Today’s prologue (time trial // 24km distance // 700m climbing) was short but the first half of the route led steadily uphill, driving heart rates upwards, before the second phase of the day was packed with roller-coaster downhills on manicured singletrack. It was a first test for the riders to prove their form and get their name in the spotlight.

Today’s prologue (time trial // 24km distance // 700m climbing) was short but the first half of the route led steadily uphill, driving heart rates upwards, before the second phase of the day was packed with roller-coaster downhills on manicured singletrack. It was a first test for the riders to prove their form and get their name in the spotlight.

Today’s prologue (time trial // 24km distance // 700m climbing) was short but the first half of the route led steadily uphill, driving heart rates upwards, before the second phase of the day was packed with roller-coaster downhills on manicured singletrack. It was a first test for the riders to prove their form and get their name in the spotlight.

Today’s Stage 1 started and finished again in the hills of Somerset West, at Lourensford Wine Estate. It was the first marathon stage of the 2022 Absa Cape Epic that is notoriously tough, especially this year being declared as the Queen Stage. The bare numbers sit with 92km and 2.850m of climbing, the most of this year’s route. After a relatively mild Prologue, things are being turned up a notch. The route lead firstly through playful single trails at Helderberg Trails and Dornier Trails. The...