The Absa Cape Epic: Stage 1 Day 2

The Landrover terrain takes centre stage

 Greg Beadle/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

Stage 1 of Day 2 kickstarted in Hermanus High School with a distance of 101km and a technical terrain consisting of 2300km worth of climbing. 

The riders definitely experienced one of the most complicated terrains of the races with numerous meanders and technical climbs in the process. They gained about 350m in altitude on the climb before heading down the Barber’s Cut descent: it served to be a clear day and afforded the riders a moment to enjoy the views across Stanford down below and the ocean that stretches to the horizon. But the 2017 Absa Cape Epic’s opening stage certainly gave the riders a sample of all that is best about the beautiful seaside town of Hermanus and its surrounds. (motivation if you ask)

Greg Beadle/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

Traditionally associated with the whales frolicking in its bay, in recent years Hermanus has become a favourite MTB venue with trails snaking along the mountain that looms over the town centre and in the lush Hemel-en-Aarde Valley behind it. Soon after the start the route heads up Rotary Way and along the spine of the mountain before dipping down into the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.

The riders then made their way up the Nine One One Climb – which is surrounded by a stretch of phonelines and considering it's name, one would definitely want to call emergency services with all that intensity that the trail serves. Some ups and downs were experienced along the flanks and stunning wine farms of the Hemel-en-Aarde valley. Then it was Tesselaarsdal and the Haarkappers Roete over the Klein River Mountains; some impeccable views can be seen here. The bottom of a potentially tricky descent along the route then turned back west towards Hermanus in order for the riders to finish the day with a fun spin along the town’s urban assault mountain biking section. Exhilarating much!

It was rather surprising to see the teams that were leading considering the usual favourites like Investec-Songo-Specialized, Bulls and Topeak Ergon. At this stage you can see who is struggling to keep up and who's working towards proving their worth in order to finish at the podium. Team Bulls managed to finish sixth yesterday (March 19) with a time of 1:05.15,7 dropped a position today finishing seventh with a time of 5:36.25,1. The other Cape Epic favourites, the Swiss and the Czech Express led by Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy finished second to make podium with a finish time of 5:30.09,1 clocked. This is an improved position for them as they only managed to finish fourth at the prologue in Meerendal.

Shaun Roy/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

Nine men managed to finish stage 1 of day 2 at the cut off time. Very interesting names coming up and it proves to be exciting how the rest of the teams will fare as the stages progress.

These are the results of the men's category wrapping up the race at Hermanus High School:

Fumic and Avancini on the podium:Shaun Roy/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

1. Cannondale Factory Racing XC 5:27.27,4 - Manuel Fumic, Henrique Avancini
2. Investec- Songo- Specialized 5:30.09,1 - Christoph Sauser, Jaroslav Kulhavy
3. Centurion Vaude 5:35.12,9 - Jochen Kaess, Markus Kaufmann
4. SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing 5:32.51,5 - Nino Schurter, Matthias Stirnemann
5. Centurion Vaude 2 - 5:35.51,5 - Nicola Rohrbach, Daniel Geismayr
6. Topeak Ergon Racing 5:37.15,2 - Alban Lakata, Kristian Hynek
7. Bulls 5:36.25,1 - Karl Platt, Urs Huber
8. Kansai Plascon 5:34.52,7 - Leornado Hector Leon Paez, Knox Max
9. Scott-SRAM Young Guns 5:06.44,2 - Michiel Van Der Heijden, Andri Frishchknecht

Till next time. . .
Stay tuned!