In 2014 the top Master’s Category team finished 14th overall, a remarkable achievement for riders of over 40 competing against the best in the world. Incredibly, the top Grand Masters – each partner being over 50 – finished 15th.
The racing in these and the Mixed categories has increased markedly in intensity over recent years and 2015 is shaping up to be no exception.
The 2014 Masters champions, former Olympic gold medalist and overall Absa Cape Epic winner Bart Brentjens (Netherlands) and Abraao Azevedo (Brazil) will be back together and probable favourites. Their greatest challenge may come from Azevedo’s 2013 Absa Cape Epic partner and multiple Absa Cape Epic category winner, Nico Pfitzenmeier, who has teamed up with fellow South African Robert Sim for the 2015 event.
Formidable 2011 Masters winners Carsten Bresser and Udo Boelts of Germany are back for 2015 and will also be in the mix. South Africans Warren Squires and Nic White finished third in the category last year and are back together this year. They will be hoping to take a step or two up the podium.
The Grand Master’s Category was only introduced in 2013 but has rapidly become a fiercely contested race. The 2015 winners, South Africa’s Andrew Mclean and Austria’s Heinz Zoerweg, will be back this year but with different partners. Local star Mclean will be riding with fellow South African Greg Andersen, while Zoerweg has teamed up with apparently ageless Swiss rider Barti Bucher, who will start as favourites.
There are few tested combinations in the Mixed Category and the racing should be wide open. The winners could come from the pairing of South Africa’s Nizaam Essa and England’s Catherine Williamson, Germany’s Ivonne Kraft and Slovenian Peter Vesel or South Africans Hanele Steyn and Fourie Kotze.
Keep an eye out too for the combination of former South African rugby World Cup winner and five times Absa Cape Epic finisher Joel Stransky and Anriette Schoeman, for years South Africa’s top road rider and now a committed mountain biker doing the race for the first time.
Category podium contenders:
| Category | Team Name | Rider # | Rider Name | Rider # | Rider Name |
| Masters | BETCH.nl-Superior | 60-1 | Bart Brentjens | 60-2 | Abraao Azevedo |
| Masters | Dietrich/Rocky Mountain | 61-1 | Carsten Bresser | 61-2 | Udo Boelts |
| Masters | Dorma / Robert Daniel | 62-1 | Nico Pfitzenmaier | 62-2 | Robert Sim |
| Masters | Absa Corporate Masters | 63-1 | Warren Squires | 63-2 | Nic White |
| Masters | CHIC Foundation Flyers | 64-1 | Geddan Ruddock | 64-2 | Neil Bradford |
| Grand Masters | Meerendal Songo BiXS | 65-1 | Barti Bucher | 65-2 | Heinz Zoerweg |
| Grand Masters | Ascendis Health | 66-1 | Greg Anderson | 66-2 | Andrew Mclean |
| Grand Masters | Nampak | 67-1 | Lieb Loots | 67-2 | Izak Visagie |
| Grand Masters | AAA & BBC | 68-1 | Peter Selkrig | 68-2 | Garry James |
| Grand Masters | Pitstop1Sport24hrs | 69-1 | Waleed Baker | 69-2 | Glen Haw |
| Mixed | Asrin Cycling | 70-1 | Nizaam Essa | 70-2 | Catherine Williamson |
| Mixed | ETIS | 71-1 | Peter Vesel | 71-2 | Ivonne Kraft |
| Mixed | Meerendal Wheeler 4 | 72-1 | Sabina Compassi | 72-2 | Paul Buhler |
| Mixed | Liqui Fruit | 73-1 | Joel Stransky | 73-2 | Anriette Schoeman |
| Mixed | Meerendal BiXS | 74-1 | Laura Turpijn | 74-2 | Richard Scott |
| Mixed | Open-Kappius-Sir Richards | 75-1 | Jean-francois Bossler | 75-2 | Coralie Redelsperger |
| Mixed | Josef Ajram Tares | 76-1 | Josef Ajram | 76-2 | Mayalen Noriega |
| Mixed | ENS | 77-1 | Rene Haselbacher | 77-2 | Sabine Sommer |
Karl Platt and Christoph Sauser win NTT Masters category in fine style
