Evans, who finished 8^th overall in last year’s World Championship, was restricted to the 25^th position this year.

But he at least has the satisfaction that he was able to play a small part in the victory of his Cape Epic team-mate, Alban Lakata (Austria).

According to Evans Lakata had a really bad start to his race.

“He battled to stay in touch with the slowest of the group of front riders. At times it was so bad that I even had to push him to help him not to lose contact with the front guys. Alban told me that his legs were totally ‘locked’ and that he just did not have any power in them.

“I was thinking: ‘Shame, this poor bloke had such high expectations of winning and it is simply not going to happen this year. He is not going anywhere.’

“But as the race progressed, Alban seemed to get stronger. During the last 40 kilometers Alban was going faster and faster all the time, so much so that I did not have the legs to keep up with him. Even when he dropped me, I still did not believe that he had a chance of winning.

“Needless to say, when I finished it was a huge surprise to learn that Alban had in fact won.”

Evans said his problems began when he represented the South African road team on a tour in Spain.

“I became ill during the tour and, unfortunately for me, I just could not get rid of the virus. In the build-up to the World Championship, I was able to train for three or four days but then I had to take a break to recover again.

“My race did not begin too badly. I managed to stay with the top riders during the first 70km, but then my legs just seemed to die. Towards the end I had nothing left.

“Ironically, my time was a minute closer to that of the winner than it had been last year, but as far as positions are concerned I slipped 17 places.

“The World Championship course was a big surprise for me. It was not technical at all. It definitely suited a cross-country style of riding because of the constant up and down sections.”

Evans said that he is definitely going to reconsider his cycling goals for next year.

“Unfortunately, I allowed myself to become somewhat distracted during the season, trying to excel on too many fronts, and in the process I forgot which goals really mattered.

“I am seriously going to rethink my participation in road races next year. I cannot sacrifice myself again for nothing. Next year I might just focus on winning the Cape Epic and winning a medal at the World Marathon Championship.”

As far as the rest of the year is concerned, there is only one race that Evans really wants to win and that is the MTN Ultra-marathon in Cullinan.

“If I should be able to win this race or have a good placing, it would give me an overall victory in the MTN series and then there would not be any pressure on me for the rest of the season.

“My last race this season will be the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek (18-23 October) which I will ride with Adrian Niyonshuti.  He plans to use this tour as his final preparation for the Tour of Rwanda, so I will ride as fast as Adrian is prepared to go.”

The 107km course was ridden at a ferocious pace with the top riders averaging 30.4 km/h at the half way mark.

Other South Africans riding were Kevin Evans who finished 25th and David George who finished 35th. Mannie Heymans finished 51st while Adrien Niyonshuti finished 61st.

In the ladies race, Yolande Speedy had a great ride finishing 14th.

Results:

