Cape Epic: Duct tape saves stage 1 for new women's leaders Wakefield and Lill

Candice Lill and Amy Wakefield during stage 1 of the 2023 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Hermanus High School in Hermanus, South Africa on the 20 th March 2023. Photo Sam Clark
Candice Lill and Amy Wakefield during stage 1 of the 2023 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Hermanus High School in Hermanus, South Africa on the 20 th March 2023. Photo Sam Clark (Image credit: Sam Clark/Absa Cape Epic)

Thanks to a bit of duct tape to close a wound on the arm of Amy Wakefield, she and  her South African teammate Candice Lill (e-FORT.net-SeattleCoffeeCo) went from considering an abandon on stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic to power on to a victory, that also put them in the overall race lead.

For the first half of the windy 98km day, with everything from steep single-track climbs to wild mountain descents, it was a compact race for the three leading women's duos of Sofia Gomez Villafane and Katerina Nash (NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized), Lill and Wakefield  plus Kim le Court and Vera Looser (Efficient Infiniti Insure). 

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.