Frei and Stigger clean up at the Cape Epic
Eight out of eight
The Swiss-Austrian duo of Laura Stigger and Sina Frei secure victory in the Absa Cape Epic prologue in wet and slippery conditions and are already 90 seconds ahead of Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss. Swiss rider Ariane Lüthi and her South African partner Robyn de Groot rode to third place.
Frei and Stigger also return first on the first stage, almost five minutes ahead of the Lüthi/de Groot team. Although they both had crashes, Frei and Stigger's victory was not in vain. "Our legs are super tired now, we suffered a lot because it wasn't actually the plan to ride away alone so early, but we just kept going. We often didn't know how far ahead we were, sometimes we had the feeling they were right behind us. So we just tried to ride at a solid and constant pace," said Frei, explaining how the early lead led to this solid lead.
After the two leaders also won stage two with a lead of just over a minute on Lüthi/de Groot and Lill/Strauss, Laura Stigger and Sina Frei wanted to pull out more of a lead on the third stage. They broke away after just 20 kilometers and crossed the finish line with a lead of almost four minutes. "We had hoped for a bigger gap," says Frei and adds: "But we are happy with what we achieved, because we suffered at the end." Ariane Lüthi and Robyn de Groot finish second and extend their lead over the South Africans Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss to eleven minutes.
It almost seems boring. World Cup stars Frei and Stigger remain unbeaten on the fourth stage and are aiming for the same on the fifth stage - with success. Less than two minutes behind them, Lill and Strauss ride into second place, as they did the day before. This time, they made up significant ground on Lüthi and de Groot, who are now just over a minute ahead of the South Africans.
The overall leaders almost suffer their first "defeat" - almost. Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss rode strongly on the sixth stage and made life difficult for Frei and Stigger. It comes to a sprint decision, but the young athletes are a tick better and win for the seventh time in a row. Even if it's not enough for the South Africans to win, it's still a success, as they push Ariane Lüthi and Robyn de Groot into second place in the overall standings and enjoy a lead of eleven minutes. "We ride every day the way we feel and today was just a really good day where we felt strong throughout. I'm very proud of our performance and can't wait for the final stage tomorrow," says Strauss.
On the final day of the Absa Cape Epic, Laura Stigger and Sina Frei lead the race from start to finish and ride to overall victory with their eighth win in eight stages. "It's incredible. We came to the Cape Epic to do well, but I never expected to be able to win this race. We were just a good team all week," said a delighted Frei, while her Austrian teammate added: "Our success belongs to the whole team. Everyone has worked so hard for us. I can't really describe the feelings at the moment, it's just so cool!"Behind the winners, there was no surprise and another turnaround: Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss take second place, with Ariane Lüthi and Robyn de Groot in third.
The first Frenchman and a new hero from South Africa
The 2020 cross-country world champion Jordan Sarrou and South African Matthew Beers left their first mark in the prologue. Sarrou set the pace on the 20-kilometre lap and Beers commented: "I let him set the pace and I just tried to stick to his rear wheel."
On the following day, the teams Bulls 1 with the Swiss Urs Huber and the German Simon Schneller and Bulls 2 with Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn (both DE) took first and second place in a tight finish to the first stage. The Canyon riders, world champion Andreas Seewald (DE) and Martin Stošek (CZE) finished third. "We are very happy about the stage win. It was a really nice course, but also tough. We had to fight for every meter, nothing was in vain. But this is the Cape Epic and what we're here for. It couldn't be better to celebrate a double victory today," said a delighted Urs Huber.
On the second, 98-kilometer stage, which rides from Ceres to Saronsberg, Tulbagh, Jordan Sarrou and Matthew Beers retain the upper hand. They now have a 2:13-minute cushion over Martin Stošek and Andreas Seewald in the overall standings. "I wasn't in a good mood this morning and was struggling a bit. Matt just waited for me and we stayed calm. His local knowledge helped me a lot today. At some point I felt better and in the end we were on the same wavelength," says Sarrou, recapping the second stage. Urs Huber and Simon Schneller rode to third place.The world champion and his partner are getting serious on the third stage: "Our plan worked out perfectly today, says Andreas Seewald. "We controlled the pace on the long singletrail section from the front and could afford to take it a little easier. That was good because we didn't know the trail that well. We then attacked on the steep climb, which was also our plan. It was brutally hard. I didn't believe that we could actually pull out a lead, but we did it and held on to it." The German-Czech duo won ahead of Samuele Porro and Fabian Rabensteiner, with Urs Huber and Simon Schneller again in third place.
The Spaniard José Diaz and the Dutchman Hans Becking put their stamp on the fourth stage. "At the start of the race, we had concentrated on the second half of the race, and today we simply had great legs. We felt good right from the start and knew that today could be a good day," says Hans Becking. Jordan Sarrou and Matthew Beer rode to second place, extending their overall lead to around seven minutes on Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn, who finished third today.
After Diaz and Becking strike again on the fifth stage and the leading duo of Beers/Sarrou narrowly have to concede to Frey and Stiebjahn, the sixth stage sees another new winner, and what a winner it is. Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn win ahead of Beers and Sarrou in the sprint, after which Stiebjahn struggles for words: "It's unbelievable! I have to thank the whole team and especially Martin, who was so strong today. I am so happy about this victory. I always had the feeling that I had the potential to win a stage, and in the end it also comes down to the right partnership and a bit of luck. We set off at the right moment today and it worked out great!" It is Stiebjahn's first stage win, after the German had previously competed in the Cape Epic seven times.
On the final stage, Hans Becking and José Diaz are once again the fastest and, with their victory, displace the Italians Porro and Rabensteiner from third place overall. Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn, who finished third on the last day of the race, finished ahead of them. Second place but the overall Cape Epic victory goes to the South African marathon champion Matthew Beers and the French cross-country specialist Jordan Sarrou. Beers is the first South African winner in the men's category since the late Burry Stander, while Sarrou is the first French winner in the elite men's category.
"It's just an incredible feeling," says Beers. "Burry set the bar very high; he was such a great mountain biker. I honestly didn't think I could ever achieve that. And I have to thank Jordan. He was a great partner all week, a real superhero. I never thought this was possible. When we started and won the prologue, I already thought it was incredible, but the fact that we made it to the end, I can't thank the team enough!"
Jordan Sarrou is speechless after eight days on the mountain bike: "This is just incredible, I have hardly any words. It's been an incredible week riding with Matt. We had the yellow jersey in our hands right from the start and never gave it back. It's an incredible feeling to win the Absa Cape Epic. Many thanks to everyone who was involved and made this possible!"
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.