ABSA Cape Epic 2017 – Stage 2 – #EpicEnergadeMoments

After two days of extreme weather conditions Stage 2 of the Absa Cape Epic was shortened to 62km. Instead of riding the 102km to Elandskloof near Greyton, riders finished at what would have been the second water point for the day at the Botanical Gardens just outside Caledon.

The 2017 Absa Cape Epic started exactly as they 2016 edition ended, with Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factor Racing XC) powering onto the Meerendal Wine Estate fields to take the win. Last year the pair claimed the final stage of the Cape Epic; this year they put their considerable cross-country talents to good use to out-race a star-studded field to claim the 26km Prologue at a blazing hot Meerendal. 2016 Olympic cross-country champion Nino Schurter and teammate Matthias...

In this clip an athlete got some difficulties with his foot pedal. He continues the race with just one pedal until he reaches the next water point, where he can fix it up.

Sauser and Kulhavy lay down the law. Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy claimed a second consecutive stage win at the 2017 Absa Cape Epic, and at the same time managed to eat into the time gap of the overall leaders, Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini. Second on Stage 3, which ended in a sprint finish, were Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann, with third-place going to Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr.

Stage 3 was a relatively short 78km that took riders out of the Elandskloof race village towards Genadendal and through the Greyton network of mountain bike trails. It was a day for the cross-country specialists to rise to the occasion, with Schurter and Stirneman duly obliging.

Cross-country specialists Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini continued their blazing assault on the 2017 Absa Cape Epic with another stage win. The pair has now scored a hattrick of stage wins if you include their victory in the final stage of the 2016 Cape Epic. On the 101km route that started and finished at Hermanus High School, Fumic and Avancini raced home in a time of 4:25.35, which means they retain the overall lead and the yellow jersey. They admitted, though, that an unfortunate tumb...

When Mark Smith and Alan Van Schoor (Masters) started the prologue race, they never thought about what problems they had to face. Mark's handlebar broke and so he had to finish the race with a half-handlebar.

Jaroslav Kulhavy and Christoph Sauser were first over the line in a thrilling sprint finish to claim their first stage win of the 2017 event, with Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann just behind in second. Overall leaders Manual Fumic and Henrique Avancini were in the sprint but finished third on the day and hold a decent two minute-plus lead over Sauser and Kulhavy in the race for the Absa Cape Epic title.