It was a close call for the top teams in this year’s Absa Cape Epic as they battled it out to win the second stage (Stage 2) of this year’s event. Bart Brentjens and Jelmer Pietersma of Trek-Brentjens attained their dream of a stage win in a time of 4:08.06,4 and were closely followed by Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm of the Bulls team (4:08.08,8), with South Africa’s Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata of the MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon team (4:08.10,7) following closely in the first sprint finish of this year’s event. ?

Team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon is still in the overall lead by 4 minutes and 23 seconds (overall time - 8:43.53). The German Bulls team are now in second place overall (8:48.16,2), followed by Trek-Brentjens in third position overall (8:52.18,9). Early on in the race, the Fluckiger brothers’ team of Lukas and Mathias (team Trek World Racing) launched an attack, pushing hard during the singletrack sections in order to build up a lead of up about five minutes. Due to the weather and terrain conditions of the day (including sun in the riders’ eyes and dust) many of the leading riders did not even notice the breakaway.

But then Lady Luck had her own ideas on how the events of the day would play out with Lukas breaking his rear derailleur, whereafter he had to walk for 2km to the next vantage point to fix it. Unfortunately he didn’t find the matching product among their spare parts, so in the end he had to ride a majority of the stage with a limited range of gears, and had to dig deep to catch up.

The Scott-Swisspower MTB-racing team (Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel) then saw the chance to escape and built up a lead of more than three and a half minutes, followed by MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon, Bulls and Trek-Brentjens. Lady Luck was not on their side either as they had a flat tyre and had to change their wheel at water point 3. As the spare wheel did not have enough air, they had to pump the tyre and lost a lot of time.

Shortly after, on a tar section of the stage, they had yet another flat. The three chasing teams passed them, with MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon and Trek-Brentjens realising they were fighting for a stage win (as some spectators already alerted them to the fact that the Fluckiger brothers were out). However, the Bulls team of Platt and Sahm were not aware of this, thinking that they were fighting for second place.

With Jelmer Pietersma (Trek-Brentjens) in front he tried to build up a gap on the last 100 metres before the finish line, confident that Brentjens would be able to outsprint the others to secure a stage win. The Bulls team never attacked, as they were blissfully unaware that the stage win was up for grabs, only realising it when they arrived at the finish line. ?

“We were initially behind, but managed to catch up with the leading riders. We’re not very good on the climbs, but caught up on the descents,” said Pietersma. “Schurter and Vogel as well as the Flückiger brothers were a few minutes in the lead, but at the second water point we heard the Flückigers had some problems – I believe they broke a chain – and at this point we realised we were riding for victory. Both Bart and I felt quite strong today and when we only had a few hundred meters to go, we knew we could win.”

Commenting on his strong sprinting abilities, Brentjens said that if he can see the finish line, he can beat most riders. “Today was really great with lots of singletrack, but fast and small climbs all the way. The Flückiger brothers were unlucky as were Schurter and Vogel,” said Brentjens.

“This year’s race has some really strong contenders. As it is, the Absa Cape Epic is a hard race and very different to any other – one needs to use a different race tactic. It’s push, push, push all the way – and today’s stage was hard as you had to concentrate all the time and stay focussed. There were also some annoying sandy sections towards the end.”

With regards to the possibility of winning another stage, Brentjens commented: “The stages count together, and one gets more tired as the race goes along. At least today we finished early and can take some time to relax.”????

According to Bulls Team rider, Sahm, he felt better during this stage than on Stage 1.

“Today was okay. The climbs and flat sections were better and there was some nice singletrack. In a way we were unlucky today as we thought the Flückiger brothers were ahead of us and didn’t realise we were fighting for first place. If we knew, we definitely would’ve pushed more. But hey, Karl always gets stronger towards the end; we have a lot of patience and can wait.”

“Today was a nice stage with lots of awesome singletrack. At the beginning of the stage, the sun shone right into our faces, which made it a bit tricky as you couldn’t see the stones, only dust. We’re feeling really strong and although we finished in second place, we’ll take the jersey in the end.”??

Alban Lakata, of the MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon team, and still in the lead overall said: “Unfortunately we had some bad luck at the beginning as we had a puncture. I damaged my rear wheel and had to change it, but managed to catch up with the leading group. The Flückiger brothers attacked in one of the singletrack sections but also had some bad luck, as did the Bulls Team. The other Bulls team helped them out with a front wheel, as did our second team by assisting us when I had a puncture. It’s really good to be able to get support from your teammates. It was a tough day and also very hot. The Absa Cape Epic is always a hard race as you have to look where you’re riding and your nutrition is really important.”??

