic final few kilometres that culminated in a sprint finish. 

Alleman crossed the line first, with Stošek third, to secure the win in 3:38:42. Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria) took second, while Beers and Nortje finished third, just two seconds behind.

Beers and Nortje still lead overall, four seconds ahead of the all-Italian Wilier-Vittoria team with David Valero Serrano and Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea) third on the GC, 20 seconds off the pace.

The 90km stage included 2 150m of climbing over rocky, dusty terrain. The last time the race visited Montagu was in 2007.

In the women’s race, over a shorter 66km route with 1 800m of climbing, Prologue winners Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon Sabi Sabi) slowly turned up the heat after halfway to pull away from their closest rivals and win the stage by 1 minute 35 seconds ahead of Rosa Van Doorn and Vera Looser (Buff-Bh Efficient Infiniti) with Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald (She Sends Foundation) finishing in third, 1:56 behind.

VIDEO: The UCI Elite men pass the first waterpoint this morning in Stemmet near Montagu. Nortje and Beers are in the yellow jerseys.

Men’s Race

The men’s race started half an hour earlier to accommodate expected high temperatures in the area. SA champion Marc Pritzen (Honeycomb 226ers) set the early pace only to find his partner Feliz Stehli struggling at the back, which forced him to pull back.

The Canyon team of Luca Schwarzbauer and former World Marathon champion Sam Gaze made a brief flurry at the front, eager to put on the pressure. But a mechanical issue forced them to stop and then chase back, finishing 12th. But they will be a team to watch for stage wins over the next few days.

The Klimatiza Orbea suffered a similar fate with an ill-timed puncture just over 10km from the finish, forcing them to also chase back to the lead group.

Wout Alleman and Martin Stosek cross the finish line for the win.

But it was Beers and Nortje’s puncture that looked set to relegate them down the GC after they struggled to plug the hole and had to wait for their back-up team to swap wheels and continue.

“When I saw that the gap was 3:40 I thought, oh dear, that’s a proper one and I wasn’t sure we’d get that back,” Beers, a three-time winner, said. 

“But we just kept the speed on the corners high and flowed and sometimes you can ride a lot faster than the group that way. You learn over the years where to spend your effort and, in the end, we had a great ride.”

Nortje was thankful that he had come to ride the trails around Montagu in February, so he had a good idea of the terrain.

“I knew what was coming, where the descents were fast and open and where we had to push,” the 24-year-old said.

The two eventually returned to the lead pack with 15km to go, and despite some further attacks, the local pairing were able to match the pace and retain their overall lead.

But the victory belonged to Alleman and Stosek, who outmaneuvered the big bunch to put themselves in a perfect position to win the stage in a twisty, tight finish. “It was super rocky and quite rough,” Alleman said. 

“We tried to make a gap on some of the climbs towards the end, but they were too short so we decided we would try and win the sprint. I got into a good position in the last bit of single track and Martin was also just behind so it worked out well.”

VIDEO: The start of the UCI Women's race this morning.

Women’s Race

The women’s elite race started off much like a shorter XC race as the group raced up the initial 7km Abrikooskloof climb from the gun. But the early effort took its toll on many of the teams, and it was soon Lill and Keller, along with Courtney and Seiwald and Van Doorn and Looser that pulled ahead.

Just halfway through, Courtney and Seiwald ran out of water and Lill and Keller slowly started putting the squeeze on the lead group.

“It was really hard from the start up that first pass,” said Lill. “But it made the racing cool and more exciting. We started to notice that a few of the teams were starting to struggle just before halfway and so we just pushed a little harder and pulled out a gap.”

For Keller, the current World Short Course champion, completing her first full Absa Cape Epic stage was an eye-opener.

“The suffering is still the same but it’s just a little bit longer,” Keller smiled.

Today the main race will cover 102km with 2 250m of climbing while the women’s elite race will be contested over 80km with 1 750m of climbing.

Matt Beers and Nortje during an interview on Monday.

Photo: Supplied

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