1 Alban Lakata (Austria) 3:49:55
2 Mirko Celestino (Italy) 0:00:05
3 Burry Stander (South Africa) 0:00:06
4 Ralph Naef (Switzerland) 0:00:06
5 Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) 0:00:07
6 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain) 0:00:09
7 Karl Platt (Germany) 0:00:25
8 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain) 0:00:28
9 Thomas Dietsch (France) 0:00:32
10 Urs Huber (Switzerland) 0:00:59
11 Andreas Kugler (Switzerland) 0:01:22
12 Tim Bohme (Germany) 0:01:23
13 Jochen Kass (Germany) 0:02:07
14 Mike Felderer (Italy) 0:04:44
15 Karl Markt (Austria) 0:04:48
16 Kevin Van Hoovels (Belgium) 0:05:05
17 Matej Mugerli (Slovenia) 0:05:06
18 Lukas Buchli (Switzerland) 0:05:07
19 Marc Trayter Alemany (Spain) 0:06:47
20 Bas Peters (Netherlands) 0:06:55
21 Thomas Zahnd (Switzerland) 0:07:16
22 Torsten Marx (Germany) 0:07:21
23 Jure Golcer (Slovenia) 0:07:51
24 Johann Pallhuber (Italy) 0:08:02
25 Kevin Evans (South Africa) 0:08:44
26 Frank Schotman (Netherlands) 0:10:22
27 Massimo De Bertolis (Italy) 0:10:47
28 Rene Tann (Germany) 0:10:56
29 Stefan Sahm (Germany) 0:11:43
30 Walter Costa (Italy) 0:12:06
31 Nicolas Vermeulen (Belgium) 0:12:27
32 Roland Golderer (Germany) 0:12:31
33 Uwe Hardter (Germany) 0:13:32
34 Luka Rakusa (Slovenia) 0:13:32
35 David George (South Africa) 0:13:35
36 Benjamin Wittrup Justesen (Denmark) 0:14:04
37 Ivan Rybarik (Czech Republic) 0:14:04
38 Benjamin Sonntag (Germany) 0:14:04
39 Markus Kaufmann (Germany) 0:14:04
40 Jan Jobanek (Czech Republic) 0:15:03
41 Patrick Uhlig (Germany) 0:15:03
42 Friedrich Dahler (Switzerland) 0:15:03
43 Carsten Bresser (Germany) 0:15:06
44 Jens Gorm Hansen (Denmark) 0:15:07
45 Stefan Roffler (Switzerland) 0:15:08
46 Marco Lang (Switzerland) 0:15:11
47 Tomas Vokrouhlik (Czech Republic) 0:15:20
48 Jhon Jairo Botero Salazar (Colombia) 0:17:20
49 Ramses Bekkenk (Netherlands) 0:17:37
50 Klaus Nielsen (Denmark) 0:17:44
51 Mannie Heymans (Namibia) 0:18:01
52 Matthias Leisling (Germany) 0:18:45
53 Frans Claes (Belgium) 0:19:51
54 Stefan Schaufuss (Germany) 0:20:07
55 Christof Bischof (Switzerland) 0:20:44
56 Julio Humberto Caro Silva (Colombia) 0:20:58
57 Oscar Lazzaroni (Italy) 0:21:02
58 Pierluigi Bettelli (Italy) 0:21:02
59 Artyom Golovaschenko (Kazakhstan) 0:21:04
60 Thomas Strobl (Austria) 0:21:07
61 Adrien Niyonshuti RWA19870202 0:21:15
62 Peter Glassford (Canada) 0:21:31
63 Bram Rood (Netherlands) 0:22:10
64 Mikael Salomonsson (Sweden) 0:22:42
65 Kristofers Racenajs (Latvia) 0:22:55
66 Johannes Sickmueller (Germany) 0:23:33
67 Allan Bachmann (Denmark) 0:23:49
68 Ervins Smolins (Latvia) 0:24:40
69 Gusti Wildhaber (Switzerland) 0:25:05
70 Robert Banach (Poland) 0:25:34
71 Adrian Jackson (Australia) 0:25:44
72 Christopher Maletz (Germany) 0:25:57
73 Roland Plank (Austria) 0:26:07
74 Bartosz Banach (Poland) 0:27:31
75 Rasmus Jessing (Denmark) 0:27:46
76 Lenart Noc (Slovenia) 0:28:27
77 Björn Papstein (Germany) 0:28:27
78 Nejc Cernilogar (Slovenia) 0:29:12
79 Norbert Wyss (Switzerland) 0:31:13
80 Jesper Dahlström (Sweden) 0:32:03
81 Wolfgang Mayer (Germany) 0:32:28
82 Daniel Gathof (Germany) 0:35:12
83 Ryan Sherlock (Ireland) 0:35:15
84 Syun Matsumoto (Japan) 0:35:31
85 Joaquin Cammisi (Argentina) 0:35:45
86 Alexander Pscheidl (Germany) 0:37:13
87 Ebertowski Przemyslaw (Poland) 0:37:30
88 Pavao Roset (Croatia) 0:37:36
89 Thomas Achouri (Belgium) 0:37:36
90 Krzywy Krzysztof (Poland) 0:39:01
91 Timothy Carleton (Canada) 0:40:01
92 Jukka Vastaranta (Finland) 0:40:26
93 Guido Thaler (Austria) 0:41:35
94 Yanosuke Fujimoto (Japan) 0:43:40
95 Daniel Bintz (Luxembourg) 0:44:49
96 Gusty Bausch (Luxembourg) 0:46:41
97 Nelson Luis (Luxembourg) 0:47:47
98 Nikolay Zaitsev (Kazakhstan) 0:53:08
99 Kirill Kazantsev (Kazakhstan) 0:58:11
100 Philipp Bützow (Luxembourg) 1:01:02
101 Tom Wecker (Luxembourg) 1:01:04
102 Dmytro Petrov (Ukraine) 1:01:12
103 Mike Blewitt (Australia) 1:01:51
104 Matt Ligtermoet (Australia) 1:13:14
105 Ales Hrvatin (Croatia) 1:18:13
106 Tommy Arnoldy (Luxembourg) 1:30:09
107 Sébastien Einsle (Luxembourg) 1:51:26
DNF Daniel Geismayr (Austria)
DNF Johnny Cattaneo (Italy)
DNF Jérôme Junker (Luxembourg)
DNF Steve Fries (Luxembourg)
DNF Alexandre Moos (Switzerland)
DNF Thomas Stoll (Switzerland)
DNF Wolfram Kurschat (Germany)
DNF Putz Michal (Poland)
DNF Eddie Andres Rendon (Colombia)
DNF Sanjin Sirotic (Croatia)
DNF Hannes Genze (Germany)
DNF Volker Ordowski (Germany)

