Absa Cape Epic: Day 6 - Stage 5 (20.03.15)
Worcester to Wellington is where all the roads led to.
After spending some few nights in the beautiful town that is Worcester, we on to the next town, Wellington to a couple of nights that would be leading us to Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville for the grand finale of the Absa Cape Epic.
As you will see below in the graphic, the riders were to expect a distance of a 117km and a quite a steep climb of 2500m in a maximum time of 10 hours. Of course we know that the riders on the leader board were to be expected at the finish line much earlier and 3 top riders of the day to be congratulated on the podium.
In the morning, the race was obviously at a bit of a slow pace as the riders were getting themselves into gear for the climb they were about to face. These riders, deserve a round of applause. Its been 6 days and they are not showing any sign of slowing down. Everyday they seem to be in tiptop shape than the day before and just gunning for it all. One can think that their motto is the notorious Adidas slogan, "All in or nothing", which is something very commendable and motivating for those who never dared to go those extremes of mountain-biking.
Spectator point A at the Unnamed Farm in the morning showed us the Bulls team with one half, Karl Platt leading the way, and slowly followed by Stage 4's previous winners Scott Factory pacing right behind them. This farm surely was a farm in its name. Scott Factory had definitely risen to the occasion after that confidence boost and we could see that they still had the mindset to be the South African team dominating the Cape Epic and who knows, possibly win it overall. The champion team consisting of Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy, Investec-Songo-Specialized were surprisingly right at the back, for a team that has the endurance and the speed exceeding most of these teams.
Throughout the afternoon as the teams had progressed some kilometres, they experienced some hefty weather conditions of heavy dust due to the gusty winds; one would not be surprised if they came back unrecognizable with all that dust plastered on them. The most of the climbing that the riders endured was at the beautiful, Bain's Kloof trail which had a lot of steep sections which could have caused some damage but it was a smooth ride and the teams managed to pedal through. After some tough riding throughout the conditions experienced, teams Investec-Songo-Specialized and Bulls led the way towards the finish line with team Bulls right behind by 35 seconds of arrival time at the finish line; after experiencing some mechanical failures during the stage ride.
Sauser and Kulhavy came back strong and finished first at the stage 5 finish line despite having been behind during the course of the stage ride; and proving to the respective fans and maybe, rivals why they are still owning the leader board and keeping the yellow-striped jersey. Stage 4 winners, all South African team, Scott Factory dropped down the leaderboard to position 7 but still managing to stay in the top 10. Surprising teams Red E-Blend and EAI South Africa pushed right through the leaderboard with irrespective positions 3rd and 4th, leaving Topeak Ergon at position 5 after dominating among the top 3 during the past stages.
After another successful day at the office these were the teams that made the top 3 podium win and the respective stage times:
 |
| Bulls, Songo-Specialized, RED-E Blend |
2. Team Bulls with an impressive 2nd position with a stage time of 5:11.03,0
3. All South African team RED-E Blend finished superbly to make 3rd with a stage time of 5:12.07,1
Stay tuned for the rest of the days to follow.
Till next time. . .
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