Winning for a second time in a row, Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser and his South African team mate Burry Stander (Songo-Specialized by DCM) moved into 3rd in the overall standings. Their winning time of 3:33.01 was too fast for 2nd place German Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm who finished in 3:34.24. In 3rd place were the South African/Austrian duo of Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata (team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon) in a time of 3:34.32.

For Stage 3 of the Absa Cape Epic riders experienced fast open roads taking the field to a short section of smooth, flowing singletrack. Riders were relieved to reach water point 1 after a leg-trashing 3km climb out of the Ceres bowl and up onto a plateau. A rough dual track then headed through some rare fynbos. Riders needed to stay alert on the challenging downhill section.