MTB News: Marathon World Champion Alban Lakata traveled to South Africa with the declared goal of winning the CAPE EPIC. But after four days, halfway through the 13th edition of the Absa Cape Epic, the Austrian and his partner Kristian Hynek seem further away from this goal than ever. After a bad fall on the last descent five kilometers before the end of the stage, Hynek crossed the finish line in Wellington with a badly bleeding arm and pain all over his side. A premature exit from the race is currently not excluded.
Today's leg of the 13th ABSA CAPE EPIC led from the wine country around Tulbagh to Wellington via the historic and dramatic Bain's Kloof Pass, set through cliffs. Partially strong headwind challenged professionals as well as amateur riders alike and made the 103 kilometers and 2150 kilometers feel even longer. Despite the adverse conditions and temperatures around 30° Celsius, it was again Team Bulls with Karl Platt and Urs Huber, which was able to celebrate the stage win. The Palatinate and the Aargau remain the benchmark at this year's CAPE EPIC and are now more than 9 minutes ahead of the team's Matthias Pfrommer and Nicola Rohrbach Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2, the day's target 2:08 behind Despite the fall mentioned in the opening text, the team made it Topeak Ergon still on the podium and is still in third place in the overall standings. The German Manuel Fumic, who is usually more at home on shorter distances and sees the stage race at the Cape as a more intense training, shares with his partner in the team Cannondale Factory Racing, the Brazilian champion Henrique Avanci, fifth place overall.
A look at the daily standings did not reveal any major surprises for the women either. Annika Langvad and Ariane Kleinhans have to face tougher competition at this year's ABSA CAPE EPIC than in previous years, but above all their good driving technique helped the team Track Specialized today again to the stage victory. The young German Adelheid Morath with the British “Iron Sally” Bigham (Team Topeak Ergon) didn't have a good run, but they still gave the favorites only 32 seconds. Morath showed off her fighting spirit and crossed the finish line in tears due to knee pain she sustained from a fall yesterday. The German Olympic champion Sabine Spitz, on the other hand, continued to enjoy the impressive landscapes of the ABSA CAPE EPIC. However, after crossing the finish line, she made no secret of the fact that she had great respect for her Ukrainian partner Yana for Belomoina for her decision to compete in South Africa with a hardtail. Prologue and Stage XNUMX winners Robyn de Groot and Jennie Stenerhag (Team Ascendis Health) finished 3rd, but the Swede Stenerhag had to be carried out of the finish area on a stretcher. A fall yesterday and a possible infection make a start tomorrow rather unlikely.
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