Should we get this thread started?
N1no is not racing this time, but there is plenty of competition. I’ll be watching these teams and marked my favorites with asterisk:
Women:
Men:
Mixed:
Was a great watch last year. Hopefully another close battle
From my point of view, this year the race is far more exciting than its been in a while. Yes, I am curious about how Keegan could have performed but other than that, pretty excited.
Total bummer that both Keegan and Melisa got injured, but I always love watching regardless who is in it. Looking forward to it.
Would love to see Annika and Nino in mixed pairing next year. Team name; The Goats.
No spoilers, but this will be exciting if Prologue is a sign of what is to come! 6-second gap between top 2 mens teams
Conspiracy theory: Matt Beers paid someone to door Keegan and take him out before the start of Cape Epic.
The prolog must be hard to pace for the elites as it’s a time trial so you don’t know how hard you have gone relative to your competitors.
Maybe they bet you by 50s, but they also may have burnt a few extra matches which will hurt tomorrow.
Stage 1 when they ride together will really show where everyone is at
Still waiting for Speed Company Racing to have another solid Cape Epic. They got close to another overall in years past, but seems they continue to drop off the pace. It was so awesome when they won their first year at CE.
Ja I also like the spirit in which Speed Company rides. And in that year they had no support crew, which made it even more spectacular. But in all honesty they got away that one day because the big teams were watching each other. They are no longer unmarked.
Rode quite a bit of those Montagu trails in a race in Oct - and it was pretty rough. My partner had a very rough day in the saddle - and it was 43C day which did not make it any easier. Will be interested to see whether it has been improved before Epic or left as-is. And how those guys fly through there either way…
Will check out stage 1 a bit later tonight.
Anyone XC tire spotting during the Cape Epic? Would be interested to know what people are riding and whether the Aspen is still the king of XC there.
Not sure. But a lot of punctures / destroyed tyres today.
This shows a bit of kit that is being ridden: 10 Tech Trends at the 2026 Cape Epic & 32er’s? | #capeepic #mtb
Kind of interesting watching it https://youtu.be/jgpOidmVk0w?is=LIng7TXB8NxdtB7i
As they actually have 29 x 2.4s on the Stoll bike - which is interesting after announcing they were going to run 32s
The 32s were on show today. Announcers were saying it was a good day to test the wheels’ benefits. But the skill and power of the rider can’t be underestimated.
I have an irrational desire for them not to be successful 
You are not alone if you read comments about anything 32. I don’t understand all the hate and skepticism because most of us are no longer riding 26 inch wheels. I’m officially in the “don’t buy any gravel or mtbs until we see this play out” phase.
Interpretation of their post race interview was they had bad luck at the start of the race that blew their chance at the overall goal.
So they may have been going all in for a stage win against guys racing for the overall.
Let’s see if they can get a decent placing today, or did they cook themselves for the stage win
I saw this posted as a short online too… and the whole clip was the 32” wheels drafting the 29-er.
I’m not hating or skeptical, but I’m sort of hoping 32’s aren’t clear game changers. XC bikes are so expensive and I’m totally sorted on my Epic 8 w/ FA right now and hoping to get at 4-5 more years out of it. If 32’s prove to be significantly faster, I’m not sure I’d be able to wait that long. And backup wheels and full compliment of tires, etc. adds up.
My last XC bike had a good run, 2017 Scott Spark RC, it was still solid until I got the Epic 8 in mid 2024. That scott RC was a pretty forward looking XC bike at the time though, nothing really checked all my boxes until the epic 8 came out.