Kulhavy and Grotts, Langvad and Courtney tighten their Epic grip
THE final stage of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic looms today and, barring disaster, two United States riders will stand atop the men’s and women’s podiums for the first time.
Howard Grotts and Czech powerhouse Jaroslav Kulhavy have an 8min 26sec cushion in the men’s category after yesterday’s Stage 6 while Kate Courtney and partner Annika Langvad of Denmark are a massive 46 minutes ahead of their nearest women competitors.
With only a 67km stage left it seems only serious illness or a big crash can stop them.
Both teams triumphed in yesterday’s 76km Stage 6, much of it on the superb mix of single track around Wellington.
Attacks would come early and at regular intervals. Cannondale’s Henrique Avancini made his early ambitions known when he and Mani Fumic sent the leading group into a panic. The other top contenders had no choice but to follow in a fast-paced first hour of racing that would see Nicola Rohrbach hit the deck in a crash – something he, and team-mate Daniel Geismayr, would never fully recover from.
For Czech Express Kulhavy and Grotts it was full speed ahead, the two riding a faultless final 35km in which they asserted their dominance and consolidated their lead.
“We led for most of the stage and tried to press on all the time and put the other guys in the hurt box,” said Fumic.
Their tactic worked and after initially marking Cannondale’s continued attacks, Alban Lakata was unable to match the intensity and fell off the pace. Lakata and partner Kristian Hynek would eventually finish Stage 6 in fifth position and surrender their four-second lead and second position on the general classification to Cannondale.
Kulhavy was pleased with the way he and partner Grotts performed on Stage 6, but mentioned the race is not over until they cross the finish line at Val de Vie Estate in today’s Grand Finale. Still, their lead has grown to well over eight minutes and barring any misfortune the race is theirs for the taking. “Howie (Grotts) has been getting stronger every day,” said Kulhavy. “We have to be careful tomorrow. There can’t be any crashes or mechanicals.”
“Today was perfect – after we got a gap, we just kept a consistent pace,” said Grotts. It’s been an incredible experience thus far and everything has just clicked for us.”
Fabian Rabensteiner and Michele Casagrande continued their consistent run of results by finishing second, leapfrogging Simon Stiebjahn and Tim Bohme to sixth overall in the general classification.
The biggest surprise of the day was the South African pairing of Matthew Beers and Nico Bell, who appear to have found their groove after a series of illness setbacks hampered Beers’ earlier performances. The re-energised Beers and Bell put in a great performance that saw them cross the line as the first all-south African team.
Illness and injury has been a constant spectre hanging over the women’s race and yesterday it once again influenced the podium, with an ill Mariske Strauss and partner Annie Last forced to concede second overall. As Langvad and Courtney move inexorably to victory, their rivals have been battling just to stay in the event.