Image courtesy Semperlux Axevo Haibike

Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata

Kevin and  Alban were involved in a battle for survival over the last two days of the Absa Cape Epic, but they are not disheartened by their third-place finish.

“We were thoroughly tested, but we came out of the Epic as the best of friends. I always maintain that the Epic is a true test for any friendship. If you and your partner are still talking to one another after eight days of hard racing and severe suffering, it indicates a lasting friendship.

“Naturally we would have liked to do better than third overall, but I am quite happy with the way things turned out. All in all we had a good Epic. We won a stage and had 2^nd and 3^rd placings in stages.  In addition, we were one of only two teams to have worn the Epic’s coveted yellow jersey.

Kevin and Alban start stage 5

“Ours is surely a relationship on which we can build for the future. I would love to do another tour with Alban, perhaps the Trans-Alps.”

According to Evans their problems started during the last three days when they were racing in the Oakdale area.

“Alban battled to breath properly. We are not sure why. According to Alban the same thing happened to him the previous time he raced in the Oakdale area. Perhaps there is something in the air to which he is allergic or perhaps it is a sports-induced asthma.

“All I know is that it is very difficult to be competitive when you cannot breath properly because that means that your muscles don’t get enough oxygen.

“Our worst day was definitely the 7^th stage when we lost about 13 minutes to the Flückiger brothers, Lukas and Mathias. It was really important for us to defend our 3^rd position, because it would have been a waste of all our efforts if we had finished 4^th.”

The third stage was also one filled with drama for Evans and Lakata.

Evans takes up the story.

“We had four punctures between the two of us. As luck would have it, both of us punctured our back tyres during the last five kilometers, basically at the same time.  At that time we were only two minutes behind the leaders.  Even though David George and his team-mate helped us out with ‘CO2 bombs’, luck was still not on our side. Within minutes our wheels were flat again. I decided to keep on riding with my flat tyre while Alban decided to take off his tyre and ride on the rim.

“For the last two kilometers we had to ride on tar and it was probably the heat of the tar that caused Alban’s carbon rim to explode.

“The moment that happened Alban said: ‘This is it.  It is race over.’

“I immediately responded: ‘It is not race over yet. Get off your bike and run.’

“And Alban started to run.  If he did not do that, we certainly would have lost our 3^rd position overall.”

Evans also appreciated the time, early on during a stage, when Lakata punctured and Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN-Energade) stopped and gave his wheel to Evans to ensure that they did not lose too much time.

“I think all of us can learn much from the German’s Bulls. They enter two teams every year with just one goal and that is to win the Epic. It does not matter which team wins, as long as it is a Bulls team.

“Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, the overall winners, had only two serious problems during the whole Epic.  Both times the other Bulls team was there to help them out to prevent them from losing too much time.”

