Rain everywhere you look. In terms of weather, this year's Absa Cape Epic does not appear to be in a good light. Due to the heavy rain of the previous night, the trails of the 103-kilometer stage around Arabella Wines were extremely soft and so there were many cancellations on the second day as well. Falls again played a far too big role.
While Karl Platt fell right after the start, Robert Mennen and Kristian Hynek from the Topeak-Ergon team had a flawless ride despite the adverse conditions. "Because of all the rain and mud, I had to take off my glasses after just under ten kilometers", according to Hynek. His teammate Mennen is aware of how lucky he was not to have suffered any defects and is happy about the stage victory. “We had really good legs today, but we didn't have any defects either, in contrast to many other teams...that was our great luck today."
Platt and Huber drove a strong race after the mistake and fought their way back to second position only two minutes behind. "It was a stupid fall. It was extremely slippery and I couldn't keep my line, my front wheel slipped and I was prone. My motivation went down the drain, but we fought and were able to make up a lot of ground.", said Karl Platt on today's race. Nevertheless, with this good result they take over the overall ranking.
Third place went to the German/German team Bulls 2 with Tim Böhme and Simon Stiebjahn. Yesterday's winners, Markus Kaufmann and Jochen Käß, suffered a broken frame after a fall, which they repaired with impressive improvisation using cable ties. They finished almost two hours behind the leaders. Multiple Cape Epic winner Christoph Sauser also had a less than good day. He struggled with brake problems and lost valuable time with his partner.
Ariane Kleinhans and Annike Langvad celebrated a strong comeback today. After an unsuccessful first day, they secured the day's victory with a lead of 8.46,1:XNUMX minutes. They reduce their gap to the overall leaders Esther Süss and Sally Bigham to almost fourteen minutes. “Today it was important not to get into any problems. The conditions were really difficult but we had a good day”, according to Kleinhans.
Jennie Stenerhag and Theresa Ralph of the Cape Brewing Company team complete today's women's podium.
result men
1. Robert Mennen / Kristian Hynek (Topeak Ergon) 4:12.17,0
2. Karl Platt / Urs Huber (Team Bulls) +1.25,7
3. Tim Boehme / Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls 2) +5.02,7
4. Konny Looser / Hannes Genze (Meerendal Centurion Wheeler) +7.38,5
5. Roel Paulissen / Riccardo Chiarini (Torpado Factory) +9.08,3
result women
1. Ariane Kleinhans / Annika Langvad (RECM 2) 4:53.07,5
2. Esther Suss / Sally Bigham (Meerendal) +8.46,1
3. Jennie Stenerhag / Theresa Ralph (Cape Brewing Company) +19.04,9
4. Sara Mertens / Laura Turpijn (Meerendal Wheeler 2) +36.19,0
5. Milena Landtwing / Hielke Eiferink (Meerendal Wheeler) +41.28,1
Rating men
1. Karl Platt v Urs Huber (Team Bulls) 10:01.55,9
2. Robert Mennen / Kristian Hynek (Topeak Ergon) +1.09,5
3. Tim Boehme / Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls 2) +2.59,7
4. Konny Looser / Hannes Genze (Meerendal Centurion Wheeler) +5.45,1
5. Lukas Flueckiger / Martin Fanger (BMC MTB Racing) +7.40,1
Appreciation women
1. Esther Suss/Sally Bigham (Meerendal) 11:38.41,6
2. Ariane Kleinhans / Annika Langvad (RECM 2) +13.53,5
3. Jennie Stenerhag / Theresa Ralph (Cape Brewing Company) +29.56,9
4. Milena Landtwing / Hielke Eiferink (Meerendal Wheeler) +1:06.25,1
5. Sara Mertens / Laura Turpijn (Meerendal Wheeler 2) +1:09.37,4