32″ gets its first stage win—already—at Cape Epic

With all the 32″ hype building to a fever pitch by the end of 2025, the countdown was on for when the big new wheel size standard would make its first race start, and then earn its first major win. Well, it’ only took a couple months.

Felix Stehli and Marc Pritzen won today’s third stage of the ABSA Cape Epic. Stehli is racing in South Africa on Stoll P32, a race rig laying claim to the title of first production 32″ mountain bike.

Now Stoll and Stehli can add “First 32″ UCI win” to that resume.

An unexpected escape at Cape Epic

On one of the longest stages in Cape Epic history, Stehli and Pritzen (Team Honeycomb 226ers) took advantage in a lull in the leader’s pace to launch a long-range solo attack. Not quite Pogacar distances, but 40km of single track  is a pretty big effort nonetheless.

The Honeycomb 226ers, on their 32-er and 29-ers (Pritzen is racing a 29″ bike) established a one-minute advantage over a powerful group of chasers. With current race leaders Matthew Beers and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized) further back and fighting to catch their GC competition, and the Wilier-Vittoria team looking to take advantage and move up from second place, that 60-second lead was no guarantee. The mixed-wheel team persevered, crossing the stage three finish line solo. It’s the first Cape Epic win for both riders.  

First Cape Epic wins for Pritzen, Stehli and the 32″

“It’s an incredible feeling to get a result here. It’s all we could have asked for,” said Pritzen. “We didn’t plan anything and were just racing instinctively. When we noticed hesitation in the group, with a split behind, we thought it would give us a chance to open up a quick 10 seconds. And it did.”

Stehli said the stage, with a mix of gravel and singletrack and only around 1,700m of climbing (a sum which only counts as “flat” at the Cape Epic), suited his big wheels perfectly. 

“It’s ideal for these types of conditions. It just rolls well and helped me a lot today,” said the Swiss racer.

Stehli’s race rig is running a 100mm Intend Samurai fork, also one of the first official 32″…