Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser extended their Cape Epic lead by registering a second consecutive victory in South Africa. 

The 36ONE Songo Specialized duo, who won Sunday’s prologue, clocked 3:52.13.9 hours on the 89km stage to sit at the top on the standings on 4:58.17.3 overall.

Urs Huber and Konny Looser (Stöckli Pr) finished second on the stage to lie second overall on 4:58.17.3, while Tim Böhme and Thomas Dietsch (Bulls 2) completed the stage podium to complete the top three on 4:59.49.4 overall.

Last year’s winners Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, in search of a fourth title, are fifth overall, with Sauser and Stander leading them by 5 minutes, 43 seconds.

“We rode well today, had good legs and felt comfortable,” said Stander. “It wasn’t a day for tactics, just really tough up and down, up and down.

“Our full suspension bikes definitely worked – we could see the other guys were all over the place. We rode at our pace, but had problems with a chain and also a flat near the end, but went full force after that again.”

But not all riders returned unscathed, with Kevin Evans (360LIFE), among the pre-race favourites, forced to retire with a broken collarbone.

“I’m really sorry about what happened to Kevin,” said Stander. “The course was hard and you could lose this race on the downhills as well as your career. We took it steady and luckily didn’t have any big problems.”

Evans’ team-mate Christoph Sauser added: “I had a crash early on one of the downhill sections. One needed to be conservative in the downhills today. I prefer to go full out and not ride on my brakes too much, but you need to bear the next day in mind.

“I’m also feeling very sorry for Kevin – it’s the worst thing that can happen to you. This is the most important race of the year and for this to happen on the second day is really bad luck.”

Meanwhile, Eva Lechner and Nathalie Schneitter (Colnago Arreghini Südtirol) also claimed back-to-back victories, finishing stage one in 5:11.16.6 to lead the women’s race on 6:31.36.7.

Sally Bigham and Karien Van Jaarsveld (USN) are second on 6:39.49.1 overall, while  Hanlie Booyens and Ischen Stopforth’s (Absa aBreast) overall time of 6:46.48 is good enough for third.

“I had to work really hard today,” said Schneitter. “I had cramps in my legs. I guess everyone has a bad day and today was mine.

“I even crashed in a sandy corner – my own fault – because I wasn’t concentrating. We tried to drink a lot from the beginning as we’re not accustomed to this heat.”

Stage two tackles a 104km loop in Tulbagh, with 2,300m of climbing. Head to www.cape-epic.com for live rider tracking and full results.