Cycling: “Shortly before the finish, I asked Alban how we're going to do it: agreement or sprinting out to win? The answer was sprint, so we did it like real men,” said Christoph Sauser (Investec-Songo-Specialized) at the finish of the Absa Cape Epic. Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy were three tenths of a second ahead of their main rivals, Alban Lakata (AUT) and Kristian Hynek (CZE) from the Topeak Ergon team.
Hynek had chosen the wrong line when turning into the home stretch. “This will annoy me for the next few days”, said the likeable Czech, who won the Absa Cape Epic 2014 with the German Robert Mennen.
This increases the number of Epic stage wins for Christoph Sauser to 36 in his career since his first participation in 2005. And now the Swiss is only 87 kilometers and 1500 meters in altitude away from a possible fifth overall victory and thus a new record. Only Team Bulls' Karl Platt has won the Epic four times, like Sauser.
A complete slump in the performance of the Swiss Urs Huber allowed the Bulls to roll over the finish line in Wellington more than 13 minutes behind the leaders. “Urs had a bad day today. We're so far behind the fourth, I said to him, relax, you don't have to overexert yourself. And then we just got the thing safely to the finish line”said Platt.
Fourth-placed overall, cross-country world champion Jose Hermida with Dutch partner Rudi van Houts, Team Multivan Merida, also struggled more with physical problems than with the competition. Crampy stomach pains slowed down the bundle of energy Hermida, “I may have liver inflammation”, he said after he had been examined the day before. Immediately after crossing the finish line, the Spaniard disappeared into the Mediclinic tent. The Merida riders lost around 22 minutes, but were able to hold onto 4th place overall.
Five South African teams finished in the top ten in stage six. The African leader jersey changed again, which Scott Factory Racing got. Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes, who won stage 5, claimed another podium finish with 3rd place. Darren Lill and Waylon Woolcock (RED-E Blend) had to change a rear wheel and had to change the brake disc and sprocket in the tech zone, which cost them too much time. The red African leader jersey changed for the fourth time.
Robert Mennen (GER) and Jeremiah Jacobs (USA), Team Topeak Ergon 2, were involved in a crash with Germany's Jochen Käß (Meerendal Centurion Vaude) but still managed to finish 8th in the stage. This puts them in 14th place before the final day.
For once, early rain in Wellington banned the dust from the track. About an hour after the start, the sky cleared up so that, exceptionally, all riders almost completed the stage "enjoy" could. Almost half of the 72 kilometers consisted of single tracks. “It was like Alice in Wellington”, also delighted the winner of the women's category, Ariane Kleinhans, "For once we didn't drive with full pressure today."
The Swiss cruised with her RECM Specialized partner Annika Langvad, three-time marathon world champion, through the singletrack of the Welvan Pass to an undisputed fifth stage victory.
After seven days, the Topeak Ergon Team with Kristian Hynek (CZE) and Alban Lakata (AUT) is 10.51,7:87 minutes behind the Specialized leaders before the final stage of this year's Absa Cape Epic. This goes over 25 kilometers to the Meerendal winery in Durbanville near Cape Town. In between there is a climb that will go down in the history of the Absa Cape Epic as a classic: the Paardeberg, in English horse mountain. After 600 kilometers of warming up on gravel roads, it's time for this 6 meter climb over 10.15 kilometers. The fastest drivers are expected in Meerendal around XNUMX local time.