Now the big question is whether Kevin Evans and Burry Stander (Specialized/Mr Price) would ever ride the Epic together to ensure that an all-South African team wins the Epic.

If one looks at the Epic’s results, Evans and Stander are the only two riders who were really able to take on the international riders.

“I would love to ride with Burry because I think we would have a realistic chance of winning, but we ride for different sponsors with conflicting interests.

“For that to happen we would have to sit down with the sponsors and see if we can reach a working agreement.”

Paul Cordes and Yolandé Speedy

Cordes and Speedy had an amazing eight days of racing. They only had one puncture between the two of them and one serious health scare when Cordes dehydrated during the 1^st stage. Of the eight stages they won five and they were in the top-twenty overall up until the 7^th stage.

According to Cordes, the only reason why they lost their top-twenty placing was that they decided rather to play it safe over the last two days of racing.

“It is stupid to take unnecessary risks when you are winning,” Cordes said. In the end they finished 22^nd overall, which is not bad considering that more than half of the teams that started the Epic did not finish.

“The first stage was our worst. Yolandé and I started off strongly. It did not take us long to open a five minute lead on the Swiss team, Bärti Bucher and Esther Süss.

Paul and Yolandé start stage 5

“Our problems started when we arrived at one of the water stations and could not identify our bottles. The bottles were there, but we made the mistake of not marking them correctly so they could not be found.

“Because I was worried about losing too much time, I said to Yolandé ‘Lets ride to the next water station’. I reckoned that we could take this chance because we still had one bottle to share between the two of us.

“When we got to the next water station, I tasted the water and it had a very funny taste. I did not want to take the risk of picking up a stomach bug, so we continued racing without taking any water with us. It turned out to be a huge mistake. I totally dehydrated and ended up ‘blowing’ completely, which led to us losing about eight minutes.

“But the funny thing was that neither Yolandé nor I was really despondent about the way things turned out. Actually it served as an extra motivation. We realized that we could beat the Swiss team if we kept our cool. So from the next stage we started chipping away at their lead.

“The 4^th stage was the deciding moment. We were involved in quite a battle with the Swiss. Then, during the last 40 kilometres, Yolandé and I decided to really put down the hammer and we never looked back during the rest of the Epic. We managed to ride away from them and to open a useful gap.”

Cordes is full of praise for the role the MTN-Energade mechanics played in their victory.

“The guys really put in long and hard hours to ensure that our bikes were in tiptop condition every day. That is the reason why we had no mechanical problems apart from the one puncture.”

After winning the last stage, Speedy said: “This is the first time that I’ve won the final stage and it’s fantastic to win overall. I had goose bumps while coming in.  It was great to see the crowds and enjoy their support.”

Of the 1172 riders who started their epic journey at Diemersfontein a week ago, 83.6% have successfully completed their Absa Cape Epic adventure by crossing the final finish line at the Lourensford Wine Estate. In the remaining 16.4% figure that is not classified as official finishers, the blue board riders are included. 445 teams were ranked on the GC (General Classification), with both team riders awarded the medal as official Absa Cape Epic finishers. 90 individual cyclists successfully completed the 8 stages without their partners.

German Bulls Platt and Sahm kings of the mountains at this year’s Absa Cape Epic

The Bulls Team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm walked away with top honours as overall winners of this year’s exciting Absa Cape Epic presented by adidas. With a ten minute and 51 second lead time on Sauser and Stander (Songo-Specialized by DCM) at the start this morning, the Bulls finished the last 8 days of the Magical and Untamed Mountain Bike Race of 722km in an overall time of 29 hours, 47 minutes and 46 seconds. In second place were South African Burry Stander and his Swiss team mate Christoph Sauser (Songo-Specialized by DCM) in 29:57.49,7 and in third place the South African/Austrian duo of Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata (MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon) in 30:12.30,0.

The Bulls Team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm also won the Absa Cape Epic in 2007 and 2009, and Karl Platt won in the inaugural year (2004) with Mannie Heymans from Namibia. He is the most successful participant in the history of the race having won four times and placing on the podium six times.

Max Knox and Brandon Stewart of DCM Chrome walked away with the Leader Jersey of Best African Team in 31:45.08,0.

