Full Highlights | Stage 3 | 2022 Absa Cape Epic

um [Music] [Music] having raced to yellen's club near greyton on stage two wednesday the 23rd of march was the first morning in the second race village usually quiet country village is a rural oasis in the heart of the overburg wheat fields horses and children range free on the dusty streets and mountain bikers are welcomed year-round the region hosts two stages of the 2022 absolute cape epic and provides nearly 200 kilometers of gravel roads dual tracks and sublime single tracks which is a point of concern for everyone in the race including the cm.com elite women the opening three days have been anything but easy and stage two was particularly challenging at 123 kilometers it had the added difficulty of requiring the teams to race into a headwind all day as such the early breaks were short-lived the oak valley single track provided respite from the wind before having to battle the southeastern cutpass and fundustel's pass the leading teams kept their powder dry for the pivotal ascent jacques climb their bmc mtb racing and 91 songo specialized dropped symtech za and faces roller only for hayley batten to stop to repair her dropper seat post near the summit this allowed pauline ferran prevost and robert hurt to race off to a hard-earned stage victory baton and sophia gomez velafan launched a valiant but ultimately futile pursuit and had to be content with second on the day ariane luty and amy wakefield completed the podium 91 songo specialized still held the leader's jerseys yeah absolutely i mean i think it's just goes to show that this is an epic race and it's super unpredictable and uh yeah we had to adapt and go with the flow and give our best fight because this race is not going to be easy for win to win and i think we're ready for that to give our best after stage two hayley batten and sophia gomez villafan lead the cm.com women's race by six minutes and 26 seconds over pauline faranprevo and robin de cruel to bmc mtb racing symtek za were third 21 seconds off second and faces rolo a fourth but comfortably leading the absa african jersey competition in the men's race the ultra-marathon stage provided opportunities for redemption for toyota 91 specialized and scott sram matt pierce had struggled with stomach issues on stage one causing he and chris blevins to lose over nine minutes and the yellow jerseys for the second day in a row punches at cost nino scherter here last forced to find themselves in eighth at the start of the stage thus scots ram were eager to agitate the race splitting the group into the headwind on front of cell pass having dragged a select group clear on the gravel road the swiss team attacked again on jacques climb rapidly establishing a two-minute advantage but once again punctures plagued nino shelter this third rear wheel flat in as many days cost him and foster their lead once the chasers caught scott's ram a sprint finish was inevitable sherda and foster had enough in the tank to fight their way to stage honors holding off toyota 91 specialized buff megamo and the yellow jersey wearing canyon northwave team despite their run of bad luck last forster was bullish about their performance in the race thus far yeah i think we showed that we are the strongest today so uh i think the others had a hard time as well and we just keep going we delivered already the last two days today we earned to win and uh let's keep going the stage two results meant that andreas sivalton martin store since canyon northwave lead the 2022 absolute cape epic by 4 minutes and 56 seconds over hunspecking at jose diaz about mega mode toyota 91 specialized and scott sram recovered to third and fifth respectively with speed company racing sandwiched between the pre-race favorites stage three was another day for large time gaps to be made and lost at 101 kilometers with 2250 meters of climbing it contained a mix of all things epic starting with the staple of absolute cape epics of your district roads clusters of climbs and single track offered opportunities to attack while linking gravel roads would make it difficult for breakaways to stick for the fans the grayton town centre spectator point provided a great opportunity to see the world's best mountain bikers in action midway through the stage before they embarked on the single track filled final 40 kilometers within 13 kilometers of the finish line the route turned away from milan's cliff for two tough climbs and single track descents that challenging terrain would prove pivotal the elite men's teams knew they were in for another difficult day even though the climbs were not as long as those which dominated stages one and two yeah it's uh i don't know exactly what to expect from the stage it's it's uh still quite long we've overcome the case uh but not as as big climbs as we saw the first two days so we need to see how the stage goes a bit and uh where we have our chances to be honest i don't know maybe there are there could be some teams which are not in the overall and trying to just go for a stage maybe but for sure we have to to have eye on nino and then the buff teams but i don't know really i don't know how to how to imagine today's race can be somehow nice like by the profile because it should be not that difficult but also the weather can play the rule and i don't know we'll see [Applause] the weather after two days of heat and a day of wind remained mercifully benign on stage three but where the temperatures stayed cool the racing was red hot from the off matte bears had clearly recovered from the bug which led him low two days before the toyota 91 specialized man stretched the group right off the start line and tore up the altered