Transitioning from Hermanus to Oak Valley, Stage 3 saw local riders, Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill from e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo strategically raced themselves into another Cape Epic Stage win building towards a significant 8 minute lead on the General Classification leaderboard on Wednesday, 22 March 2023.
With extensive local knowledge of the route due to racing most for the trails during the Wines to Whales Switchback event, team e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo held back until they sensed their opposition weakening around the 70 kilometre mark. They attacked on the climbs and eventually snapped the elastic, extending their lead by an impressive 3 minutes and adding further buffer to the sought after orange jersey.
Speaking on the third stage, Wakefield said: “Today (Wednesday) was another really good day for our team. Candice and I know this stage quite well as it is similar to the Wines to Whales Switchback route. We went in with the plan that if the opportunity presents itself, we will make a move, but it would have to be in the second half because there was no point in burning any matches before then.
“It worked out perfectly. About 70 kilometres in, we saw that our competition was battling and so we took the opportunity to create a gap. They managed to close it, but then we rode away once more and snapped the elastic. We rode solo to the end putting another 3 minutes into second.
“We loved today; we had a lot of fun on the trails, especially on those last singletracks.”
Wakefield’s partner, Lill shared her views on the stage: “Another win today! We took yesterday as a recovery day which suited our team perfectly considering everything that had happened with Amy’s arm. But today we had renewed energy and said from the beginning that we’d take advantage of any situation that presented itself. We weren’t going to force the racing, but if we saw that others were on the ropes, we’d attack!
“Towards the end of the stage, we were racing alongside NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized and started opening the taps, especially on the inclines. We felt we were climbing stronger and carrying more speed than them. They closed the gap a few times, but eventually we got away and it was guns blazing for about 15 kilometres to the line. We managed to extend our lead by 3 minutes. Amy rode like such a super star and we are really enjoying racing together!”
Results: Absa Cape Epic Stage 3
1st: e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo – Amy Wakefield (ZAR) and Candice Lill (ZAR) – 4:59:42
2nd: NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized – Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) & Katerina Nash (CZE) – +2:57
3rd: Efficient Infiniti Insure – Kim Le Court (MUS) & Vera Looser (NAM) – +8:42
The UCT Women’s GC after Stage 3:
1st: e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo – Amy Wakefield (ZAR) and Candice Lill (ZAR) – 16:45:44
2nd: NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized – Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) & Katerina Nash (CZE) – +8:21
3rd: Efficient Infiniti Insure – Kim Le Court (MUS) & Vera Looser (NAM) – +19:22
Photo 1 Caption: Transitioning from Hermanus to Oak Valley, Stage 3 saw local riders, Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill from e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo strategically raced themselves into another Cape Epic Stage win building towards a significant 8 minute lead on the General Classification leaderboard on Wednesday, 22 March 2023. Photo: Renata Bossi
With editing by gsport
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