Cape Epic - Keegan Swenson

I am just a casual fan of Lifetime and Cape Epic, but it seems Keegan is on the struggle bus at Cape Epic. Matt Beers is pulling him home on both stages so far. In the US it's the opposite, Keegan is typically in a different class from Matt on Gravel. The prologue (a sprint) made sense for Keegan to struggle with. But I thought he would shine in the 3+ hour days. But Stage 1 saw Matt towing him again.

Is the Epic so vastly different? Or is there an underlying issue? Keegan has a MTB background, so it shouldn't be a technical skill issue.