Multivan Merida’s José Hermida and Rudi van Houts were first to cross the finish line in the final stage of this year’s Absa Cape Epic in a time of 2:40.32,4.  This was their second consecutive podium finish and they ranked sixth overall (30:44.56.8). They were followed by Rabobank Giant Off Road team Emil Lindgren and Fabian Giger, also with their second podium finish in this year’s race (2:42.18,1). In third place were Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander of Songo-Specialized by DCM in 2:44.12,8 with the Bulls Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm in fourth place (2:44.59,6). Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata (MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon) finished fifth in 2:50.17,5.

Says Stefan Sahm of the winning Bulls team: “It’s an incredible feeling – words can’t describe it. It means so much to Karl and I. We arrived at the race as the defending champions and we successfully guarded our title. I had problems with my chain today and had to change it. It was nerve-wrecking. We enjoyed every second and every meter of the last few kilometers, and who knows, maybe we can do it again next year.” Sahm and Platt host a party at the end of the Absa Cape Epic, which has become known as Stage 9. “Stage 9 is always the most fun for everyone. It’s the party stage after a very hard race. Here we also need to defend our titles of the last men standing,” he says, adding with a chuckle “we can ride and party hard. Vincent, Karl and I have also started a company in South Africa called Stage 9 to bring Bulls bikes to the people.” Adds his teammate Karl Platt: “To win the Absa Cape Epic again – now for the fourth time – is absolutely unbelievable. It means so much to me, especially this year with the most competitive field ever. When people see our playful nature they tend to forget that we also get very nervous and are under pressure during the race; not only for our own sake, but for all the people that stand behind us and cross their fingers that we come out tops. So when we crossed that final finish line it was a huge relief, but most of all an euphoric joy.”

Burry Stander and his partner Christoph Sauser of Songo-Specialized by DCM secured three stage wins during this year’s Absa Cape Epic. Says Stander: “We’re very happy to finish second in this year’s race, but we still want to win. Everything has to get together all 8 days of the race, and it didn’t always work out for us. I’m really looking forward to a week’s rest and then to the cycling season. This is excellent preparation for the World Cups. It gives you such depth – all riders suffer at some point – and in every race you suffer.” Adds Sauser: “This Absa Cape Epic was really a big rollercoaster ride for us. The first two stages were tough and at one point we weren’t sure we’d be able to continue, then we were on a high, then I had a stomach bug and so on. At the beginning of today’s race I struggled a bit, but then my legs came back and I felt stronger. I’ll now rest for a week and then start with some short interval training. I’m looking forward to the season as we rode with some of the strongest riders in the world at this year’s event.” Will he be joining the Bulls at Stage 9? “Yes, of course – it’ll be really nice to get together and nobody needs to think about tomorrow.”

It was a difficult race for Alban Lakata of the MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon team: “We had two serious problems during this year’s race. First I broke my wheel and had to run 2km and then my health wasn’t all that great. I’ll have to prepare better for next year’s race – the last three stages were very tough for me. We had two stage wins and finished in third place overall, so that was fantastic. My goal was to finish on the podium, but now I’m really feeling tired.  I’m looking forward to next year’s race and also to two weeks’ recovery. This was excellent preparation for the World Cups and I think we’re in very good shape at the moment.” For Kevin Evans this was a wonderful experience: “All things considered I think it’s fantastic to be in third place overall. I take my hat off to Alban for the way he suffered to keep the third place. I’d also like to thank our excellent crew and support teams. Without the mechanics who sometimes worked through the night and our managers this would not have been possible. Nobody sees them but they play such a crucial part – a big thanks to them. And I’m really happy it’s over.”

José Hermida and Rudi van Houts of Multivan Merida secured their first stage win in this year’s race. Says Hermida: “We won the final stage and finally got our victory on the last day. It’s a celebration of a big fight over the last few days, especially for us. It was very special to win the final stage at Lourensford Wine Estate. It’s part of my philosophy to attack and both Rudi and I had good legs today – we attacked again and finally made it!”
Emil Lindgren of the Rabobank Giant Off Road team broke his chain today. “I rode with a broken chain for most of the way. I had to run back 50m to get it, repaired it as fast as I could, and then we put the hammer down. I felt amazing, and so did Fabian. This is the best stage to get a place on the podium. We’ll definitely be back next year!” Adds team mate Giger: “This was awesome preparation for the upcoming season. We had eight days of suffering and now need to go home to recover, but will definitely be back!”

