Epic Send 2026 Cape Epic Recap With Andrew L'Esperance

The Absa Cape Epic, which rolled to its finish last week, is widely considered the pinnacle of mountain bike events. Its wildly challenging terrain and world-class competition send two-person teams deep into South Africa’s most epic trails over the course of 8 days, covering 650km, and 15,500m of climbing, testing rider and machine in every way possible. With a new route design each year, it’s a fresh challenge for all who choose to take it on.

4iiii athlete and former Canadian XCM Champion, Andrew L’Esperance, hot off a sprint finish and 2nd place at the Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona, teamed up with famed off-road aficionado and EF-Easypost rider, Lachlan Morton, for the 2026 edition of Cape Epic. With the dust settled from the gruelling eight days of competition and a solid 14th place overall secured, we chatted with Andrew about his experience at this truly epic event.

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This was your second Cape Epic, doing it last year for the first time… deemed the “Tour de France of Mountain Bike Races, had it been on the bucket list for a while?

Yes, this was my second time lining up for Cape Epic, having raced the 2025 edition with fellow Canadian and friend Rob Britton. Before last year, this race was on my bucket list for quite a while. Ever since finishing last year, I was figuring out a way to get back. I really wanted to return because it really suits me as a rider, and it’s super interesting and engaging racing. My background is World Cup XCO, and in the last few years, I switched things over to longer MTB and gravel. With the longer stuff, I have built up my endurance and learned more about group dynamics, efficiency, tactics, etc., that have been lacking from my skill set since I have not done much road racing. You get all of that stuff at Cape Epic, the technical, the tactical and then the added layer of pairs racing. It is such an interesting challenge for me.

You partnered up with Aussie off-road/ultra-distance/outside-the-box legend, Lachlan Morton, a WorldTour racer turned adventure specialist. How did the partnership come about?

Basically, we were both riding Gravel Burn (a 7-day gravel stage race in South Africa) at the end of the season, and we were both looking for partners for Cape Epic. In that race, there was some crazy weather, and there were some neutralized stages. My wife, Haley (Smith), was riding with Lachy in the bunch on one of the days, and I guess she brought up the idea, without me knowing. She had gotten to know Lachlan pretty well, riding at the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya earlier that year. Then on another neutralized stage, I was just riding with Lachlan, and he asked the question, and it was a pretty easy yes for me. The funny thing about this was that from stage 2 onward at this race, I had a really bad stomach bug, fever, gastro, etc., and I could barely ride. I kept starting with the hope that things would turn around for the last couple of days. At the time, I didn’t really understand why I was putting myself through this; it was really rough, but I have a hard time quitting. In the end, I think it was a situation where I was meant to suffer through those really hard days to get to that neutral stage where I would get this opportunity, while riding beside Lachlan. Who knows, but that is how I am justifying those really hard days.

Cape Epic is quite distinct for its two-person team format, with both riders having to finish each stage every day, and within 2-minutes of one another. How did you and Lachlan work together to maximize the team aspect of the race? Is drafting a significant factor in that terrain, or is it more about keeping each other motivated, taking turns on the front and picking the lines, etc?

Yeah, the pairs format at this race is pretty unique, and it is one of the things I love about the Epic. It is an added layer of challenge to figure out how to maximize the performance of the team. Clearly, Lachlan and I are different riders, with different backgrounds, engines, skills, etc. For us, it was all about maximizing the use of each of our individual skill sets in a way that helped increase our performance as a team while not harming performance by putting the other rider under too much pressure. Lachlan has a huge amount of experience on the road, so he was great at making sure our positioning was good in the group scenarios and for drafting sections, and that we were not wasting energy there. For me, I typically led the singletrack because of my experience on the MTB, and Lachlan found it easier to follow, and we could go fast while getting recovery on the trails. Drafting is a consideration depending on the stage and wind conditions, so we would play that based on how each of us was feeling and who had the extra energy on the day.

Out of the eight stages, which day did you find the most demanding, and alternatively, which day felt like things were really flowing well for you both?

