{"id":435372,"date":"2026-01-27T00:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T00:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/435372\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T00:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T00:49:11","slug":"cape-epic-asks-what-parity-means-in-xc-stage-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/435372\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Epic asks what “parity” means in XC stage racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cape Epic is perhaps the most iconic stage race in cross country mountain biking. Year after year it attracts the highest-profile professionals (and a usually sold-out field of amateurs) from around the world to test themselves on South African singletrack. What that test looks like is changing for 2026, at least for the pro women\u2019s field.<\/p>\n

For this year\u2019s race, the elite women will race a shorter distance than the pro men for the first time. This follows years of the elite women racing the same course as the men. It\u2019s an interesting move for a race that was quite early to financial parity, being one of the first major events to offer equal prize money for men and women\u2019s winners.<\/p>\n

What does parity look like?<\/p>\n

Cape Epic organizers say this change is intended to create a better parity between the men\u2019s and women\u2019s races. The logic is that parity over race duration is more important than parity in course distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the core of the change is the desire to bring stage racing in line with the norms of cycling more generally. This will see the Elite Women race for the same duration, rather than across the same distance as the Elite Men,\u201d the Cape Epic announcement explains<\/a>. It adds that it\u2019s not just about absolute time on course, but quality of the time on the clock. \u201cThe adjusted distances will encourage earlier attacks, smaller time gaps, and closer competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe change to parity in race time will sharpen the spectacle,\u201d Shannon Valstar, Race Director for the Absa Cape Epic, adds. \u201cThis innovation follows naturally from the granting of the UCI HC status to the Elite Women\u2019s race, prize money parity, and the institution of a separate start.\u201d<\/p>\n

This change requires some organizational wiggling. Cape Epic uses a mix of point-to-point stages and courses that loop back to a start\/finish area. On point-to-point days, the elite women will share a finish line with the rest of the field. That means a remote start. On loop days, elite women will race a slightly different course than the men. Since the prologue and the Grand Finale stages already have close enough finishing times between top men\u2019s and women\u2019s racers, those stages will remain unchanged.<\/p>\n

Change only impacts elite women\u2019s race<\/p>\n

Interestingly, and likely for logistical reasons, this change only impacts the elite women\u2019s field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese initiatives will only be rolled out in the Elite Women\u2019s category and will not affect the Open, NTT Masters, or GIC Grand Masters Women\u2019s competitions, nor will they impact the women taking part in the Toyota Mixed category.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sofia Gomez during Stage 4 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from CPUT, Wellington to CPUT, Wellington, South Africa on 21 March 2024. Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic
PLEASE ENSURE THE APPROPRIATE CREDIT IS GIVEN TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND ABSA CAPE EPIC
\nXC marathon stage racing as the meeting ground of UCI\u2019s disciplines<\/p>\n

The shift from women, or at least elite women, racing equal distances to a definition of parity that prioritizes time on course isn\u2019t, to be clear, new. It just reflects a different part of the world of cycling. With XC marathon stage racing blending influences from across the world of cycling (from XC races, to road stage races to xc marathon races), this development is an interesting one.<\/p>\n

In cross country World Cups (and cyclocross), UCI rules already state that race organizers should aim for a specific time on course, not a specific distance raced. That means men and women race a different number of laps at most World Cup XCO weekends.<\/p>\n

In cross country marathon racing, it seems to depend on the organizer and\/or course. Some XCM events see the top women and men race the same distance. If the course involves small enough loops, sometimes the women race less distance but a similar time (Both have happened at Canadian nationals over different years).<\/p>\n

In gravel racing, the differing versions of parity are an ongoing point of contention. North American gravel racing traditionally places importance on every rider covering the same course, from pros to amateurs. When the UCI first hosted world championships for gravel, there was significant push-back against the women racing a shorter course than the men.<\/p>\n

On the road, there is little parity. Stage races are shorter for women, by as much as two weeks. Race distances are shorter. Even the minimum wage teams must pay riders is lower.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Anna van der Breggen and Annika Langvad from team Investec-Songo-Specialized during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2019 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from the University of Stellenbosch Sports Fields in Stellenbosch to Val de Vie Estate in Paarl, South Africa on the 24th March 2019.\u00a0Photo by Xavier Briel\/Cape Epic
\nWhat do riders think?<\/p>\n

The Cape Epic course included supporting quotes from several of the most prominent and accomplished race veterans (including world champions among them) all speaking in support of the change. We\u2019ve reached out to some other riders to see what they think.<\/p>\n

Vera Looser | 2023 Absa Cape Epic Champion
\u201cThis race has always been the toughest. The one that tests, defines, and inspires. But the greatest races don\u2019t just endure. They evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annika Langvad | six-time Absa Cape Epic Champion
\u201cWe were brought into this process by a team who did the work \u2014 who asked the right questions, studied the data, and listened to the riders, experts, and industry opinions. We\u2019ve been part of the conversations, and we stand here because we believe in what\u2019s coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariane L\u00fcthi | three-time Elite Women\u2019s and two-time Toyota Mixed Category Absa Cape Epic Champion
\u201cThis isn\u2019t about softening the race \u2013 it\u2019s about sharpening the spectacle. It\u2019s about parity, fairness, and creating a competition that lets women perform at their absolute peak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Candice Lill | five-time Absa Cape Epic Silver Medallist
\u201cThis is how we grow the field. How we invite more women from more disciplines and more countries to this start line. This is about raising the level, deepening the rivalries, and pushing the sport forward for years to come.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cape Epic is perhaps the most iconic stage race in cross country mountain biking. Year after year it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[180886,180887,49,48,113110,635,180888,62722,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-435372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-2026-cape-epic","9":"tag-absa-cape-epic","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-cape-epic","13":"tag-cycling","14":"tag-gender-parity","15":"tag-mtb-news","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}