Leader jerseys change hands after Stage 1 of 2023 Cape Epic

Fabian Rabensteiner and Wout Alleman, riding for the Wilier Pirelli Factory team, won Stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic in Hermanus on Monday.

View the full Stage 1 results  HERE .

The 98km stage victory put the duo in fourth position overall.

Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht (SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing) finished second but moved into the overall lead in the general classification.

Defending champions, Lukas Baum and Georg Egger (ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company), finished third in Stage 1 and sit in second overall - 57 seconds behind SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing. 

Matt Beers and Christopher Blevins (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne), who started Stage 1 in the overall leader jerseys after the prologue, dropped way back into the field. They finished 12th on Monday to sit in eighth position overall, eight minutes off the leaders

Men's category:

1. Wilier Pirelli Factory: Fabian Rabensteiner, Wout Alleman - 04:01:44.1

2. SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing: Nino Schurter, Andri Frischknecht - 04:01:46.2 (+00:00:02.1)

3. Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company Racing: Georg Egger, Lukas Baum - 04:02:05.8 (+00:00:21.7)

Women's category:

1. e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield, Candice Lill - 04:57:46.4

2. NinetyOne-songo-Specialized: Sofia Gomez Villafane, Katerina Nash - 05:03:41.3 (+00:05:54.9)

3. Efficient Infiniti Insure: Kim le Court, Vera Looser - 05:08:55.2 (+00:11:08.8)

2023 Absa Cape Epic General Classification after Stage 1: 

Men's category:

1. SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing: Nino Schurter, Andri Frischknecht - 05:04:55.5

2. Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company Racing: Georg Egger, Lukas Baum - 05:05:52.9 (+00:00:57.4)

3. Canyon Northwave MTB: Andreas Seewald, Martin Stosek - 05:06:22.6 (+00:01:27.1)

Women's category:

1. e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield,