Cape Epic GC battles take shape as race finishes longest stage

Battle lines are starting to form as the 2023 Cape Epic rolls through its third stage. Christopher Blevins and Matthew Beers (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) earned another win, but couln’t shake Nino Schurter to move up in the overall. On the women’s side, new winners emerged while the GC battle continues to heat up.

New winners challenge women’s leaders

The women’s race continues to promise dramatic racing as new stage winners emerged on Stage 2. Kim Le Court (MRI) and Vera Looser (NAM) of Efficient Infiniti Insure earned their first stage win on the week’s longest stage. After 116km, the winners were just four seconds ahead of NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized’s Sofia Gomez Villafane and Katerina Nash.

Current race leaders, Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill (e-Fort.net SeattleCoffeeCo) finished third, but close enough to keep preserve their GC advantage. Just 10 minutes separate the first three teams after nearly 12 hours of racing, though, so the race is still wide open.

Blevins and Beers add stage win

Christopher Blevins and Matthew Beers (Toyota-Specialized-NintetyOne) earned a second stage win in three days of racing, but couldn’t steal back the leader’s jerseys. Current leaders, Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht (Scott-SRAM) not only stayed close enough to the Specialized duo but also extended their lead over 2022 Cape Epic winners Georg Egger and Lukas Baum (Orbea x Leatt x Speed Company).

Beers and Blevins, now just 7 minutes 44 seconds back, sit fifth in a very tight race for the overall lead.

Canadians and notable celebrities

Not far back from the leaders, Pivot Cycles-OTE Canadian duo of Felix Belhumeur and Marc-André Fortier are placed 29th overall. After three days of racing against the world’s best, the two Quebec riders are 1:00:35 back from the race leaders.

Slightly closer to the front, recently-retired World Tour pro Vincenzo Nibali sits in seventh with Italian Friends teammate Smuele Porro. Known as “the Shark of Messina” while he was racing on the road, Nibali is eating up South African singletrack this week at the Cape Epic.