climb out of elon's crew the speed company racing team of georg edgar and lucas baum were hot on his heels having finished second seventh and fifth on the race thus far the germans were working with a plan on the fourth day of the race ahead of the stage haley batten and pauline ferran prevos reflected on some of the factors which make the absolute case epic unique yeah for sure i mean i think every day we're going to try and try and win and do our best i mean as you can see it's super like equipment can do anything you can have any sort of mechanical or physical mishap so i think yeah it's just gaining as much time as possible every day yeah i start to use to to wake up at 4 30 so it's a good thing yeah today will be like a long stage again but a bit more flat so we will see how we feel and if we want to make the difference or try to recover but we can't say now so we have to see after a few kilometers where the men had flown off the start line the cm.com women's race featured a less frenetic start the group remained in close formation as they wound their way across the tributary of the elantra river and out of the race village to the open roads beyond the open gravel roads are made for matte bears the south african marathon champion dragged the group through the early kilometers at a terrifying pace in fact they averaged over 33 kilometers an hour for the first hour the pace led to stress in the group wheels touched and tensions frayed despite the shaking of heads no real damage was done at least until the speed company racing team came to the fall then the group blew apart and sergio manticon guterres of scott calabandita broke his chain perhaps an illustration of the what's required to remain in contention for the 2022 absolute cape epic title stretch to breaking point by gail gaga the riders were strung out in single file until a split was formed joining edgar and lucas baum off the front were marco uber and peter de toy maxi morata and keegan swenson and most ominously nino scherter the men in yellow andreas cervolt and martin stasek of canyon northwave had been weary of a move of exactly the sort the only silver lining was the presence of last foster in the chase group the chasers were thus never going to let that group get too much of an advantage without a fight former marathon world champion thiago ferreira and his dmt racing partner miguel munoz moreno were leading the pursuit the pace required to stay in the break proved too much for imbuco-type dev and the south africans had to throttle back as did nino scherter after last forster had been unable to bridge across to the leaders on the trails the efforts of the previous three days had clearly taken their toll on the european cross-country champion in the heat of the chase canyon northway punctured this left sierra volta and stossick in the precarious position of a solo pursuit encouraged by their success speed company racing and santa cruz forged on behind there were more punctures this time for buff megabus enrique vigara and hugo drescho the spanish team's troubles were perfectly timed however the flying canyon northway pair caught them as they fixed their puncture vigara and drescho were thus able to hitch a ride back to the group none of this was any concern for george egger and lucasfarm having received little aid from santa cruz's morota and swenson the speed company racing combination were unfazed when their breakaway companions dropped off the pace the final 55 kilometers would be a two-up team time trial for the young germans while the french and american behind battled to maintain their second position on the trails in this strung our chase group the single file line meant that teammates were separated near the front hunts backing was thus unaware that jose diaz had punctured fortunately buff megabyte2 were on hand to provide a replacement front wheel their teamwork perfectly illustrated the importance of a similarly strong support team in the untamed one never knows when disaster will strike having teammates to provide a will or aiding and pacing back to the group can be a race-saving difference but teammates can only do so much the a-teams still have to peddle their bikes faster than their rivals a feat which the support teamless speed company racing were achieving despite hours on their own they were showing no signs of cracking they would have to be strong the matbear's express was in full flight canyon northway buff megavo and crucially scott sram had missed the train in the cm.com women's race the group rolled through the opening kilometers together unlike the previous two days when big climbs split the field early in the piece the stage 3 profile allowed the slower teams to remain with the leading contenders for longer along with the orange jersey wearing 91 songo specialized team the group also contained faces roller bmc mtb racing symtech za private client holdings the two live factory racing teams partners group sk bicycling sweden and wintergreen abbess when the climbing began the group started to steadily thin out one by one the teams who were well done on the general classification standings dropped from the amy wakefield lead group after two tough days of racing the respite was clearly appreciated by most of the group yet there is always the possibility that if the pace suddenly increases after an hour of just rolling through that the legs will not respond to the change in tempo eventually the formation riding had to come to an end and private client holdings with a combination to break the rhythm the team in fifth place on general classification took the race to the top four marie robbie and haley preen simply rode off the front of the group after