Epic winners stay on form
Heat an added challenge on first day of race
THE Absa Cape Epic started exactly as last year’s edition ended, with Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factor Racing XC) powering onto the Meerendal Wine Estate fields to take the win.
Last year, the pair claimed the final stage of the Cape Epic. This year they put their considerable cross-country talents to good use to out-race a star-studded field to claim the 26km Prologue at a blazing hot Meerendal.
Olympic cross-country champion for 2016 Nino Schurter and teammate Matthias Stirnemann (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing) finished second, with Trek-Selle San Marco’s Samuele Porro and Alexey Medvedev taking the final podium place.
Defending champions Karl Platt and Urs Huber (Bulls) finished sixth, while returning five-time winner Christoph Sauser and Czech teammate Jaroslav Kulhavy (Investec-Songo-Specialized) were fourth on the day.
As ever, Fumic was all smiles off the bike. “We are very happy with the result,” he said. “Our plan was to put up a good time and that’s exactly what we did.”
Like the rest of the elite men’s field, Fumic said race conditions were extremely trying.
“It was very warm out there, one of the hotter days I’ve had. We realised very quickly we had to pace ourselves, ride together and take turns doing the work.”
World and Olympic champion Schurter gave it his all on the day, but the heat appeared to take a heavy toll on his teammate Stirnemann.
“It was very warm, which came as something as a surprise to us,” Schurter said. “We are here for stage wins and today just didn’t work out.”
Returning Cape Epic legend Sauser, who rode last year but did not race, appeared fresh at the finish and was particularly heartened by what he called his best Prologue ever.
“I am super happy with that result; I think we were one of the first marathon teams home, which is a good result for us. It feels great to be back racing – maybe I won’t say that in the middle of the week, but right now it’s a good feeling,” he said.
South African Robyn de Groot and her German partner Sabine Spitz landed the first blows in the fight for the Hansgrohe Women’s category when they beat Esther Suss and Jennie Stenerhag (Meerendal CBC) by 39 seconds.
Cape Town resident Mariske Strauss and Briton Annie Last (Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro) claimed third, another 70 seconds back, with the Spur duo of defending champion Ariane Luthi and Adelheid Morath struggling to a disappointing fourth, over two minutes behind the leaders.
Luthi was visibly shattered after crossing the line and virtually conceded defeat after the opening stage.
“We were just not strong enough today,” the three-time women’s category winner said.
“We did what we could but it was not enough.”
In contrast, a relaxed and upbeat De Groot could not keep the smile off her face. “We really enjoyed the route out there today.”
Today’s Stage 1 is very different and the riders will tackle a gruelling 101km stage that starts and finishes in Hermanus.
Our plan was to put up a good time and that’s exactly what we did