Rain, mud and wind demanded everything from the participants on the 105-kilometer first stage from Bulletsdrift to Calitzdorp. Erik Kleinhans and Waylon Woolcock as well as Konny Looser and Brandon Stewart coped best with the nasty conditions. In a sprint decision, the two South Africans were beaten by the Swiss-South African duo. The third-placed South African duo Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes struggled more with the conditions than with their opponents and lost over ten minutes on the first two teams.

Swiss marathon champion Ariane Kleinhans wins the women's category together with her Danish team partner, two-time marathon world champion Annika Langvad. The two power women deliver an impressive performance and finish twelfth among all teams. The Swiss-Danish duo thus also took the lead in the overall standings.

Esther Süss and Jane Nuessli, who had already ridden together at the Cape Epic, lost over 16 minutes to the winning team in the mud in second place. The third-placed team with South Africans Ischen Stopforth and Robyn de Groot are already over half an hour behind.

The defending champions in the mixed category, Jennie Stenerhag and Craig Gerber from South Africa, secured the stage win and the overall lead. The two Swiss mixed duos Michelle Hediger and Remigi Maissen and Daniela and Rainer Hartmann finished in 13th and 14th place respectively. After the prologue and the first stage, the two teams also occupy the same positions in the overall standings.The first twelve kilometers are a test of nerves for all riders, as progress becomes a real challenge with completely mud-filled tires and chains. As a result, many of the participants had to complain about technical problems or defects such as torn changers.

A crisp and well-rewarded second stage
92 kilometers and 2,760 vertical meters as well as a mountain finish await the participants of the "Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek" on the second stage. With the final climb up the Swartberg Pass, the riders will face another tough obstacle with 1,100 meters of elevation gain over twelve kilometers up to the finish line.

The second stage offers prize money of 112,000 rand, the equivalent of around 10,000 Swiss francs, to the first team to reach the finish line at the highest point. This is the highest prize money paid out for a single stage in the history of mountain bike racing. To ensure that the teams do not just ride the one, very well-paid stage, the winners of the second stage will only receive the prize money once they have reached 35 points in the overall standings. Points are awarded to the first ten teams in the daily classification and the first five in the prologue.

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