Absa Cape Epic 2014 Stage 4 – the one that makes it all worthwhile

The riders at the Absa Cape Epic have had a real rollercoaster over the last few days. Stage 2 was so muddy that an ‘easy’ stage turned into a bit of a monster, and Stage 3 involved so much wind that a long 134k stage was made even more arduous than it would have been anyway. And it has made for eventful racing at all levels – lots of changes amongst the pros, and plenty of challenges for the amateurs.

But then a day like today comes along, and it all makes sense. Part of my positive impression comes from the fact that I personally felt a lot better today (see below), but trying to be objective as I can, I reckon today was one of the most enjoyable stages of any of the four Epics I have ridden in; and it was right up there amongst all the other stage races or marathons I have done too.

It had everything: jaw-dropping scenery? Check. Decent weather? Check. And fantastic trails? Check. But it is the tough days that make days like this really hit home.

Hopefully the pictures give an impression, but this really was a day for looking up from the trail ahead and taking in the views. Upon leaving Greyton, there was some slightly unpromising farmland traversing, but it soon became apparent why we had done all that, because we came up onto some high fields with absolutely astonishing views of shafts of sunlight piercing low clouds over the foothills of the Sonderend mountain range. And all the way through the stage, the trails passed through low-level bush, studded with vibrant purple flowers.

In particular, the trail up over the hills round the small mission-built town of Genadendal was an absolute gem. A brutally steep switchback climb up from the first water point took the riders up to almost the high point of the stage, before following the ridgeline and then descending back down to the valley. It felt endless while riding it; probably several kilometres. And it felt ‘real’ as well; many trail centres have become more groomed and heavily built, to withstand the weight of riders; and my sense is that the standard trail has become a bit wider; not so much ‘single’ track, and more in the way of berms and jumps. So to ride a trail that was true singletrack was a real pleasure. Not too many twists and turns, just swooping along through the vegetation, using the riders ahead to follow where the trail headed, plants brushing your shins as you went.

And there was plenty more to come – the whole day was dotted with stretches of superb trails, including one more built-up section down through a forest to end the day back into Greyton.

The riders had to work for it; total climbing for the day was less than 2,000m, but what there was was steep.

An eventful day for the top riders

For a ‘short’ stage, the first one of the race (apart from the Prologue) under 100km, this was an eventful one for the leading contenders.

The women’s lead changed hands, Meerendal’s Suss and Bigham suffering rear shock issues and losing a chunk of time to cede the orange jerseys back to RECM’s Kleinhans and Langvad. But by less than two minutes, so this is shaping up to be the exciting race between the two leading favourites that we hoped for.

In the men’s event, the big news of the day was that 10-time Epic finisher Karl Platt of Team Bulls had to pull out after only one kilometre, the damage to his knee from a crash earlier the week too much to continue. Urs Huber finished alone, but that is one of the leading contenders for the overall win now sadly removed from the running.

And yet another new stage winner – Nino Schurter and Philip Buys of Scott-Odlo Racing. This has been a particularly exciting race amongst the men, with no one team dominating either the contest for the leaders’ jerseys or for stage wins.

Team Topeak-Ergon’s Robert Mennen and Kristian Hynek retain the lead, now with a slightly greater cushion over second place, with the withdrawal of the previously second-placed Team Bulls. Multiple event winner Christoph Sauser of Meerendal Songo-Specialized is now in second, a little over ten minutes back.

Team Open-Rotor-Asterion’s race

After a day of feeling utterly dead as a doornail, unsure whether I would be able to finish the day, let alone the week, on Tuesday, followed by a Wednesday which was marginally better but not great, today was so refreshing. The worm turned!

Medicinal application of large quantities of burger and chips, a piece of chocolate cake the size of my head, local beer and Pinotage and then a rare coffee this morning have seemed to do the trick. The legs are back, and it was a great day for them to reappear; it would have been a crying shame to grovel with no legs through a stage that was so enjoyable.

Our overall place is nothing to write home about, having lost something like 90 minutes to two hours on Tuesday; but at least we had a good ride today, for 40^th place overall, making up enough time to get back into the top 100 on GC.

And tomorrow is the monster of the week – almost 3,000m of climbing (bearing in mind that South African vertical metres tend to be harder-won than European marathon ones), and 110k. The main climb is the infamous “Rusty Gate”, 5km long, averaging 10%, midway through the stage. Hopefully the form continues to come back, and as “Team Tall and Small” is pretty skinny, on very light bikes, we ought to be able to acquit ourselves respectably on this kind of terrain.