 | Paarl’s trails ready to guarantee Epic riders once-in-a-lifetime experience
17 March 2025 | Press Releases |
17 March 2025
With the premier mountain bike race, the Absa Cape Epic, coming to Paarl and Drakenstein for four days this week, Drakenstein Municipality as official destination partner has been pulling out all stops to ensure that the courageous riders find this section of their 700km route in pristine condition.
Stages 3 and 4 will be thrilling full stages on and around the spectacular Paarl Mountain, taking place on 19 and 20 March 2025 respectively, while Stages 2 and 5 will arrive and depart from Paarl on 18 and 21 March 2025. Over 200km of the Epic's 2025 route will showcase Paarl's exquisite and adventurous trails, as well as its vibrant town and friendly, sport-loving community.
Councillor Stephen Korabie, Executive Mayor of Drakenstein Municipality, says the Municipality is committed to delivering a world-class event. “We want the riders, support teams, and spectators to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime Absa Cape Epic and that is why we, together with our partner Paarl Trails, have been putting in a significant amount of hard work to ensure that Paarl section of the route is in pitch-perfect condition."
The Municipality's restoration and maintenance work have been concentrating mainly on roads and trails in the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, following earlier heavy rains as well as veld fires in the area.
Altogether 32km of gravel roads have been scraped with a grader, while sections of Jan Phillips Drive have been filled with red laterite gravel – a type of gravel which offers durability and hardness to the road surface as well as better drainage. The big plus is that it guarantees great traction for mountain bikers. Laterite's colour also ensures that it blends in with the natural surroundings.
The Municipality's teams have also been repairing the main roads that traverse the Absa Cape Epic's route. In addition, the teams performed firebreak maintenance from December last year to February this year, covering almost 8km on the eastern boundary of the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve. Contracting teams and their tractors are still hard at work creating firebreaks over the remaining 9.8km.
Over the same period, the Municipality's Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve and Parks teams have cleared more than 22km's roadsides with brush cutters, chainsaws, chippers and tractors. They have also been hard at work clearing obstructive vegetation on and along trails to give participants a smooth riding experience.
“With the powerful global television coverage that the Epic expects to generate, the eyes of the sporting world will be on Paarl and Drakenstein and we want to ensure that our destination shines on the world stage. A heartfelt thank you to all role-players, and especially Paarl Trails, who have so far contributed to transforming our section of the Epic route into an exhilarating and unforgettable one," said the Executive Mayor.
[END]
Issued by: Communication and Marketing, Drakenstein Municipality
