The third Absa Cape Epic has reached its half-way point. Here’s the story so far:

Christoph Sauser and an elephant (Pic: Ian Sadler)

Stage 1 – Knysna to Saasveld

523 two-rider teams started at 7.15am on the first day at Knysna, South Africa, heading for the finish line in Spier 921km and eight days later. And it rained, making the 128.5km first stage between Knysna Quays Waterfront and Saasveld Forestry Traing College even more challenging. Several technical downhils conspired with the bad weather and distance to make brake failure a common problem. Hot favourites to win are World Cup Champion Christoph Sauser and team-mate Silvio Bundi (Specialized), and they donned the yellow Adidas leaders’ jerseys at the end of the first stage having pulled out a nine and a half minute lead over second-placed Team Stevens.

“That was a tough day,” said Sauser. “Over four hours in the rain, but it was quite warm so it was actually OK. We were in the lead but we had a puncture after 25km. It took us three minutes to fix it and then an hour to catch up to the leaders. At that time Team Stevens was in front. We attacked at the last technical downhill right before the second watering point and at the next climb we took off. It was our goal to get a comfortable lead on the first day. Now we must ride smart, safe and save energy. We have seven more stages to go through in South Africa’s outback.”

Two Cape Epic virgins snatched the leader jerseys in the Women category. Transrockies Champion Sabine Grona (GER) and Kerstin Brachtendorf (GER) of team adidas Fiat Rotwild won the demanding first stage, despite Brachtendorf suffering from a cold – their goal was just to take things steadily and aim to finish. They ended the day with a lead of more than 17 minutes over Sandra Lettner (AUT) and Lisi Hager (AUT). America’s Go Fast Girls Barbara Kreisle and Christina Begy placed third. The leading women raced two hours longer than the winners in the Men category.

“Kerstin was amazing,” said Sabine. “She is so strong. I am actually worried that when she feels 100 percent I will not be able to keep up with her.” Both girls raved about the cheering spectators along the route. “I was impressed how many people came out to watch the race despite the bad weather,” commented Kerstin. “Looking back it was actually a great ride. I just hope I will do better tomorrow.”

The Cape Epic’s second stage will lead the riders over 116 kilometres and 2020 vertical metres from Saasveld to Mosselbay. The long but fairly fast ride will award the mountain bikers with some spectacular ocean views and a finish line right at the beach. The highlight of the day is a section through Botlierskop – a private Big Five Game Reserve.

Stage 2 – Saasveld to Mosselbay

Considerably better conditions greeted the field for Stage 2. The first 50km took the riders through forestry where they could enjoy spectacular crystal clear views all the way down to the sea. After traversing some rolling hills the teams entered Botlierskop, a Big Five Game Reserve North of Mosselbay, giving them technically challenging up- and downhills and also some unusual hazards – Men’s leaders Sauser and Bundi had to share part of the path with two elephants and wildebeest, Mixed leaders Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer and Jörg Scheiderbauer came across a pack of hyenas, and the leaders in the Women’s category, Sabine Grona and Kerstin Brachtendorf, were welcomed by a herd of impala.

All the leading teams successfully defended their positions. “I felt much better,”, said Sauser, “but that was mainly due to the fact that the weather was nice. The wind, however, was tough especially in the flat sections. There we all worked together. We were riding with Mannie, Kevin, Karl, Carsten, Johannes and Christian. For the last hour we were on our own, because we attacked on a steep climb and tried to gain a bit more lead time over the others.”

“Today was a joyride”, raved Jörg Scheiderbauer who was leading the Mixed category with his wife Anna. “That was the best stage I have ever ridden in a stage race. I had so much fun.” Anna wasn’t so sure: “Today was really hard for me, especially with the wind. We rode with the leading masters almost all the way until 90km and it was unbelievably hard for me to keep the pace of the bunch. But I also enjoyed the downhill sections and the game viewing. I am exhausted, but it was a stunning ride.” At one point, the German couple was only ten minutes behind the leaders.

