Stage 5
CPUT, Wellington – Boschendal, Stellenbosch
93km, 2 500m climbing 

The Big Five

No, not the famous wildlife that roams Africa’s plains: five big climbs dotted across the day’s riding. Being a transition stage there are some forest roads to negotiate, but soon after the start the route turns upwards on the Slangrivier climb. Then it’s on to Patatskloof again – but a different route to Stage 4 – and Beulah, which leads into Hawequa (if you’ve got the time, look out for the great view of the Paarl Rock), and then the Protea climb. As you get close to the Drakenstein Prison – formerly Victor Verster, where the father of South Africa’s democracy, Nelson Mandela, took his first steps after being freed in 1990 – you will be greeted by the rugged Freedom Struggle climb and Bone Rattler descent, Stage 5’s Land Rover Technical Terrain section. All of which might make this the toughest day of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic.