Spitz and Belomoina take Cape Epic stage victory

Mountain bike legend and Olympic gold medallist Sabine Spitz of Germany seems to be taking a liking to the Absa Cape Epic and today she and teammate Yana Belomoina swept to an impressive win in the race’s Queen Stage.

Spitz and her Ukranian partner punched the air as they finished the 93km Stage 5 nearly two minutes ahead of overall women leaders Ariane Kleinhans of Switzerland and Annika Langvad of Denmark (Spur-Specialized). It’s unlikely that this sort of pairing could have occured without changes to the elite women’s rules – and the race this year is more exciting thanks to the changes.

It was a day in which the race leaders took a back seat in both the Men’s and Women’s categories.

Nicola Rohrbach and Matthias Pfrommer of Team Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2 claimed their second stage win of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic in a sprint finish under the oak trees of Boschendal Wine Estate, Stellenbosch.

The “back up” Centurion Vaude outfit only came together about a week before the event, but they’ve pieced together an impressive race to now sit second in the overall standings. Rohrbach and Pfrommer finished the 93km Stage 5 in 4:07.04,4.

Second on the day went to overall race leaders Karl Platt and Urs Huber, who finished right behind Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2. Huber, in fact was first over the line, but Rohrbach and Pfrommer had positioned themselves between Huber and Platt to be the first pair to finish the stage.

This lead to a minor kerfuffle at the finish, with Platt unhappy at the way Rohrbach and Pfrommer had pushed hard into the final corner – a potentially dangerous, yet race legal move so late in the day. It was all handshakes moments later, though, with Platt congratulating the race debutants on their Stage 5 victory.

With five imposing climbs between Wellington and Boschendal Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, Stage 5 of the Absa Cape Epic was billed as the Queen Stage of the 2016 event. Even those at the front are feeling the effects of what’s turning out to be one of the hardest routes in years.

“It was tough again today,” said Team Bulls’ Urs Huber. “I think because we have been going fast from the beginning every day has been hard.”

Huber, composed as always even moments after a day of racing, says the Bulls pair is now only focussing on maintaining their lead at the top and getting their hands on the 2016 Absa Cape Epic trophy. “We were not looking at the stage win today. Right now our first goal is to win the Cape Epic. If we are in a position for more stage wins we will take it, but the priority is to wrap the event up.”

For Rohrbach and Pfrommer, the general classification is also a priority. Currently sitting in second overall with a seven minute lead over third-placed Samuele Porro and Damiano Ferraro (Trek-Selle San Marco A), the pair started the day in a watchful mood due to Pfrommer crashing on Stage 4. Once they realised he was feeling okay, they hit their groove. “When Matthias felt that the injury was not too bad we got into the front today,” said Rohrbach. “We went with the Bulls and worked together. We were not focussed on the stage win at all, but we are happy to take it.”

It was a good day for Centurion Vaude, with their other team – Daniel Geismayr and Hermann Pernsteiner – coming home third.

Spitz and Belomoina won the Women’s Category in a time of 4:51.06,5.

The Sport for Good pairing have improved day-by-day this week as they have been getting used to the rigours of the Absa Cape Epic.

“We were supposed to win yesterday on the ‘cross-country’ stage but coming first on the Queen Stage is pretty good,” said an elated Spitz, riding her first Absa Cape Epic.

The 44-year-old revealed that the decisive moment for Sport for Good came in the final 10km of the stage.

“I must say that Annika is riding amazingly well. She’s so strong, especially on the flat where Ariane sometimes struggles. We were together with them all the way until we got to a sandy section where Annika had to wait. That was the moment we got a gap.”

Riders awoke to mild conditions in Wellington, with predicted rain only falling for a short while and helping Spitz and her 23-year-old partner’s cause.

“We hoped that it wouldn’t rain the whole day but in the end was only for an hour or so. That made the surface much better for riding as the dust settled and it was compact. It allowed us to ride consistently.”

Belomoina came across the line smiling from ear to ear, a clear sign that the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Under-23 champion is finding her feet on the trails of the Western Cape.

“I’m feeling very strong,” she said. “I think I’m getting better and better and I’m very happy to win a stage at the Cape Epic.”

Meanwhile, a relaxed looking Langvad did not seem too concerned about finishing second. Moments after crossing the line, 1.59,7 behind the Sport for Good pair, she said it had been a “perfect day … it only got hot towards the end after being quite cool”.

The Dane and Kleinhans both also punched the air as they finished, with the former admitting that they were surprised how well they handled the day’s climbing.

“With all the climbing we didn’t think we would be superior because our competitors are very good climbers. So we were actually surprised; we paced ourselves very well and got a good result out of it in the end.”

Kleinhans was not willing to let her thoughts turn to the grand finale at Meerendal yet. “To win a third title in a row would be an absolute dream, but I don’t really want to talk about it apart from saying we will give it our all to achieve it.”

Langvad was thankful that they’ve built up a big enough lead that they won’t have to panic if anything goes wrong during tomorrow’s 69km stage in and around Stellenbosch or Sunday’s return to Meerendal.

“With two days to go the lead we have gives us a very nice feeling. We appreciate every second so to add another minute today is perfect. It means that if we get a puncture or anything we can take our time fixing it.”

Sally Bigham and Adel Morath (Topeak Ergo) remain in second place overall in the Women’s Category and are enjoying the racing this year: “Today was a good mixture of trails and we really enjoyed it when all three teams were riding together. It shows that the separate starts are working well and makes it much more interesting for me as an athlete… previously the women’s race wasn’t fair enough,” said Bigham. “It has been a step forward for the race, made it more exciting for the riders and more interesting for spectators as we’ve seen with different winners this week.”

Meanwhile, Masters category leaders Bart Brentjens of the Netherlands and Brazilian Abraao Azevedo (CST Superior Brentjens) extended their lead in the category to 35 minutes by winning their fourth stage in a row. Second-placed challengers Nic White and Adrian Enthoven (White Inc) finished fifth on the day but remain second while Australian pair Damien Jones and Brad Clarke (Hampton Cycles) are now lying third.

In the Grand Masters category pre-race favourites Barti Bucher and Heinz Zoerweg (Meerendal BIXS KTM) picked up their first win of the race, finishing just 1,4 seconds ahead of overall leaders Robert Sim and Udo Boelts (Robert Daniel). Sim and his Tour de France veteran partner have a nearly 28 minute overall lead so seem destined to hold it until the race finishes on Sunday.

South Africans Andrew Mclean and Doug Brown remain in third place.

In the Mixed category French team Jean-Francois Bossler and Fanny Bourdon (Open-Kappius Components) are now a commanding 49 minutes ahead of second-placed Hans Fluck and Anita Bucher (Giant Obwalden).

Rilamulele Gadabeni and Tovhowani Mavundadavhi (Exxaro/Tronox) have moved into the lead if the Exxaro special jersey race by more than an hour from Anele Mtalana and Tshepo Tlou (Exxaro/EOH).

Full results can be found online.