Posted by Editoress on 03/19/18
What a first stage. A day of punctures, crashes, nature taking its course and a bunch sprint by two of the strongest teams in the race. It was a day when the lead in the Men’s category changed hands and the leaders of the Women’s race overcame the hated soft death of a puncture.
Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini had shown they were contenders on the Prologue, but on the first day in the valley of Robertson, they grabbed the race by the scruff of its neck and took control. Their sprint to beat Jaroslav Kulhavy and Howie Grotts was perfect in its execution. So, too, was the manner in which Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney overcame their puncture to extend their lead to two minutes. They will take some beating.
The 2017 Champions of Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann had the defence of their title cut short today. Stirnemann, who was superb when winning with Schurter last year, could not overcome a stomach bug and has withdrawn from the race. Esther Süss, an Epic stalwart, had similar bad luck after her replacement partner, Angelika Tazreiter, crashed and dislocated her shoulder.
Still, there is some good news. The two singles will finish the Absa Cape Epic. Both have agreed to become the first wearers of the Leopard jersey, which will replace the Outcast jersey for UCI-registered riders who lose their partners. We hope to see them, and you, at the Grand Finale at Val de Vie.
Courtesy Cape Epic
Prologue (March 18th): University Of Cape Town, 20 km | |
Elite Men (Top 20) | |
1 Nicola Rohrbach (Sui) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude | 0:45.23.3 |
2 Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing | 0:45.41.3 |
3 Francesc Guerra Carretero (Esp) / Luis Leao Pinto (Por) BUFF SCOTT MTB | 0:46.12.9 |
4 Nino Schurter (Sui) / Matthias Stirnemann (Sui) Scott-Sram | 0:46.19.8 |
5 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) / Howard Grotts (USA) InvestecSongoSpecialized | 0:46.20.8 |
6 Alban Lakata (Aut) / Kristian Hynek (Cze) Canyon Topeak | 0:46.35.9 |
7 Johnny Cattaneo (Ita) / Louis Meija (Col) Wilier Force 7C 1 | 0:46.41.5 |
8 Jordan Sarrou (Fra) / Victor Koretzky (Fra) KMC-EKOÏ-SRSUNTOUR | 0:46.45.8 |
9 Andri Frischknecht (Sui) / Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-Sram Young Guns | 0:47.21.4 |
10 Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek-Selle San Marco | 0:47.23.4 |
11 Frans Claes (Bel) / Markus Bauer (Ger) KULU MANZI PROJECT | 0:47.39.6 |
12 Joseph De Poortere-Emelien (Fra) / Andrea Righettini (Ita) Eric Favre MTB Racing | 0:47.42.3 |
13 Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) / Tim Bohme (Ger) BULLS 2 | 0:47.49.7 |
14 Martin Fanger (Sui) / Simon Vitzthum (Sui) Price&bischi-bikes | 0:47.50.1 |
15 Fabian Rabensteiner (Ita) / Michele Casagrande (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco 2 | 0:47.56.9 |
16 Miguel Muñoz Moreno (Esp) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Esp) BUFF®-SCOTT MTB 2 | 0:47.59.3 |
17 Karl Platt (Ger) / Urs Huber (Sui) BULLS | 0:48.02.6 |
18 Martin Gluth (Ger) / Raphael Gagne (Can) Silverback OMX | 0:48.19.8 |
19 Nico Bell (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) NAD MTB | 0:48.38.8 |
20 Hendrik Kruger (RSA) / Stuart Marais (RSA) Ellsworth - ASG | 0:48.47.2 |
Elite Women (Top 10) | |
1 Annika Langvad (Den) / Kate Courtney (USA) Investec Songo Specialized | 0:53.18.5 |
2 Ariane Lüthi (Sui) / Githa Michiels (Bel) Spur | 0:54.31.1 |
3 Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health | 0:55.32.7 |
4 Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Silverback - KMC | 0:55.34.2 |
5 Candice Lill (RSA) / Amy Beth Mcdougall (RSA) dormakaba | 0:56.39.3 |
6 Margot Moschetti (Fra) / Raiza Goulao (Bra) PMRA/CST Racing | 0:56.54.8 |
7 Carmen Buchacher (Aut) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) dormakaba 2 | 0:57.54.4 |
8 Esther Suss (Sui) / Angelika Tazreiter (Aut) Meerendal CBC | 0:59.13.4 |
9 Nina Mcvicar (NZl) / Reta Trotman (NZl) Hirepool | 1:01.01.9 |
10 Sunniva Dring (Nor) / Kristin Aamodt (Nor) Milslukern | 1:02.57.2 |
Stage 1: Arabella Wine Estate, 110 km | |
Elite Men (Top 20) | |
1 Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing | 4:08:22.6 |
2 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) / Howard Grotts (USA) InvestecSongoSpecialized | at 0:01.3 |
3 Fabian Rabensteiner (Ita) / Michele Casagrande (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco 2 | 5:33.0 |
4 Martin Fanger (Sui) / Simon Vitzthum (Sui) Price&bischi-bikes | 5:41.9 |
5 Karl Platt (Ger) / Urs Huber (Sui) BULLS | 5:49.5 |
6 Alban Lakata (Aut) / Kristian Hynek (Cze) Canyon Topeak | 5:52.2 |
7 Nicola Rohrbach (Sui) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude | 5:54.3 |
8 Frans Claes (Bel) / Markus Bauer (Ger) KULU MANZI PROJECT | 5:55.6 |
9 Jordan Sarrou (Fra) / Victor Koretzky (Fra) KMC-EKOÏ-SRSUNTOUR | 5:58.2 |
10 Andri Frischknecht (Sui) / Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-Sram Young Guns | 6:37.3 |
11 Francesc Guerra Carretero (Esp) / Luis Leao Pinto (Por) BUFF SCOTT MTB | 6:44.5 |
12 Thomas Bundgaard (Den) / Benjamin Justesen (Den) Team Velofit Commit | 9:43.2 |
13 Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) / Tim Bohme (Ger) BULLS 2 | 10:50.7 |
14 Martin Frey (Ger) / Simon Schneller (Ger) BULLS 3 | 12:09.6 |
15 Miguel Muñoz Moreno (Esp) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Esp) BUFF®-SCOTT MTB 2 | 12:29.0 |
16 Hendrik Kruger (RSA) / Stuart Marais (RSA) Ellsworth - ASG | 12:30.0 |
17 Nico Bell (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) NAD MTB | 12:30.5 |
18 Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek-Selle San Marco | 12:44.8 |
19 Matthys Beukes (RSA) / Julian Jessop (RSA) PYGA Euro Steel | 14:43.2 |
20 Erik Kleinhans (RSA) / Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Canyon Topeak 2 | 14:47.7 |
22 Martin Gluth (Ger) / Raphael Gagne (Can) Silverback OMX | 16.142 |
Elite Women (Top 10) | |
1 Annika Langvad (Den) / Kate Courtney (USA) Investec Songo Specialized | 4:45:22.7 |
2 Ariane Lüthi (Sui) / Githa Michiels (Bel) Spur | at 0:52.3 |
3 Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Silverback - KMC | 5:43.7 |
4 Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health | 11:14.0 |
5 Carmen Buchacher (Aut) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) dormakaba 2 | 13:54.2 |
6 Candice Lill (RSA) / Amy Beth McDougall (RSA) dormakaba | 14:14.5 |
7 Margot Moschetti (Fra) / Raiza Goulao (Bra) PMRA/CST Racing | 31:10.0 |
8 Hielke Elferink (Ned) / Cornelia Hug (Sui) Shimano S-Phyre | 33:02.7 |
9 Nina Mcvicar (NZl) / Reta Trotman (NZl) Hirepool | 39:18.3 |
10 Nadia Visser (RSA) / Katie Lennard (RSA) Western girls | 44:50.6 |
GC | |
Elite Men (Top 20) | |
1 Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing | 4:54:03.9 |
2 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) / Howard Grotts (USA) InvestecSongoSpecialized | at 0:40.9 |
3 Nicola Rohrbach (Sui) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude | 5:36.3 |
4 Alban Lakata (Aut) / Kristian Hynek (Cze) Canyon Topeak | 6:46.7 |
5 Jordan Sarrou (Fra) / Victor Koretzky (Fra) KMC-EKOÏ-SRSUNTOUR | 7:02.7 |
6 Francesc Guerra Carretero (Esp) / Luis Leao Pinto (Por) BUFF SCOTT MTB | 7:16.1 |
7 Fabian Rabensteiner (Ita) / Michele Casagrande (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco 2 | 7:48.6 |
8 Martin Fanger (Sui) / Simon Vitzthum (Sui) Price&bischi-bikes | 7:50.8 |
9 Frans Claes (Bel) / Markus Bauer (Ger) KULU MANZI PROJECT | 7:53.9 |
10 Karl Platt (Ger) / Urs Huber (Sui) BULLS | 8:10.7 |
11 Andri Frischknecht (Sui) / Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-Sram Young Guns | 8:17.4 |
12 Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) / Tim Bohme (Ger) BULLS 2 | 12:59.1 |
13 Thomas Bundgaard (Den) / Benjamin Justesen (Den) Team Velofit Commit | 13:24.1 |
14 Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek-Selle San Marco | 14:26.9 |
15 Miguel Muñoz Moreno (Esp) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Esp) BUFF®-SCOTT MTB 2 | 14:47.0 |
16 Martin Frey (Ger) / Simon Schneller (Ger) BULLS 3 | 15:26.4 |
17 Nico Bell (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) NAD MTB | 15:28.0 |
18 Hendrik Kruger (RSA) / Stuart Marais (RSA) Ellsworth - ASG | 15:35.9 |
19 Roberto Bou Martin (Esp) / Cristofer Bosque Ruano (Esp) TBELLES GAES CANONDALE 9 | 18:39.1 |
20 Erik Kleinhans (RSA) / Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Canyon Topeak 2 | 18:51.6 |
21 Martin Gluth (Ger) / Raphael Gagne (Can) Silverback OMX | 18.527 |
Elite Women (Top 10) | |
1 Annika Langvad (Den) / Kate Courtney (USA) Investec Songo Specialized | 5:38:41.2 |
2 Ariane Lüthi (Sui) / Githa Michiels (Bel) Spur | at 2:04.9 |
3 Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Silverback - KMC | 7:59.4 |
4 Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health | 13:28.2 |
5 Candice Lill (RSA) / Amy Beth Mcdougall (RSA) dormakaba | 17:35.3 |
6 Carmen Buchacher (Aut) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) dormakaba 2 | 18:30.1 |
7 Margot Moschetti (Fra) / Raiza Goulao (Bra) PMRA/CST Racing | 34:46.3 |
8 Hielke Elferink (Ned) / Cornelia Hug (Sui) Shimano S-Phyre | 44:19.5 |
9 Nina Mcvicar (NZl) / Reta Trotman (NZl) Hirepool | 47:01.6 |
10 Sunniva Dring (Nor) / Kristin Aamodt (Nor) Milslukern | 54:29.8 |
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