![\"Greta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ACE26_S6_MICHAEL-CHIARETTA_0390.jpg\")
<\/a>Greta Seiwald looking very uncomfortable on the start of Saturday\u2019s stage 6. Photo by Michael Chiaretta\/Cape Epic\nSunny skies and seven days seriously hard racing take their toll<\/p>\n
Still feeling the effort of Friday\u2019s brutal Queen stage, riders set out for another 2,000m of elevation gain on Saturday. Over a shorter distance and with more singletrack it was a big ask of tired legs. For Greta Seiwald, the ask came after a night of illness. Seiwald dressed for the start, but was forced to drop out almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a rough night. I had a fever and haven\u2019t been able to eat at all,\u201d Seiwald shared. \u201cI got dressed for the start, you just hope\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
For Seiwald\u2019s partner on the She Sends Foundation team, Kate Courtney, it\u2019s the second Cape Epic partner she\u2019s lost in as many weeks. Before the start, her original partner crashed out. The U.S. marathon world champion then teamed up with Seiwald. Despite the last minute arrangement, the duo were sitting second overall, even stealing a stage win from the dominant Thomus Maxon Sabi Sabi team of Alessandra Keller and Candice Lill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re heartbroken not to get to continue this adventure together, but what an adventure it was,\u201d Courtney shared on social media, adding a thanks to Seiwald for starting the stage. That allowed for Courtney to continue racing the elite women, who have a different start area than the rest of the field in 2026<\/a>. On the final stage, Courtney will have to start with the rest of the amateur as a \u201clonely leopard\u201d \u00a0in the amateur field. She\u2019ll join Vera Looser, whose teammate Rosa van Doorn was forced out of racing a couple day earlier<\/a>, and other Cape Epic racers whose teammates didn\u2019t make it through the demanding week.<\/p>\n The Ha(y)ley\u2019s move up the podium<\/p>\n For Canada\u2019s Haley Smith and her South African teammate, Hayley Preen, She Sends\u2019 misfortunes mean they move another step up the overall podium. Surviving a week of racing healthy is a big part of the Cape Epic every year, and the two Ha(y)ley\u2019s, racing as Cheemcamp Honeycomb, are staying calm under pressure and avoiding illness so far.<\/p>\n \u201cI often start from the back and work our way up, that\u2019s how I like to race this event,\u201d Cape Epic veteran Hayley Preen shared after the finish. She cautioned that nothing is secure until the race is finished. \u201cWe\u2019ve still one day left to go, I won\u2019t get too excited yet, but I think we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n The duo isn\u2019t just surviving, though. They added a third-straight stage podium on Saturday. Smith, sitting beside Preen in the finish area, was quick to credit her teammate for that success after a stage that was better suited to the pure mountain bike skills Smith carries from a career of World Cup racing.<\/p>\n \u201cAny time it\u2019s flat or sustained up, Hayley really has to get the best out of me,\u201d Smith shared adding Preen \u201cWas descending like a wizard today.\u201d<\/p>\n The two spent much of the day pursuing the Thomus Maxon Sabi Sabi team before dropping slightly back of that duo\u2019s relentless pace.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to race Alessandra and Candice in World Cups but It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve been in that environment,\u201d Smith said, \u201cAny time you can catch up to those two on a descent, it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Symbtech.net\u2019s Margot Moschetti and Claudia Peretti would finish second on the stage, a couple of minutes ahead of the Ha(y)ley\u2019s. But the Canadian\/South African pair now have a solid lead over third, FSA Torpado Kenda, in the overall standings.<\/p>\n For Lill and Keller, She Sends Foundation\u2019s withdrawal means a solid but, as Saturday proved, not guaranteed hold on the leader\u2019s jersey. For Keller, it would be victory in her first Cape Epic. For Lill, a long-awaited win after numerous attempts at her home race.<\/p>\n There was upheaval in the men\u2019s race on Saturday, too, though that drama happened on course, not with one rider leaving the course. Toyota Specialized Imbuko\u2019s Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje started the week in the lead before conceding their spot at the top of the standings to Wilier-Vittoria\u2019s Luca Braidot and and Simone Avondetto.<\/p>\n After throwing the kitchen sink at the Italian pair on Friday\u2019s Queen stage, to no avail, Beers was on the move again on Saturday and dragging Nortje along with him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could see that Luca was suffering at the beginning. I could see Tristan was also hurting, but I know he\u2019s a tough kid and wouldn\u2019t give up,\u201d Beers said after the finish. \u201cI knew he would come around at some point \u2013 it took a bit longer than I thought, but he came around. He had me worried for a bit though.\u201d<\/p>\n Nortje, a last-minute call-up to replace Beers\u2019 original partner, world champion Christopher Blevins, is racing admirably at the Cape Epic. The younger South African did find his legs on Saturday and Toyota Specialized pulled back nearly two minutes on Wilier-Vittoria.<\/p>\n \u201cLuca and I were suffering that first hour,\u201d Nortje admitted. \u201cBut I just kept believing.\u201d<\/p>\n Now only 13 seconds separates the two front teams.<\/p>\n<\/a>Candice Lill leads Alessandra Keller late in Stage 6. Photo by Michael Chiaretta\/Cape Epic<\/p>\n<\/a>Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje celebrate a very good, if difficult day. in the saddle. Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic
\nBeers coaxes Nortje closer to re-taking the Cape Epic lead<\/p>\n