Zip Ties and Soul: The Legend Who Literally Fixed Her Bike to Save Her Streak
By the time the Absa Cape Epic rolls out in March 2026, the race will once again ask its familiar, brutal question of every rider who dares line up: how badly do you want this? For Hannele Steyn, that question has been answered clearly, repeatedly, and without hesitation, every single year since the race began.
Twenty-one editions. Twenty-one finishes. Every prologue, every transfer, every climb, every descent. Not a single abandoned stage. Not a single missed meter.
Hannele is the only woman and one of just two athletes overall, to have completed every single stage of the ABSA Cape Epic since its inception. In a race defined by attrition, where even legends are eventually broken, her record stands alone. It is not simply a statistic; it is a statement about character, commitment, and an almost unshakeable relationship with suffering.
As the ABSA Cape Epic enters a new era in 2026, with a redesigned women’s elite format aimed at attracting more UCI XCO talent, Hannele will once again take the harder road. She will race the longer, full-distance route, continuing her quiet duel with the last remaining man standing alongside her in this unique club: John Gale. Not for prizes. Not for headlines. But for something deeper, something earned meter by meter.
A Record Built on Relentlessness
To understand the magnitude of Hannele’s achievement, you have to understand the ABSA Cape Epic itself. This is not just an eight-day mountain bike race. It is an endurance trial that strips riders down to their core—physically, mentally, emotionally. Mechanical failures, illness, injuries, extreme heat, freezing rain, soul-crushing climbs and technical descents are not exceptions; they are expected.
Finishing once is an accomplishment. Finishing consistently is rare. Finishing every single edition, across more than two decades of evolving routes, formats, equipment, competition levels and life changes, borders on the unthinkable.
“It is not luck to finish 21 ACE,” Hannele says plainly. “There is a little luck involved, but it takes a lot of sacrifice, sweat, tears, turning plan A to plan Z, pushing through injuries, falls, mechanicals, illness and a LOT of grace.”
Grace is not often associated with the ABSA Cape Epic. But in Hannele’s case, it fits. Her journey has been one of adaptation rather than stubborn resistance, of learning when to push and when to respect her limits, without ever surrendering her commitment to finish.
From Pro Racer to the Lioness Mindset
Hannele did not always ride the ABSA Cape Epic as she does now. Like many elite athletes, she came from a background defined by results, podiums and an all-consuming desire to win.
“I used to be a very selfish, focused racer where winning was the only thing,” she admits. “It took me a VERY long time to change from pro to competitive to ‘racing’ within my ability.”
That transition, arguably harder than any physical challenge the ABSA Cape Epic throws at its riders, marks one of the most compelling chapters in her story. Letting go of who you were as an athlete, without letting go of why you ride, requires humility and courage.
In the past five years, Hannele has learned to listen to her body and her mind in ways she never did before. She speaks openly about health, sustainability, and the importance of joy, concepts once seen as luxuries in elite endurance sport.
“I loved every minute of pushing myself into the red and racing for the win,” she says. “But now I can tap off when I feel it is not enjoyable or good for my health.”
This evolution is deeply tied to her involvement in the #SheUntamed initiative, which has shifted her focus outward, toward community, mentorship, and giving back. The ABSA Cape Epic, once a battleground for results, has become a moving classroom for life lessons.
The Lioness and the ABSA Cape Epic’s Changing Face
The 2026 ABSA Cape Epic marks a significant shift in the women’s elite race, with shorter stages designed to better align with the UCI XCO calendar and attract top cross-country athletes. Predictably, the change has sparked debate. Less predictably, Hannele’s response has been measured, thoughtful, and supportive.
“I am excited for this new change,” she says. “People must not see it as the Epic changing the Epic but rather adding a very exciting initiative to the race.”
Her perspective carries weight because no one alive has raced more ABSA Cape Epic kilometers than she has. She understands, perhaps better than anyone, that growth requires evolution. The race could have stayed the same, but it would not have become what it is today.
From her vantage point, the new format unlocks opportunities long denied to women’s racing: better media coverage, stronger sponsorship interest, closer racing, and a finish-line narrative where spectators might genuinely see women arrive first overall.
“The previous format took away from the coverage of the women,” she explains. “By the time the first women came in, most people had already left… the focus on the first women got diluted.”
The change, she believes, is not about reducing difficulty, but about recalibrating it to create equality of opportunity rather than identical suffering.
Choosing the Harder Road – Again
Despite her support for the new elite format, Hannele’s personal choice for 2026 is unequivocal: she will race the full distance.
If all women had been forced onto the shorter route, she says without hesitation, she would have fought to remain on the longer one. Not out of defiance, but out of respect for the unique battle she has been fighting for years, the quiet, symbolic duel to be the last person standing.
“It would have been sad for me to not be able to see the fight for the last person standing stop by default,” she says.
In 2026, that fight continues against John Gale, the only other rider still chasing the same improbable record. There is no prize money for this contest. No special classification. Just two athletes, bound by history, refusing to let the story end quietly.
Endurance, Redefined
For years, endurance was the defining currency of the women’s ABSA CapeEpic. With the new format, the skill set will evolve but not disappear.
“I doubt it will take away the endurance riders,” Hannele says. “It will still be long and tough and eight days.”
What changes is the nature of the racing: more attacking, more tactics, more opportunities to claw back time. Early leads will matter less. Adaptability will matter more.
It is, in many ways, a reflection of Hannele’s own career, proof that endurance is not just about distance or hours in the saddle, but about the ability to adjust, respond, and persist as the landscape shifts.
Pain, Perspective, and Mental Armor
Ask any ABSA Cape Epic finisher what truly defines the race, and they will tell you: it is not the legs, but the mind.
“Every rider’s body is tired by day four or five,” Hannele says. “Then it is the battle of mental strength.”
Her coping strategy is brutally simple: accept the pain. Not resist it. Not dramatize it. Just endure it longer than your doubts.
This mindset has followed her off the bike. Consistency, humility, and authenticity now define her version of success, not podiums or comparisons, but alignment between effort and purpose.
When Quitting Was Never an Option
Perhaps the most telling insight into Hannele’s character comes not from triumph, but from adversity.
In 2022, her bike broke in two at the rear shock. Many riders would have accepted the inevitable. Hannele rode on, had it temporarily repaired with wire and zip ties, then stood for the final 25 kilometers to avoid snapping it again.
In 2025, she crashed, broke a finger, destroyed her derailleur and shoe and immediately calculated the distance to the next tech point.
“NEVER,” she says, when asked if quitting ever felt logical.
If there is a chance, any chance, she will keep moving.
The Lioness, Defined
Ask Hannele to describe the Lioness mindset, and she does not hesitate:
Strong. Grateful. Passionate.
These are not slogans. They are earned descriptors, forged across 21 years of Africa’s toughest mountain bike race.
As the 2026 ABSA Cape Epic approaches, the spotlight will shine on new formats, new stars, and new narratives. But somewhere in the field, riding every meter once again, will be a woman who embodies the race more completely than almost anyone who has ever lined up.
The ABSA Cape Epic will ask its question again.
And Hannele Steyn will answer it one pedal stroke at a time.
Hanneles’ sponsors:
ABSA: 5 yrs
PVM nutrition: 30 yrs
POLAR IHF Products: 31 yrs
VSI bikes: 6 yrs
TSU Protection: 3 yrs
I love boobies: 4 yrs
VivoVitaSport: 4 yrs
CWC Cycle Lab: 2 yrs
RBC tech: 3 yrs
MZN: 8 yrs
Rudy Project: 2 yrs
AWA attorneys: 5 yrs