road cycling: Absa Cape Epic: Sauser and Kulhavy claim first major win

Defects resulted in numerous lead changes and catch-up races among the ten leading duos. The first long stage after the opening prologue gave the pros a foretaste of what is to come. On the 113 kilometers and demanding 2800 meters in altitude through the nature reserve of the Hottentots Hollands mountains near Cape Town, almost every top team had to struggle with technical problems. Sauser/Kulhavy lost two minutes to a slashed tire sidewall and switched rear wheels in the tech zone, prompting the Bulls riders to attempt a breakaway. But the Specialized pilots, who were in top form, made the gap almost a minute over the last few kilometers.

The Austrian Alban Lakata, who is driving for victory with last year's winner Kristian Hynek (CZE) for the Topeak Ergon team, also had material problems. The two got the first mountain classification on the dreaded Groenlandberg with a 600 meter climb, but were then thrown back by a flat tire and subsequent wheel change. “You can't catch up four minutes behind with the top drivers here, especially since we were on our own. The fact that we were ahead at the hotspot shows that we could have been in contention for victory today. It was a very tough stage, but there are more tough stages to come. The gap was still within limits, I'm confident that we can still catch up.", said former marathon world champion Lakata.

The Cross Country specialists Rudi van Houts (NED) and José Hermida (ESP), Team Multivan Merida, delivered a strong performance with a 3rd place. "This is my 6th time riding the Epic", said the humorous Spaniard Hermida, "And apparently I'm getting smart enough for that. A piece of plastic got caught in Rudi's rear derailleur, but we repaired it in peace and were able to continue. Tearing something off because you want to progress quickly is useless. We usually had the leaders in sight and didn't even drive to the limit."

The surprising prologue winners from the previous day showed that they are not one-day flies. The Swiss team Fabian Giger/Martin Gujan finished 5th in the Oak Valley winery and are still doing well with a gap of just over six minutes in the overall ranking.

The German Jochen Käß showed a strong performance with his partner Daniel Geismayer, who stepped in for the injured Markus Kaufmann: 6th place for the Meerendal Centurion Vaude team and thus 7th place in the overall ranking.

 

Last year's third-place finishers, Tim Böhme and Simon Stiebjahn, Team Bulls, were again unlucky in terms of material, just like in the prologue the day before. “My derailleur hanger was bent and when I tried to adjust it it ripped off. Then we had to make repairs in the aid zone and we couldn't catch up any more." says the 24-year-old Stiebjahn.

In the women's race, Ariane Kleinhans (SUI) and marathon world champion Annika Langvad (DEN) remained in command and increased the gap to second-placed Jennie Stenerhag (SWE) and Robyn de Groot (RSA) from Team Ascendis Health to almost 22 minutes. Even a fall of Kleinhans, the South African by choice, couldn't slow down the favourites. The Swiss Esther Süss (Meerendal Wheeler) defended her podium ambitions with her team partner from Belgium, Alice Pirard with a third place in the stage and thus the overall ranking.