While yesterday the Italians dominated the prologue of the Absa Cape Epic 2025, today the Swiss responded with all their strength.

In the first "real day" of the most famous and coveted mountain bike stage race, which started early from the Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville, the base camp for the first two nights, things got serious. The competing pairs did not hold back along the hot 96 km with 2,750 meters of positive elevation gain, and many began to show their first difficulties, especially in the second part of the race characterized by long and challenging climbs.

When the race heated up, the two leaders of the Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto found themselves competing with the Swiss Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM) and the Germans Georg Egger and Lukas Baum (Orbea Speed Company), with the latter having to give way in the final to the two most in-form pairs of the moment.

Between attacks and counterattacks, in the end, the eternal Schurter and the talented Colombo prevailed in the Italian-Swiss challenge, managing to beat our riders at the Durbanville finish line by 31" after 3 hours, 51 minutes, and 3 seconds of great spectacle, taking the yellow jersey of the overall leader.

The day's podium was completed by the Orbea Speed Company pair, trailing by a couple of minutes. 40" behind the third place, Como's Samuele Porro crossed the finish line with Swiss rider Marc Stutzmann (Klimatiza Orbea), and shortly after came Fabian Rabensteiner and his teammate, the German Simon Stiebjahn. Considerably further back, but in sixth place, Gioele De Cosmo and Jacob Dorigoni of Torpado Kenda FSA complete a positive day for Italian off-road cycling.

In the women's field, the prologue dominators, veteran Danish rider Annika Langvad paired with Argentine Sofia Gomez Villafame, proved to be the women to beat, inflicting almost 6' on the Looser Skarda pair, despite a puncture that slowed their triumphant march. 6th place for Claudia Peretti racing with Kata Sosna, 9th for Costanza Fasolis competing in South Africa alongside German Stefanie Walter.

Watch the stage replay and continue following the Cape Epic on tuttobiciweb.it!