Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser underlined their Cape Epic title ambitions by registering their third consecutive victory in South Africa. 

Having won both the opening prologue and stage one, the 36ONE Songo Specialized duo captured the 104km second stage, with 2,300m of climbing, in 4:32.43.4 hours to top the overall standings on 9:27.38.0.

Hannes Genze and Jochen Kaess of Multivan Merida Biking crossed the line less than one minute later, their second podium finish of this year’s Cape Epic, to lie second overall on 9:33.56.3.

Last year’s winners Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm (Bulls), in search of a fourth title, moved up to third overall after finishing fifth on Tuesday.

“Today’s stage was hard,” said Stander. “We followed a similar tactic to yesterday and tried to stay in front. Towards the end there were some steep climbs, but Susi (Christoph Sauser) was really strong and I just had to follow his wheel and on the flat stretch power to the end.”

Meanwhile, Eva Lechner and Nathalie Schneitter continue to dominate the women’s race and, like Stander and Sauser, claimed their third win.

The Colnago Arreghini Sudtirol pair finished in 5:56.23.0 to lead overall on 12:27.59.7, 13 minutes, 39 seconds ahead of Sally Bigham and Karien Van Jaarsveld (USN), second on 12:41.38.7, while Naomi Hansen and Jodie Willett (adidas) complete the virtual podium on 13:26.15.4.

Stage three covers 125km from Tulbagh to Worcester, with 1,900m of climbing. Head to www.cape-epic.com for live rider tracking and full results.