Haley Smith and Hayley Preen battled through brutal conditions on Friday to land a second-straight stage podium at the Cape Epic. As if the competition and course weren’t hard enough already, Friday’s Queen stage served up over 2,000m of elevation gain, the Cape Epic rode into serious weather. While the day started and ended in the sun, racers arrived in the finish corral barely recognisable through a thick layer of mud and grit.
Team Ha(y)ley double up on podium time at Cape Epic
Smith and Preen, the Canadian/South African duo racing as Cheemcamp Honeycomb at the 2026 Cape Epic, thrived in the trying conditions. Team Ha(y)ley finished the stage third, for a second day in a row, tightening their grip on a third place overall finish at the iconic South African stage race.
Up the road, or trail, Thomus Maxon’s duo of Alessandra Keller and Candice Lill looked intent at getting retribution. After being served their first loss of the 2025 Cape Epic by She Sends Foundation’s Kate Courtney and Greta Seiwald on Thursday, this year’s leaders attacked the Queen stage with ferocity.
Aided by an early mechanical from Seiwald which created a gap to the leaders, Keller and Lill continued to build their lead all the way to the finish line. At the end of Stage 5, the Swiss/South African duo add a whopping 9:28 to their lead in what has been one of the more closely contested Cape Epics.
“It was a tough stage but we didn’t want to get involved in racing the She Sends Foundation team the whole way,” said Lill. “My favourite way of racing is to race from the front, where we can set our own pace and rhythm.”
She Sends salvage dangerous stage
Courtney and Seiwald were joined in their chase by Smith and Preen for much of Stage 5. Despite having numbers on their side, the quartet couldn’t reel in the flying Thomus Maxon Sabi Sabi squad. Courtney and Seiwald created some room to the Cheemcamp Honeycomb team, earning second just two minutes ahead of their fellow chasers.
“Kate was my hero today. She literally pushed me up every hill,” Seiwald admitted after the stage. “I just didn’t have the legs today.
The Ha(y)ley’s roll into Saturday’s penultimate day of racing with just shy of eight minutes advantage over current fourth place squad, Torpado FSA Kenda’s Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Giorgia Marchet. While Saturday’s stats show a shorter distance, just 62 km, there’s still a staggering 1,850m of elevation gain between the start and finish to test weary rider’s legs.
Men’s leaders spar over mountainous Queen stage
Friday was another round in the battle between Toyota Specialized’s Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje on the one hand and Wilier-Vittoria’s Simone Avondetto and Luca Braidot on the other. This time, Klimatiza Orbea’s David Valero Serrano, an Olympic medallist, and Marc Stutzmann joined the fray to animate the race.
Beers and Nortje attacked early on, just 14km into a stage that would span over 100km. When the group hit crosswinds, the Toyota team did their best to split up the race.
“We saw there was a crosswind and we threw in a haymaker,” said Beers. “I think it caught a few teams off guard and there was a lot of panic. But we were hoping to burn a few more teams. By the time we got down the Gantouw Pass, our legs were dying and we had to go full cockroach mode all the way home.”
Italians land first win
The Italian’s were still there, and saw their opportunity to get a stage win. Despite leading the Cape Epic, the Wilier-Vittoria team did not yet have a stage win. After following Valero Serrano as he drove the pace in the stage’s dying kilometres, Avondetto and Braidot were able to sprint for their first stage victory of the 2026 Cape Epic.
“We really wanted a win and it’s nice to get it on the Queen stage,” said the 25-year-old Avondetto. “Today was quite challenging in the first 40 to 50km. We are now looking forward to the final two days.”
Klimatiza Orbea take second with Toyota Specialized settling for third, 12 seconds back of the winning Italian duo.
Slightly further back, Canada’s Andrew L’Esperance and his EF Education First teammate Lachlan Morton finished 14th on Friday, 15:04 back of the stage winners. They’re sitting 16th overall, but within striking distance of moving up a few spots if racing goes their way over the final two days.
The penultimate race day carries a 76-km distance for the men but, with 2,460m of climbing, there will be plenty of time to open up, or close down gaps in the GC standings. The 2026 Cape Epic is far from settled.
2026 ABSA Cape Epic: Stage 5
Elite Women Stage 5
1. Thomus Maxon Sabi Sabi: Candice Lill, Alessandra Keller (4:29.08)
2. She Sends Foundation: Kate Courtney, Greta Seiwald (4:38.37 | +9)
3. Chemcamp Honeycomb: Hayley Preen, Haley Smith (4:40.40 | +11:32)
4. Massi ISB Sport: Monica Calederon, Tessa Kortekaas (4:43.32 | +14:24)
5. Torpado FSA Kenda: Katazina Sosna-Pinele, Giorgia Marchet (4:44.43 | +15.34)
Elite Women GC after Stage 5
1. Thomus Maxon Sabi Sabi: Candice Lill, Alessandra Keller (18:48.02)
2. She Sends Foundation: Kate Courtney, Greta Seiwald (19:02.21 | +14:18)
3. Chemcamp Honeycomb: Hayley Preen, Haley Smith (19:31.27 | +43:24)
4. Torpado FSA Kenda: Katazina Sosna-Pinele, Giorgia Marchet (19:39.07 | +51:04)
5. Symbtech.net: Margot Moschetti, Claudia Peretti (19:53.03 | 1:05.00)
Elite Men Stage Results after Stage 5
1. Wilier-Vittoria: Luca Braidot, Simone Avondetto (5:09.51)
2. Klimatiza Orbea: David Valero Serrano, Marc Stutzmann (5:09.59 | +8)
3. Toyota Specialized Imbuko: Matthew Beers, Tristan Nortje (5:10.03 | +12)
4. Canyon: Luca Schwarzbauer, Sam Gaze (5:11.01 | +1:09)
5. Toyota Specialized Imbuko 2: Marco Joubert, Travis Stedman (5:12.56 | +3:04)
Elite Men GC after Stage 5
1.Wilier-Vittoria: Luca Braidot, Simone Avondetto (21:18.51)
2. Toyota Specialized Imbuko: Matthew Beers, Tristan Nortje (21:20.40 | +1:49)
3. Klimatiza Orbea: David Valero Serrano, Marc Stutzmann (21:24.50 | +5:59)
4. Canyon: Luca Schwarzbauer, Sam Gaze (21:25.10 | +6:19)
5. Buff-BH Wout Allemann Martin Stosek (21:34.25 | +15:34)