To start things off, we rode a really good prologue. It was our best result of the week with 9th place. We were both really happy with how we executed that ride; we were flowing together. We went in with an exact plan of where each of us would ride the front and how hard we would ride for the entire 20 km course. At the end of that day, we were both in agreement that we couldn’t have done a better job. This was a day where riding the line between going fast and not going too deep was super important. I used my power meter a lot on this stage to keep the effort smooth and not waste unnecessary energy that would be needed for the next 7 days.

The next best day was the Queen stage, stage 5 from Greyton to Stellenbosch, over 133 km and 2500 m of climbing. This stage started with some heavy crosswinds, splits and echelons. We were patient and rode that stuff smart without wasting energy. Then we had a plan of riding our pace from km 45 on, where Lachlan would lead the climbs, and I would lead the flats and heavier singletrack. This stage also had a mandatory portage section that was 800 m in length. We ran with our bikes over a boulder-strewn trail over a mountain pass. Lachlan crushed this section; he loves this kind of thing. We passed 4 teams in this section and bridged to 1 more by the end. Watching Lachy do his thing on this section was one of the highlights of the week for me; it was wild. That move through the portage put us with Speed Company racing through a fast section of the course to the final climb. This allowed us to ride the approach super fast and save some energy. I am not sure exactly where we finished on that day, but it was a highlight because we executed our plan well and rode a good stage.

You had a great Life Time Grand Prix series last year and will be back for more this season. How did an 8-day stage race like this compare to the single-day all-out efforts of those LTGP events? Did it just feel like doing 8 races of that calibre in a row, or was there a bit more of a pacing strategy?

The days are very hard from start to finish, but it is different racing than 1-day LTGP rounds. One main difference is the terrain; it is rough and raw, beating up your body in a way no race in LTGP does. After a few days, you just sort of get into stage-race mode. Your body aches all over, it hurts to walk, but somehow, you just get back on the bike, and you can push at a very high level.

Your partner/wife, Haley Smith, was also competing, and she and her racing partner Hayley Preen took 2nd overall in the Women’s field! That must be pretty cool to be able to travel together to such a big event, and both ride strong races?

Yeah, that was so awesome to witness. That team pairing, the Ha(y)ley’s really came together throughout the week and rode an inspiring race. It is awesome to get to do this whole bike racing thing together with my wife, Haley. We were not staying together throughout the week at Epic, but we made an effort to chat on FT or catch each other for a few minutes at the finish line for a hug.

While you and Lachlan are both well-rounded and accomplished racers across multiple disciplines at this point in your respective careers, were there certain strengths that each of you brought to the table that helped? For example, your background being more xco mtb-ing and Lachlan with more road experience - did that factor in at all?

Yes, for sure. Lachlan definitely brought more specific Cape Epic experience, having now completed the race 4 times. He obviously brought more experience from the road as well, which came in handy managing energy and staying safe in the group. I brought a bit more trail experience from my background, but I was super impressed with his skills and speed on the MTB. In the groups we were racing in, we had an advantage on the technical trails, which felt good.

What are a few data points from the event that stuck out to you?

Total TSS for the 8 days: 1791 TSS
Biggest TSS day: 304 TSS
Biggest KJ day: 5328 KJ
Best 20 min NP on Prologue: 393 NP
Best 20 min NP on Stage 1: 363 NP
Best 20 min NP on Stage 8: 365 NP
Official Race Time: 28:21:45.9
Official Finish: 14th overall

How would you sum up your overall experience at your second Cape Epic in terms of a life experience and as an athletic performance?

My second Cape Epic was awesome, and it only confirmed that this is the race for me. I feel like the match between the demands of this race and my skill set is very strong. I am very happy with how I rode with Lachlan over the 8-days and happy with where I am going into the season.

Finally, do you think you’ll be back for another Cape Epic in the future?

I will 100% be back, already counting down the days.

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Check out the PRECISION 3+ Powermeter that Andrew uses at events like Cape Epic and the Life Time Grand Prix events: 4iiii Power Meters