The Absa Cape Epic is more than just a race—it’s a brutal test of endurance, teamwork, and sheer determination. Covering over 608km with relentless climbs, technical descents, and unforgiving heat, it pushes even the toughest riders to their limits. This year, Kona’s Hannah Simms and Cory Wallace each tackled the challenge as part of separate teams—Hannah racing alongside her father, Kevin Simms, and Cory teaming up with mountain bike legend Christoph Sauser. We caught up with both athletes post-race to hear about their toughest moments, strategies, and what it’s really like to take on one of the world’s hardest stage races with a teammate by your side.
Cape Epic is one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world. What made you want to take on this challenge with your respective teammates?
Cory: Finding bigger and better challenges is what has helped keep me inspired all these years. Having raced the Cape Epic in 2021 with a last-minute replacement partner, was a great experience. Turning 40 last summer, I was keen to return to the Epic and go after the masters division, which is full of some of the legends of the sport. My partner Christoph Sauser and I had biked across Nepal the past two winters and had developed a great friendship. When he asked if I wanted to join him at the Epic this year, there was no question.
Hannah: From learning to ride a bike, training and racing together, working as coach-athlete, cycling has pretty much always played a role in my relationship with my Dad. Dominating the masters scene, he’s always been fast and a benchmark to catch.
We have always said as we get closer to aligning in speed and skill, Cape Epic would be the ultimate test to take on together. As I have dedicated more time to training and racing, and my dad hit 58 we are pretty darn close. I guess it’s just our style to want to challenge ourselves with one of the toughest, iconic mountain bike races.
Racing as a team brings a whole different dynamic—How did you two work together to get through the highs and lows of the race?
Cory: Christoph and I faced some real challenges while biking through the remote parts of Nepal. Things like finding ways across unbridged rivers, accommodation on top of mountain passes, and food in the remote parts were part of our daily routine. The Epic has its challenges, but racing 3-5 hours a day seemed pretty tame after the 8-12 hr days in the Himalayas. We did go through some challenges the first few days acclimating to the heat and dusty conditions at the Epic, but we took turns supporting each other and powered through each challenge. We are both good at controlling our emotions and putting all that energy into the pedals, so not much would phase us.
Hannah: Racing as a team added an entirely new level of motivation. When you hit a rough patch, knowing your teammate is counting on you gives you that extra push to keep going. Since we’ve spent so much time riding together, there was a comfort in just locking onto each other’s wheel—whether it was pacing through the flats or line selection down a descent.
Was this the first time racing with each of your partners?
Cory: Yeah it was our first time riding together in a race situation.
Hannah: First time racing as an official team, but we’ve logged countless miles together since I was little and found ourselves riding together in independently raced events over the years.
What was the toughest moment during the race, and how did you push through it?
Cory: The toughest part of the race was realizing the Epic had quietly penalized us 35 minutes in time penalties for missing the podium. Sauser had raced the Epic 16 times, myself once, always in the UCI elite category, which only requires the race leaders to attend the evening prize ceremony. With it being a 50-minute drive the first few days, our plan was to stay out of the leader's jersey, to avoid the travel, and get it later on in the race. Not realizing they were calling up the top three in the Masters category meant we were penalized, which was frustrating as there was no communication about this. This left us in a tough position, but we pushed forward, aiming for stage wins.
The other challenge was the Time trial on stage 3. The Rule was no drafting, but the teams around us all formed large groups. We opted not to join them as it was against the rules, and would lose some time that day. The Epic decided not to enforce the 1-hour time penalties on this, which was frustrating after our podium problems.
Hannah: Stage 1 was my toughest day. It was the first mass start, so the pace was fast and there was lots of nervous energy in the pack. We got caught in a crash and I went down pretty hard. It took me a while to shake off the crash, and we lost the main group for a crucial section. Allowing yourself to lean on your teammate when you're struggling and communicating was important to get through.
On the flip side, was there a moment where everything just clicked, and you felt like you were absolutely flying?
Cory: Stages 4 through 7, we were cruising, taking three out of four stage wins and moving back up to the podium, claiming third in GC by the end. Without the penalties, we likely would've won the Masters division, but we did what we could and finished off the Epic on a high.
Hannah: Stage 5—the Queen Stage! Everything lined up for us that day. The course suited us, I had pre-ridden sections while staying in Stellenbosch and knew exactly when to push to get into the singletrack first. We both had great legs, the fans were incredible, and we secured our first podium of the week, finishing the stage in third.
How did your Kona Hei Hei’s perform out there? Did you make any specific changes for the South African terrain that paid off?
Cory: The Hei Hei was great on the rough African terrain. I ran the suspension slighty softer, same with tire pressure (16.5/18.5 psi) to help battle the cumulative fatigue of the constant roughness. I also took off the 38T chainring after the TT on stage 3, replacing it with a 34T to allow more spinning on the steep climbs as the body fatigued over the eight days of racing
Hannah: The Hei Hei was the perfect mix for the untamed South African terrain. Locked out, it was stiff and fast for the open road sections and long gravel climbs. Opened up, it’s downcounty vibes thrived in the descents and when we got some rougher, technical terrain. I ran a pretty usual set up – I ran a 32T chainring, which helped on the super steep climbs.
Cape Epic is known for its brutal climbs and technical terrain—if you had to give one piece of advice to someone racing it for the first time, what would it be?
Cory: Don't go out too hard on the opening stages, especially the short Prologue. It's a big week on the bike and the substantial time gapes will typically be made on stages 5 through 7. Also, try to be as efficient as possible with your time, as every move during the week of a stage race is either helping you recover or draining the battery even more. Save your energy for the racing.
Hannah: What really helped us was taking it one day at a time. Looking at all eight days at once can feel overwhelming, but by focusing on just the next stage, it becomes more manageable. And your body might surprise you with how much it can recover and handle each day.
After crossing that final finish line, what was the first thing you said to each other?
Cory: No words. Fist bumps and a hug.
Hannah: It was a muddy blur, but I think we just shouted, “We did it!” followed by a big, exhausted hug
Cory Wallace Photos: Michal Cerveny
Hannah Simms Photos: Sportograf