a moment or two of looking around the group elected to let the private client holdings team go but the attack did enforce an increase in pace aryan luty initially took control of the chase the swiss marathon champion marshaled the group allowing the leaders advantage to go out to a minute as one may expect from the tactics of the peloton in a road race having refueled at the 32 kilometer mark the pursuit could begin in earnest the private client holdings team were unconcerned by the tactics behind them marie ravi and haley preen instead just continued to ride their own pace reeling in a batch men's teams and steadily making their way through the dual tracks which characterized the mid phases of the stage who better to lead a long range attack than an ironman 70.3 champion or the rider who won the south african road race championships in a solo attack the group behind was aware of the strengths of the women up the road but they knew the situation was within their powers to control so there was no panic in the chase a patient approach would slowly and steadily reduce the gap to the point where one or two teams would be able to jump across the only real question was who would bridge to robbie and preen the answer was 91 songo specialized and faces roller once they joined the private kind holdings team the group of six was too powerful for anyone else to catch avoiding being caught was all that mattered to speed company racing but doing so would be tough with toyota 91 specialized in hot pursuit the route pointing skyward once more for a final loop which featured two brutal climbs played into the leader's hands the piers express was forced to slow with their yellow jerseys in growing danger canyon northwave had to respond too having spent the best part of 40 kilometers on their own already korg and lucas baum were unfazed at being out front alone matt beers and chris blevins having shared santa cruz were no longer dragging anyone with them and were free to chase at their own pace though the terrain was making that tough further back santa cruz were fading through the field passed by the charging andreas cervolt and martin stasek there would be no catching gayorgega and lucas bauma speed company racing were unrelenting in their drive to the finish line even hitting the fields of elance cliff didn't slow them down they only slowed to celebrate after their victory was sealed toyota 91 specialized crossed the lines second exhausted but happy with their efforts canyon northway completed the podium limiting their time losses with another stellar performance in fact their advantage was only trimmed by 10 seconds to the new holders of second place overall speed company racing's victory was concluded in a time of 3 hours 48 minutes and 33 seconds george lucas baum were two minutes and 15 seconds faster over the 101 kilometer course than matt bears and chris plevans andreas cervalte and martin stasek were third one minute and 12 seconds behind toyota 91 specialized scott sram's difficulties saw them finish 12th on the day and concede nine minutes to the stage winners the stage results mean that canyon northwave lose time to speed company racing who move into second and toyota 91 specialised buff megamode dropped from second to fourth imbuco type dev strengthened their grip on the red apps african jerseys and lined ninth overall that's incredible uh four weeks ago we weren't sure if we're even able to do that because it's uh it's also a budget thing so we are we're taking part in the cup epic with a minimal setup we just have one supporter it's my dad and we don't even have a tent we're preparing our bikes ourselves we're cooking for ourselves if i'm looking at wheeler or specialized they have a whole crew behind them they don't have to do anything but but ride their bikes and we are basically the supporter for ourselves so that's even more worth for me to win here with circumstances like that you know yesterday was uh maybe the hardest day i've ever had on a bike and today was a bit easier just because it was shorter but matt and i really found a rhythm halfway through and got some time on the rest of the guys behind us and i think that was a smart race by us we didn't want to um go too hard early and we really thought the speed company guys would come back but kudos to them for such a strong ride um but yeah i think like i said you know we found a rhythm now and hopefully we can carry that through the next uh four days yeah it was a tough day it was probably uh the end for the battle for the overall but uh yeah let's see how lars recovers and hopefully his uh tomorrow is another day and he feels better again but yeah that's that's the cape epic uh in my results and uh yeah somehow uh something went wrong with lars and uh that's that's how it is yeah in the cm.com women's race the private client holdings team of murray rabbi and haley preen had worked themselves into a strong position they led the lead group into a single track climb inside the final 10 kilometers and could control the pace knowing she could close the gap at will mariska strauss yo-yoed off the back of the group freshening up her legs for a potential spread finish having worked so hard for a tactical advantage robbie and preen were undone by the course when the route turned from single to dual track they were powerless to follow as 91 songo specialized and faces roller blitz spine the private client holdings combination had to watch as severe gomez villafan haley bat mariska strauss and candice lille rode away to contest the stage victory still their ride had been a brave one having pre-ridden much of the route in training for the after cape epic the faces roller team read an