After sixteen years running, the 2021 Absa Cape Epic MTB stage race sees the event’s first team of Black women to finish, creating a historical mile marker and role models in tandem. The two-person squad, named Team Stadio, is made up of Buhle Beauty Ngobese and Remofilwe Moeketsi.
These two tough women finished the 611km race in 231st position overall, following 49:29 hours of grueling pedaling under the sun. They remained consistent in the general-classification between the prologue and the seventh stage, hovering between 230th and 240th place.
Nontobeko Ngobese, a 33-year-old South African resident, has participated in the event once before in a mixed-gender category, and her countrywoman and teammate, Moeketsi, threw her hat into the Cape Epic ring for the first time this year.
According to News24, the pair found out about their race entry approval in July and put in 10-14 hour training weeks to prepare their cardio and technical abilities for the weeklong course. When asked why she chose to enter the race, Moeketsi replied “Since I started riding in 2018 it got onto my bucket list. I love stretching my physical and mental abilities every now and then. Also to show that we are here as black females, yes our generation is getting onto the wagon a bit late but for future black stars to know that now it is possible. It is to inspire that one day having black people on podiums will be a norm.”
