Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill from e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo demonstrated remarkable resilience after their setback on Stage 1. Despite Wakefield’s late-night surgery due to piercing her arm during a crash the previous day, the team rode defensively to finish in third place mere seconds behind Kim le Court and Vera Looser of Efficient Infiniti Insure, who clinched the victory in 05:28:42.
By defensively following their strategy for the day, Team e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo managed to prevent the other teams from closing in on their overall lead. With few opportunities for significant moves on the stage, they focused on recovery and retaining the orange jersey, losing only 5 seconds on the stage.
“It was a really long day with a lot of long district roads. We used it as a ‘recovery day’; we did not want to make any moves or do anything except defend the orange jersey and look after my health. I had less than four hours of sleep as I was in theatre for at least an hour last night having surgery, so I needed to look after my body. We did not need to do anything except defend the jerseys. We raced very conservatively and finished third on the stage,” said Wakefield.
“With regards to race tactics, It was a tricky race day because it was so long and so much of it was flat racing, leading to bunch riding. There were also some tricky climbs where a few of the riders tried to make a move and get away, but the leading teams were all well matched in strength and so we all stayed together right until the end. The racing got quite hot in the last five kilometres when Efficient Infiniti Insure and NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized dropped the hammer and raced for the stage win. It felt like a cross country race which was quite exciting! They diced for the win and we just sat up and finished safely, retaining our orange jerseys.
“I am super stoked after all the drama from yesterday that we rode well and are still in the game!”
Lill said: “Today was a really long day, the longest day of the whole Cape Epic. We had a very clear plan to defend our lead and not waste any energy today, and it was a perfect day to do so because of the nature of the course; there was a lot of open flat riding and it was going to be hard for any one team to get away. We rode very efficiently and smart, and achieved our goals all round. We’re still in orange, and have our plan ready for tomorrow. We are feeling so good as a team and I can’t wait to tackle Stage 3!
The UCI Women’s General Classification after Stage 2:
1st: e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo – Amy Wakefield (ZAR) and Candice Lill (ZAR) – 11:46:02
2nd: NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized – Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) & Katerina Nash (CZE) – +5:24
3rd: Efficient Infiniti Insure – Kim Le Court (MUS) & Vera Looser (NAM) – +10:40
Photo 1 Caption: Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill from e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo demonstrated remarkable resilience after their setback on Stage 1. Despite Wakefield’s late-night surgery due to piercing her arm during a crash the previous day, the team rode defensively to finish in third place mere seconds behind Kim le Court and Vera Looser of Efficient Infiniti Insure, who clinched the victory in 05:28:42. Photo: Renata Bossi / Supplied
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