advantage over the visiting argentine american combination that allowed them to buy their time allowing 91 songo specialized to work on the front until the crucial moment then with a last-ditch effort candice lille and mariska strauss forced their way to the front on a dual track climb which gave them the priority run into the final single track of the stage cannoli lil and strauss controlled the pace slowing the group in order to recover for the sprint with the rivals on the front haley batten's well-honed technical skills were showcased for the camera rather than in pursuit of victory the lead on the trail was worth more with the shortened run-in into yelen's curve face has roll enjoyed a clear run in through the final turns kick to go clear of 91 songo specialized who knew they were beaten and powered across the finish line the victory was candice lille and mariska strasse's first as an absolute cape epic pairing which made it all the more sweeter marie robbie and haley prin's reward for their long break was a podium position on the stage the result is also the south african pair's best at the absence epic the smiles on the day's podium told much of the story it was a happy day for south african women's mountain biking mariska strauss and candace lilles first absolutely their fx stage victory as a team was secured in four hours 50 minutes and 35 seconds the two seconds sophia gomez very fun and haley baton conceded were immaterial to the overall standings as of the time marie rob and haley preen gained in finishing third 91 songo specialized still lead the cm.com women's competition faces roller moved up to second 10 minutes and seven seconds off the lead vmc racing slide to third and semtech za slipped to fourth yeah i think if there's one thing about marissa and i we know how to put a day behind us and and start a new everyday and i say to you on the start line this morning it's a new day we go and coming across that line in first place was very very special we fought hard for it today we were kind of uh hanging out for a few hours and then uh it was funny i told haley we need to stay calm until 80k and then at 40k i got kind of bored and um yeah there was a group that was off the front and then yeah that we came up on a very technical section and i think that's where we got robin so the moment we saw pauline was with us we're like let's keep pinning it because we just need to separate him as much as we can and i think we saw him on a switchback climb and we had two minutes and um yeah time is uh the clock's ticking we didn't expect it at all um but we knew we both climbed well i mean last year when haley crashed on stage three so at this stage last year we were riding a friend um so when we were up front today we just continued riding our pace actually worked out quite well we could ride the whole race our pace and then when the other two teams caught us we can sit on them through the technical bits so i think we're extremely happy we just love riding our bikes and we're having fun every day so i think yeah that's probably why we read so well today old competitive instincts die hard as bart branches and money hayman's continue to prove you know look i mean yesterday especially yesterday with the wind i mean genevieve weighing under 50 kilograms you know the moment she was out of the out of this live stream she was like like a flag flattering um so we took it a little bit easier on the on the beginning i know because 123 kilometers in any in any ride it's difficult i mean and that's in the cape epic that's just super difficult um challenging for the mind yesterday uh good luck to all the people that actually finished um it was just uh undulating up and undulating up and uh you know the that would when went past so quickly that uh the apps were there again you know but um they see what today's a holding state so awesome weather out there so i think the guys are in for a good day the cooler weather suited money heymans and his partner genevieve weber they not only had a good day on the trails of greyton but had a fast one too the absentmix team added to their general classification advantage with their second stage win of the race mirko pirazzolli and miguel martinez kept karl platt and christoph saser company on the stage while bart wrenches and our braz avedo dominated the grand masters as did la la lisani in de bele and trotlos selala in the xaro jerseys though they finished carrying a number board after a crash for underbelly the jerseys thus all remain with the morning's category years the second dane greyton sees the absa cape epic follow clockwise loop through the region's mountains and valleys the 82 kilometer long route features 1 650 meters of climbing and is packed with rocky single track after a gravel road warm-up towards the historic mission town of canada the climbing and trails begin with rocky horror before dropping into greyton bark and scorp follows with a nine kilometer long challenging single track climb at traverse and descent ufo 65 kilometers into the stage could present the opportunity for a decisive attack perhaps by the yellow chasing toyota 91 specialized or speed company racing teams the downhill from the summit is technical and tricky punctures await the unwary five kilometers of false flats require a steady grind back to yelen's cliff and the finish line great [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Applause] you

Channel: Cape Epic

Views: 36,745

Keywords: absa cape epic, cape epic, mountain bike, mountain biking, MTB, South Africa, bike race, stage race, uci, westerncape, extremesports

Id: SWPz-p_QADg

Length: 25min 51sec (1551 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 23 2022