Second Cape Epic win for Sauser, Kulhavy

CHRISTOPH Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy (Investec-Songo-Specialised) claimed a second consecutive stage win at this year’s Absa Cape Epic.

At the same time, they managed to eat into the time gap of overall leaders Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory Racing XC).

Second on Stage 3, which ended in a sprint finish, were Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann (Scott-Sram MTB Racing), with third place going to Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr (Centurion Vaude 2).

Stage 3 was a relatively short 78km that took riders out of the Elandskloof race village towards Genadendal and through the Greyton network of bike trails.

It was a day for the cross-country specialists to rise to the occasion, with Schurter and Stirneman duly obliging.

The pair, who had picked the stage for a potential win, were aggressive on the climbs and descents, causing overall leaders Cannondale to drop off the pace a number of times.

But the Olympic champion and his partner just could not shake off the imposing presence of Sauser and Kulhavy.

The race for the Hansgrohe Women’s category title between teams Meerendal CBC and Ascendis Health is looking more and more likely to come down to good – or bad – fortune.

For the second day in a row there was no obvious difference between the two pairings as they spent the entire 78km stage locked in a close battle with neither able to gain a definitive advantage.

Robyn de Groot and Sabine Spitz (Ascendis Health) managed to get the stage win by outsprinting the overall race leaders, Esther Suss and Jennie Stenerhag, in a desperate dash for the finish line after three hours, 41 minutes and 20 seconds.

These two teams have dominated the women’s race so far and between them have won all of the stages.

Ascendis Health has wins from the Prologue and Stage 3, while Meerendal emerged victorious on Stages 1 and 2.

The next stage is over 112km, from Elandskloof to Oak Valley in Elgin.