The third stage of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic brought drama and delight – it just depended what team you were in.
Swede Jennie Stenerhag, second overall in the women’s category with South African Robyn de Groot (Team Ascendis Health), collapsed over the finish line after a tough and very hot 104km ride. She was immediately taken to the race hospital by stretcher to be checked out.
Stenerhag later pulled out of the race and De Groot indicated that she would probably continue on her own as an Outcast – a UCI rider whose partner has left the race. Team Ascendis Health announced on twitter that Stenerhag “cannot continue due to illness”.
And men’s challenger Kristian Hynek took a nasty tumble towards the end of the stage and crossed the line with a bloodied arm and battered ribs. He too was taken off to hospital for x-rays.
The overnight leaders in both categories meanwhile consolidated their positions.
Coming into the 2016 Absa Cape Epic, Karl Platt and Urs Huber (Team Bulls) had already enjoyed a string of excellent results on South African soil. So it should come as no surprise that Platt and Huber are dominating the Absa Cape Epic this year. With a third stage win on the ride from Tulbagh to Wellington Platt and Huber have moved nine minutes ahead of their nearest rivals, another German-Swiss team in the shape of Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2’s Matthias Pfrommer and Nicola Rohrbach. The 2016 Stage 3 win is also Platt’s 17th stage victory in 12 Absa Cape Epics.
Both have also spent time training and riding the trails in Wellington, which gave them a clear advantage in the last kilometres of today’s stage.
“In the last 30km we went very hard,” said Platt. “We know the trails well here, so we knew we could push and make a move the closer we got to the finish.”
Platt said the strategy for the stage was to keep it cool and also keep an eye on their nearest rivals until it was time to strike. “We put the pressure on after Bain’s Kloof Pass,” said Platt. “Simon Stiebjahn went into the trails ahead of us like a cannonball and we just followed him. There were two or three teams going into the trees at full pace, but we knew we could follow Simon and trust in his and our knowledge of the trails. It was another good day for us, and we are very happy to be home in first again.”
Simon Stiebjahn of Team Bulls 2 has an issue with his bike during stage 3. Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Two minutes back on the day were Stage 2 winners, Team Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2. Pfrommer and Rohrbach are enjoying a solid Absa Cape Epic debut, but admitted that after two days of furious racing the pace at the front is starting to take its toll.
“We’re very happy with the second place, but the pace was fast today,” said Pfrommer. “I don’t want to say it is too fast for us, but Karl and Urs were really going. It’s a good day, but it was hard work out there.”
For the third place overall team, Topeak Ergon Racing, there was more bad luck after a broken shoe derailed their Stage 2 efforts.
In the last five kilometres of Stage 3, previous winner Hynek took a nasty tumble that required medical attention to a bloodied arm on the finish line. Topeak Ergon Racing finished third on the day, but Hynek and Alban Lakata are now 11 minutes behind Team Bulls in the hunt for first place.
At the time of writing, Hynek had been sent to hospital for X-rays, after which the team were to make a decision on his ability to continue in the race.
In the Absa African Special Jersey competition, Team USN Purefit’s Darren Lill and Waylon Woolcock strengthened their grip on the red rider jersey. Finishing seventh on Stage 3, they now have a 15-minute lead on their nearest African challengers, Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell of NAD Pro MTB.
“We felt good again today,” said Waylon Woolcock, “We spent some time riding with the front bunch until Darren punctured on the first climb. After a quick repair we stayed calm and just rode at our own pace to the finish. Things are going well so far.”
Damiano Ferraro of Italy fully focussed during stage 3 Photo by Mark Sampson/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Langvad and Kleinhans improve their lead
In the women’s race Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad of Spur-Specialized moved a step closer to clinching their third straight Absa Cape Epic title by winning Stage 3 in a time of 5:18.47.
While the Swiss-Danish pair arrived at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Wellington campus 32,1 seconds ahead of the Topeak Ergon and added another 1.11,3 to their overall lead on Ascendis Health, they didn’t have it all their own way on Wednesday.
“I didn’t see that coming,” Langvad told Kleinhans as they celebrated their victory.
The three contenders in the Sasol Women’s category, as well as Sport for Good, remained within a minute of each other at all three water points on the 104km transition stage from Tulbagh. While it didn’t end in a sprint finish, they all described the racing as fierce and exactly what the women’s category has been calling out for.
“It was a very close race and we had no idea how it was going to finish. The racing was super close and very tough because we were all together until the last 20 kilometres or so,” said Langvad.
“We didn’t win because we were stronger today, but only because we chose best when to use our advantage. After the last descent we went through vineyards and the corners were very slippery… that’s where we made our advantage count.”
Sally Bigham consoles Adel Morath after stage 3 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic – Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Among the triumphant scenes of Kleinhans and Langvad, were the tears of Adel Morath (Topeak Ergon) and clear signs of the day’s toil when Stenerhag required medical attention.
“Today was the best women’s stage that I’ve been involved in during my Cape Epic history,” said Morath’s partner Sally Bigham, riding in her sixth straight Absa Cape Epic. “We had a great time and really enjoyed the close racing. The separate starts worked well today and it will be very good for the sport if we have more racing like today – there was lots of attacking and counter-attacking.”
Morath echoed Bigham’s sentiments. “It was an amazing stage… we watched each other, we attacked each other, it was very tactical. It was super hard so in the end everyone was suffering and looking forward to seeing the finish line.”
“Look, there were sections that were very hot,” revealed De Groot before adding that they had too enjoyed the stage. The racing was actually very exciting. It was a proper race today…”
Riders during stage 3 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic – Photo by Sam Clark/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Meanwhile, Bart Brentjens of the Netherlands and Brazilian Abraao Azevedo (CST Superior Brentjens) have taken control of the Masters Category – in which both riders are over 40 – after winning their second stage in a row. The defending category champions won Stage 3 by 14 minutes from Australians Damien Jones and Brad Clarke (Hampton Cycles) but more importantly finished 15 minutes ahead of overnight leaders Adrian Enthoven and Nic White (White Inc). The South African pair are now second in the category, nearly 12 minutes back overall.
In the Grand Masters Category – both riders over 50 – the South African/German combination of Robert Sim and former Tour de France rider Udo Boelts have have taken a firm grip with another stage win. They now have a 25-minute lead over Austrian Heinz Zoerweg and Swiss Barti Bucher (Meerendal BIXS KTM), who finished second today, and 30 minutes over South Africans Andrew Mclean and Doug Brown.
The Mixed category is being dominated by French team Jean-Francois Bossler and Fanny Bourdon (Open-Kappius Components), who are now 40 minutes ahead of second-placed Hans Fluck and Anita Bucher (Giant Obwalden).
Jean-Francois Bossler and Fanny Bourdon during stage 3 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race
Phillimon Sebona and Lucky Mlangeni (Exxaro/PwC) have an almost unassailable lead in the race for the Exxaro special jersey and are now one hour and 13 minutes ahead of second-placed Rilamulele Gadabeni and Tovhowani Mavundadavhi (Exxaro/Tronox).