Lukas Flückiger of Trek World Racing says his legs were not great for the first 10km. “I struggled a bit on the first long climb and also broke my derailleur again on the downhill. I’m tired but very happy that the race is over. Perhaps next year we’ll be back for a place on the podium.”

Bart Brentjens of Trek Brentjens, who has been riding with bruised ribs, says “it wasn’t all that bad. You don’t really feel the pain when you’re racing – it’s much worse at night and before the race in the morning. We could ride at our own speed. We knew it would be hard to finish and I’m really happy that we did. I think next year I’ll be riding with someone else from my team. Jelmer is too strong for me and should ride with someone better next year. We’ll have one team for victory and one for technical support. This is the most important race of the year and we’ll be back again – you just need to plan ahead.”

Images courtesy sportzpics.net

Team RSAWEB and Crank presents a series of daily highlights videos from the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic. This is Stage 5 – Worcester time trial.

Burry Stander (South Africa) & Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) riding for team Songo-Specialized by DCM claim  their 3rd consecutive win, dominating the pace in the time trial stage.

Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata of team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon took second place followed by the Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm who crossed the line in 3rd place. The Bulls keep the winners jersey, and maintain a strong lead of over 7 minutes.

Look out for our Team RSAWEB riders in this video as they tear through this stage, finishing only 10 minutes behind the top 3 teams.

The Bulls Team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm are still in the overall lead (18:10.50,2).Team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon remain in second position overall (18:17.04,9), while Songo-Specialized by DCM are in third position overall (18:17.56,3). The Flückiger brothers of Trek World Racing, Mathias and Lukas, remain in fourth place overall (18:36.50,2) with Bart Brentjens and Jelmer Pietersma of Trek-Brentjens in fifth place overall (18:37.06,9).

Max Knox and Brandon Stewart of DCM Chrome finished in tenth place today (1:10.46,8) and successfully defended the African Leader jersey. They remain in the eleventh place overall (18:58.18,4).

Says Christoph Sauser of Songo-Specialized by DCM: “We knew it’s going to be hard to do a time trial in the middle of a stage race. Luckily, I recovered well from yesterday. Burry felt even better, but he was so excited about this onehour stage, that I could already feel it this morning. We were going very fast today and I knew we were in the lead. Today was quite dusty behind Burry and I was kind of riding blind going into the downhills. I’m probably slightly better at the downhills so I can take more risks. It was ideal that I was behind him, although normally it’s better if the weaker one follows in the downhill and can catch up right away in the uphill.” Sauser believes racing at the Absa Cape Epic starts from the very first day on. “Tomorrow you can have a big mechanical and the race is over. We’ll still go for every stage win and ride as if there’s no tomorrow.”

Karl Platt of the overall leading Bulls Team jokingly said that if the course was longer, perhaps they could have caught up with Sauser and Stander. “We’re like family and joking with each other all the time. We’re all such fierce sportsmen and always show respect when someone’s faster. Today was a fun course. The downhill was very fast and I really like that. I was also feeling very strong – a bit nervous at the start as we had a long wait before we could take off and that makes you think too much. But once we took off my whole body just wanted to go. Now our time begins – our legs recover well and our bodies are in the rhythm of the race. Tomorrow is a long stage but we’ll be going at full blast from now on. The race starts now – and it’s still open.”

Kevin Evans of Team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon, finished in second place today. “With the time trials you give your everything, so the other guys are obviously stronger. We came second to two World Champions and don’t feel too bad. It was a good race.” Lakata adds: “I suffered a bit today as my legs are still sore, but Kevin is feeling strong. Perhaps he could’ve gone for victory today, but you have to stay together and today was just not my day. We still have three days to go and hopefully tomorrow we’ll do better.”

