Absa Cape Epic: Day 4 - Stage 3 (18.03.15)

Stage 3 of the Cape Epic takes us to Worcester via Elgin

Stage 3 of day 4 took riders from Oak Valley, Elgin to Worcester via 128km and 2300m of some climbing. The biggest climb they were going to experience with some excruciating pain; well perhaps for the amateur riders, The Tierkop which is on the eastern side of the Groelandberg which was experienced previously. This was going to be around a distance of 7km.

Detail in distance and climb

During this stage we experienced three different spectator points. Spectator point A was the Boskloof Sports Field at the the 38km mark, B was at the Eagle's Cliff at the 75km point and C was back at Oak Valley at the last bit of the distance which was 128km. The riders experienced some washed out and rocky sections which led to the Van der Stel Pass road and where then confronted by The Serpent, which is known as the notorious zig zag climb which keeps rising as the riders keep on going. Despite this stage including some hectic climbing, it did not deter the riders in anyway. All 4 groups of 300 riders each were determined to finish this race at the end of it all. Among the elite riders, we could see team Investec-Songo-Specialized leading and leaving quite a gap from the other riders. As previously said, this team was definitely the one to beat. They were just an extreme powerhouse of mountain-biking put together.

No matter how brilliant a race may be, there are times when you may experience some bumpy roads and this may slow you down. This on the other, did happen to the leading team, which saw 4th time Cape Epic winner, Christoph Sauser experiencing a puncture in his bike at Spectator Point B, 75km off Eagle's Cliff. His team mate, Jaroslav Kulhavy, the stronger one of the two helped Sauser, with a back wheel to let him lead the way to the mechanics, and he would follow thereafter as he can ride quicker and catch up with him. It was quite admirable to see they way the two worked together to change the tyres; despite losing a minute to team Topeak Ergon who quickly overtook them but with their speed, they managed to catch up and lead the pack yet again.

Their aim was to keep the yellow jersey which they received from prologue day and nothing was going to stop team Investec-Songo-Specialized from being at the top of the leader board and stay on that podium after every finish line. There was quite frankly no other reason for them to lose the Epic, unless one of them got severely injured along the stages, and had to drop out or if the bikes experienced a severe mechanical problem.

Team Specialized finishing 1st at the finish line

After another successful but rather gruesome experience of day 4, the riders all completed stage 3 successfully and the top 3 teams that made the podium where as follows:

1. Investec-Songo-Specialized

Press conference

2. Topeak Ergon

Finish line interview

3. Topeak Ergon (2)

*Team Investec-Songo-Specialized finish stage 3 of the Absa Cape Epic with a total stage time of 5:01.17,2.


Stay tuned for the rest of the days to follow.

Till next time. . .