The Songo-Specialized by DCM team of Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander finished in 14th place today (4:23.43,3) and they are in ninth place overall (9:03.00,3). Stander felt sick during stage one, and hardly slept the night before stage two, suffering from severe stomach problems.??

The first ladies to complete Stage 2 were Hannele Steyn-Kotze and Ivonne Kraft (team Sludge Ladies) finishing in a time of 5:16.10,0 (also first overall at 11:04.05,3). They were again followed by Kristine and Anna-Sofie Noergaard (Team Rothaus-CUBE) in a time of 5:22.31,1 who remain in second position overall (11:15.19,2). Giuliana Vitali and Tamara Horn (Team bike2help.ch – Big Tree) finished in a time of 5:39.01,5, placing them in third position overall (11:53.34,3).??

“Today was very hot and tough, but still fun. I’ve just come from Germany, where it’s still winter and cold. The African terrain was very rough and it was definitely one of the most technical stages of the race, which both Hannele and I like a lot,” said Kraft, previous winner of the Mixed category in 2008.

“We’re very satisfied with the way the race is going for us. I used to ride this race in the Mixed category and always played the role of the weaker member of the team. I therefore had to dig very deep to stay on the wheel of the man I was riding with. Riding in the Ladies category this year for the first time has changed my role completely – now I’m the stronger one and need to watch out for Hannele and support her whenever I can. If my heart rate is low enough, I push her so that the physical burden is shared.”??

Yolande Speedy and Paul Cordes (MTN Business Qhubeka) finished in first place today in a time of 4:44.23,8. They are now placed second (overall) in their category (10:07.24,0). They were followed by yesterday’s category winners Bärti Bucher and Esther Süss (Wheeler – BIXS) in a time of 4:48.40,3 who retain the first place overall (10:03.38,2). Nico Pfitzenmaier and Sally Bigham of the Adidas Big Tree team again finished in third place (4:59.41,8) and remain in the same position overall (10:22.45,9).??

“Today’s race was really enjoyable. There was a lot more singletrack, which we liked. We made a few mistakes yesterday, which cost us our lead and had to make amends today. We were more conservative and picked it up in the end,” said Cordes.

Speedy reckons it was a great course. “It was a tough day, but I loved the technical side of it. I’m happy with our results.”??

Cyclelab’s Shan Wilson and Andrew Mclean again took top honours in the Master’s category on Stage 2 (4:40.49,7) giving them the overall lead in the Masters (9:51.32,0). They were followed by the Big Tree Masters Team Corrie Muller and Robert Sim (5:02.03,3), who are now in third place overall (11:35.23,6). Adrian Enthoven and Gary Marescia (Cycle Lab Jag Foundation) finished in third place today in 5:05.26,5 and are placed second overall (10:41.28,0).??

“Today was tough but good. We extended our lead and are very happy with the result. We only had one flat at the beginning of the stage – but nothing major. The singletrack made the race more technical, so one had to concentrate all the time,” said Wilson.

On Tuesday’s, Stage 3 the riders tackle 118km with a total of 1720m of ascent. The riders will see fast open roads take the field to a short section of smooth, flowing singletrack. The riders will be relieved to reach water point 1 after a leg-trashing 3km climb out of the Ceres bowl and up onto a plateau. A rough jeep track then heads through some rare fynbos. It’s easy on the eye, but what’s to come is hard on the body and bike.

Riders will need to stay alert on the challenging downhill section. Almost half of the day’s climbing is done with the first 40km and experienced athletes will ride within their limits, not spending too much energy, too early. After traversing the farmlands past a very inviting dam, riders hug the foothills of Matroosberg, passing a ski hut – they’ll be dreaming of snow on a hot day.

More descending takes them back down into the Ceres bowl, the first section is on tar, but the next is technical. The last climb of the day is short but very steep and loose, forcing riders to walk. The profile looks fairly flat from here on, but riders shouldn’t be fooled. If the heat and rugged terrain doesn’t break their spirits, the sandy patches and devil thorns on the last 15km can easily do so.

For full results and detailed race information, visit www.cape-epic.com