Tim Böhme of the second Bulls team in the race finished in fifth place today (1:07.28,2). “I really enjoyed today as it gave us the opportunity to show that we could also ride fast. We could race at our own pace and go at full speed. We didn’t need to fix bikes for our team mates. Although the trial ride is not without pain and suffering, we had fun – it was nice! With the one minute interval between the start of riders, we could also see what was going on ahead of us. It was more difficult to see the riders behind you.”

José Hermida of Multivan Merida, again finished in fourth place today (1:06.35,1) and remains in tenth position overall. “Today’s course was cross-country, which I really enjoyed – in fact, I think everyone enjoyed it. I could find myself again and we just needed to find good places to push hard. After the first 6km we took off. The course was challenging and we had fun. I don’t really care about a podium finish, the fun we had was the podium.”

Images courtesy sportzpics.net

Team RSAWEB and Crank presents a series of daily highlights videos from the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic. This is Stage 4 – Ceres to Worcester.

Burry Stander (South Africa) & Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) riding for team Songo-Specialized by DCM win this stage, boosting their overall position to 3rd place.

Battling the strong winds blowing through Worcester,  Karl Platt & Stefan Sahm from team Bulls 1 took second place , reclaiming the leaders jersey from Kevin Evans and Stephan Sahm of team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon who crossed the line in 3rd place.

Watch out for a post race chat with our team riders Nic and Simon Lamond who claimed one more place today, with a fast paced ride. They are now in 26th place overall.

The Bulls team are still in the overall lead and ahead by 6 minutes and 18,2 seconds (17:04.21,2). Team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon have made an impressive comeback after yesterday’s technical problems and are now in second position overall (17:10.39,4), and Songo-Specialized by DCM claimed the third position overall after Stage 4 (17:12.41,3). The Flückiger brothers, Lukas and Mathias, of team Trek World Racing are in fourth place overall having moved up from the 6th position in a time of 17:20.48,8.

Says Burry Stander of Songo-Specialized by DCM: “We were all still together at Water Point 3 today as all the teams are battling for the Leader jersey. But Christoph kept attacking, attacking, attacking and I think the other teams could just not hang on any longer. When we hit the last saddleback, it was quite easy to break away.” Adds Sauser: “I felt very good today. I looked at the stage profile yesterday and knew it was going to be a cross-country stage which is really our strength. It would be great if we could ride like this every day. Tomorrow’s trail ride will also work in our favour because cross-country riders can ride hard from the start. Hopefully we’ll be feeling good and not too tired. This is also a mental game and you have to be prepared to suffer. I don’t like gradual climbs – it’s always the same – up, up, up. As long as I have small downhills in between, I’m okay. We’ll also have to be careful that we don’t have mechanical problems – it’s always such a fine line.”

According to Karl Platt of the Bulls Team, Sauser and Stander put on the pressure early on in the stage. “Christoph and Burry tried to outdistance us today with brute force. We managed to stay with them for some time, but once in a while we had to let go and catch up with them afterwards. It was a really stressful day – the terrain was extremely difficult. But if we only lose one or one and a half minutes in the upcoming days, that’s okay.”

Kevin Evans of Team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon, reckons Songo-Specialized by DCM had it easy for the first three days. “We’ve been fighting for the last three days, especially with our bad luck yesterday when Alban had to run for 2km to cross the finish line. Christoph and Burry pushed very hard today – even the Bulls could not follow in the end. But we’re only halfway and anything can still happen. Tomorrow’s time trial will also suit us. Hopefully we can recover and sleep a bit later tomorrow so that we’re well rested. We’re in a good position.” Lakata says that his legs were not in top form during Stage 4. “My legs were quite sore today. We’re still focusing on the Leader jersey and are still in good shape. With 4 stages to go, anything can happen and we’re definitely still in the running to win the race. Today we only had problems with our legs – riding on the rim yesterday cost a lot of energy, and stages 2 and 3 were hard on us. We hope we don’t have any major punctures and mechanicals from now on. Kevin has a lot of experience with the time trail and we’ll definitely try our best. It’s a short but challenging course which I think will suit us.”