Stage 3 – Mosselbay to Riversdale

Stage 3 saw the tightest sprint finish in the history of The Cape Epic, with the organisers having to analyse TV footage to decide who won. It’s the position of the second rider in each team that gives the team’s time, which potentially makes things a bit complicated if a bunch of riders all finish almost simultaneously. On this occasion nine teams finished within eight seconds. But after 122km it was former Cape Epic winners Karl Platt and Carsten Bresser (Rocky Mountain) who celebrated their first stage win. Second was Team Texnter Stoeckli (Sandro Spaeth, Thomas Zahnd) and third was Adidas Raleigh (Mannie Heymans, Kevin Evans). Stage 3 was considerably less technical than the first two, with wide tracks and rolling hills encouraging groups to form and keeping the pace high.

“Today we started more relaxed and took an easy pace,” commented Platt. “We were all riding in a big group. In fact we were going so slow that the group became bigger and bigger and we were joined by more and more amateur riders. That’s when we started to get a little bit nervous, because many of these guys are excellent mountain bikers but they don’t necessarily know how to move in a bunch. And that can actually be quite unfavourable – you don’t want to end a race because of a silly move resulting in a crash.” The top riders decided to break away, and towards the finish Platt and Bresser applied their city-centre criterium experience to the bunch finish – Bresser went first, took the rest of the bunch with him and then Platt sprung a surprise attach over the line.

Different faces on the day’s podium, then, but no change in the overall lead – Sauser and Bundi were in the lead group, only a second behind.

Stage 4 – Riversdale to Swellendam

Not much flat riding for the field on Stage 4 – nearly half of the 132km went uphill, passing through Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve and Bontebok National Park. The pro riders set a fast pace from the start, keen to avoid the build-up of large groups, but the nature of the terrain meant that that situation was never all that likely to occur. Sauser and Bundi attacked on one of the substantial climbs, with only Team Stevens able to stay with them. But three chasing teams – Rocky Mountain (Platt/Bresser), Adidas William Simpson (Brandon Stuart/Shan Wilson) and Adidas Raleigh (Mannie Heymans/Kevin Evans) – worked together along a 15km Tarmac section to close the gap.

The stage came down to the last five hundred metres and a final, short, steep climb. The Specialized pair of Sauser and Bundi proved unbeatable, but a tight battle for second saw Team Stevens just edging out Stuart and Wilson. The Adidas William Simpson riders weren’t too disappointed, though – this was their first podium position of the race. Team Rocky Mountain came in fourth. Sauser and Bundi have a healthy 13+ minute advantage in the overall standings, although second-placed Team Stevens only has a one minute cushion ahead of the Rocky riders.

Also maintaining a healthy lead is Team Adidas Fiat Rotwild in the Women’s category. Sabine Grona and Kerstin Brachtendorf were so far ahead that they decided to take it easy on stage four and check out the competiton: “We wanted to see how strong the other girls are in the climbs and also observe their team tactics”, Sabine said. They still won, and have a 25 minute lead going into Stage 5. That’s all the more impressive considering that Grona is allergic to protein and gluten and thus has a somewhat restricted diet. She’s racing on rice, dried fruit and her homemade muesli with rice milk. She can’t use energy gels or powders, either: “In the race I fill my bottle with a mixture of corn starch and water” – tasty…

Overall positions after Stage 4

Men

1. Sauser/Bundi – 18:03:48
2. Heule/Sickmeuler – 18:16:53
3. Bresser /Platt – 18:17:58

Women

1. Grona/Brachtendorf – 23:44:12
2. Hager/Lettner – 24:40:34
3. Begy/Kreisle – 26:41:09

Master

1. Ruddock/von Onselen 20:14:18
2. Du Toit/Muller – 20:53:35
3. Vanaken/Hendrickx – 21:22:18

Mixed

1. Baylis-Scheiderbauer/Scheiderbauer – 20:27:42
2. Maechler/Rupp – 21:06:30
3. Erlank/Kotze – 21:15:57