Leaked: Cape Epic switches to Enduro race format for 2024 and beyond

Just in! A source inside the Epic Series of mountain bike races has revealed that as of 2024, the Cape Epic will switch to an Enduro race format.
The ‘news’ reached our office this morning and from what we understand the XCM format is not being phased out over a few years. It would appear, they are canning the old format entirely. Competitors will still cover the 700km distance over an eight-day format, however, each stage will have specific timed downhill sections – up to 10 per stage. What hasn’t changed for 2024 is the team format. Our source confirms the new format will remain as a two-person team event.

We reached out to 2023 Cape Epic Champion Matt Beers, who had this to say: “It’s an interesting move for sure and a format that, owing to my years as a motocross racer, I’m pretty confident I have the skills required. Chris Blevins is also super keen to race again and I look forward to driving the watts on the downhills with him. Over the coming months, we have wind tunnel sessions and downhill echelon training on the cards, along with some prototype fairings we will be adding to our Epics. The whole team is super-pumped on the new format.”
Somerset West-based, former Downhill World Cup Star, Andrew Neethling added: “Yes I’ve been chatting to Greg Minnaar about the changes and I can confirm I am coming out of retirement for this and will be competing, alongside Greg. We are both very excited about the changes.”
We will update this article as more info becomes available, likely on 1 April.
UPDATE: This is indeed an early April Fools gig.