Jose Hermida of Multivan Merida 2, who finished in fourth place today (3:38.18,9) and is in tenth position overall, says the spirit of the Absa Cape Epic is what keeps him going. “Every afternoon after the stage you ask yourself why you’re doing this, only to get up the next morning, see all the smiling faces and feel motivated again. It was lovely to finish at the Worcester school today and have all the kids cheering us on – it really motivated us and created a fantastic atmosphere.”

The Flückiger brothers, Mathias and Lukas, finished in fifth place today, and are fourth overall (17:20.48,8). Says Lukas: “We’re happy with our results and are in a stable position. We ride for a stage win every day, but today our legs weren’t great. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

DCM Chrome defends African leader jersey

Max Knox and Brandon Stewart of DCM Chrome finished in eighth place today (3:41.36,0) and are in the eleventh place overall (17:47.31,6). They took the African Leader jersey from Mannie Heymans and Marc Bassingthwaigthe (Garmin adidas) yesterday and also defended it today.

Says Max Knox of DCM Chrome: “Today’s stage was definitely a lot harder than we thought. The conditions were difficult and it was very windy, but we’re happy with our African leader jersey. We stayed with the leaders for as long as we could, and then had our own race.”

Images courtesy sportzpics.net

Kevin Evans (South Africa) & Alban Lakata (Austria) from team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon) cross the finish line first in a time of 4:35.52,3. Frustrated by wheel issues, Burry Stander (South Africa) and Christoph Sauser (Netherlands) from team Songo-Specialized by DCM follow in second place almost five minutes behind. Emil Lindgren (Sweden) and Fabian Giger (Switzerland) beat 2009 wining team, Bulls (Karl Platt & Stefan Sahm), to take the 3rd spot on the podium. An exciting start to the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic!

Stage 1, 95km Underberg to Mackenzie

Once again at the Sani2c, the weather was not playing along, and torrential rains the day before the race, plus the thousand or so Adventure riders that would churn the trails up in front, would make for some really hectic conditions. And it would only get worse as the weather was not about to clear any time soon.

With the wet conditions on Stage 1 it would be important to look after yourself and equipment. As usual the race split up after the first singletrack, and then onto the climb. Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata saw some of the other teams taking strain and decided to make the climb hard. At the top it was only team DCM (Max Knox and Brandon Stewart) left with Team MTN. The two teams worked well together and gradually increased their lead over the other teams. Although the two teams tested each other, it came down to a sprint finish. Alban was too strong for the DCM duo as Team MTN powered away to win the stage. Third on the stage went to Specialized/Mr Price’s Burry Stander and Ben-Melt Swanepoel, about 8minutes behind.

Stage 2, 97km Mackenzie to Jolliviet

Conditions only got worse on the second day as farmer Glen and his team were forced to have to re-route the course, unfortunately missing out on the 30km descend into the Umkimaas Valley via Nics Pass, normally the highlight of the race. The change took the riders straight down the district roads into the valley. However this was just as dangerous as poor visibility and an incredible amount of mud made the going really scary! The race rejoined the normal race route as the riders went down the valley into the “mamba downhill”, and headed towards the halfway compulsory stop at the top of “lamb legs”. Alban and Kevin set a hard tempo up the climb and by the top they had managed to make 1min25 on their DCM rivals. In the last 35km Team MTN worked incredibly hard and crossed the finish line a good 5min30 ahead of DCM, Specialized/Mr Price taking third again on the day. As the mud-cacked riders crossed the finish line it was evident that the backup crews would have their work cut out for them.

Stage 3, 78km Joliviet to Scottborough

With a good lead going into the last stage, there was no pressure on Team MTN other than to follow the wheels of their rivals. However, DCM were not taking any prisoners and set a tempo that was too hard for all except Alban and Kevin to follow. As the leaders began the final climb to the finish line they could see Team Specialized and the second Team MTN coming. Paul Cordes and Adrien Niyonshuti from Team MTN managed a second on the  stage ahead of Team Specialized who took third again, as Kevin and Alban consolidated their overall victory.

Kevin and Alban celebrate their victory

As expected, Yolandé Speedy and Mariska Strauss (MTN-Energade) were the women’s winners claiming all three stage victories on their way to the overall win.

Carla Rowley (BSG Biogen) and Renier Bellingham were the leaders in the category for mixed teams

Final results: