Absa Cape Epic: Day 2 - Stage 1 (16.03.15)

Stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic commences at Elgin

Elgin is a large, lush area of land, circled by mountains, in the Overberg region of South Africa. This broad upland valley lies about 70 km southeast of Cape Town, just beyond the Hottentots Holland Mountains. The Elgin region is centered on the town of Grabouw.

Elgin, as lush as it is also played a part as one of the spots of the mountain biking event. All media crews and spectators to the beautiful region just in the centre of Grabouw to go and witness the fitness and courage that was of our riders and to see who would finish at the top 3, in order to take the podium after the finish line interviews, and our amateur riders who were going to finish the challenge, and some to have the bad luck of getting the number stripped off them, due to missing the cut off time.

Video footage showing how a normal start up line looks

Stage 1 of day 2 started off on an early morning with the first group of pro riders taking off, as seen in video above. Riders were still experiencing a fairly flat road of riding but well prepared for the distance of 113km and an extreme climb of 2800m to be granted a place at the finish line, and of course our pro riders had to finish at a certain time in order to make the podium which would consist of the top 3 as introduced previously.

A detailed of the distance and climb

The riders were sure ready for the deep end they were about to be thrown into. Well, of course if you are a pro you take it like any other challenge you might have experienced before and put your all in. For some, such as the amateur would see it as a scary sight but you start motivating yourself to stick it through. Riding as teams definitely counted as a huge favour for the riders, as they would help one another if one was struggling or feeling unmotivated to stick it through. One of the other had to definitely be much stronger than the other in various factors; both emotionally and physically. 

After riding for a good 20km the riders, were then confronted by the Groelandberg, which was the toughest climb of this stage, thereafter they were led into a rocky and sandy climb after 600m or so. The media crew that was filming on route, could definitely see that there were some washed away section which were going to deter the riders if they did not pay close attention to; but with the quality of strength that our riders had, they were not deterred otherwise.

Thereafter our riders had to make their way through to one of the single tracks which led them into  one of the beautiful Water Points which was the 2nd of the route, and made their way into Houw Hoek Inn.

Some of the riders can be seen here, taking on the gravel track

After crossing the N2 and exploring a bit of the Grabouw town the riders eventually made their way through to one of Cape Town's beautiful nature reserves, that is Kogelberg and allowed them to enjoy a ride that was a simpler trail. This trail of course was brilliant as it prepared for the last climb of the stage 1 Elgin route, which was at the Thandi Wine Estate. This climb determined a lot of strength, endurance and an exhilarating experience for the riders which led them back to the finish line in Oak Valley, as they were going to spend another day and night before heading to Worcester.

Team Bulls experienced a mechanical along the way and needed to change tyres.

The winners of Stage 1 were team Investec-Songo-Specialized who showed an absolute tenacity and urge to win, and the team work was impeccable.

Investec-Songo-Specialized being interviewed at the finish line

The top 3 teams and their overall stage was tallied as follows:

Top 3 teams on the podium

1. Investec-Songo-Specialized

Christoph Sauser & Jaroslav Kulhavy

*Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy with a superb finish line and making first on podium with a time of 5:34.21,8

2. Bulls (1)

A photographer looks on as team mates have a chat

* Despite experiencing a mechanical, Karl Platt and Urs Huber finished an astounding 2nd place with a time of 5:35.07,7

3. Multivan Merida 

Jose Hermida of Multivan Merida in awe

* Jose Hermida and Rudi Van Houts with great teamwork managed to finish 3rd for the podium with a time of 5:35.54,8

Day 2, stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic was another successful day in the office for our riders.

Stay tuned for the next days of covering the Cape Epic.

Till next time. . .