South African duo Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill secured third place honours at the Absa Cape Epic Prologue stage on Sunday, 19 March 2023.
The Prologue stage is a short, fast-kick off to a week of racing action and is the only stage in the Cape Epic where riders do not start en mass; rather, the results from the first day of racing determines seeding for stage 1, so riders put in huge efforts to get a good start position.
Cross legend Katerina Nash and queen of Unbound Sofia Gomez Villafañe placed first, while Vera Looser and Kim Le Court took second place.
Speaking after the race, Lill said: “We had a great day together. Having not raced together recently, we needed to figure out our team strategy, and where each other’s strengths lie. Today was the perfect day to do that. There was a whole lot of different terrain; the Prologue started out on a long climb with some flat in the middle, and then more climbing towards the end. Our plan was to pace it really well, hold back a little bit in the beginning and try to finish strong. Amy had a bit of a hard day out, but I think we did really well to finish third, only 30 seconds down from first place on a day that wasn’t ideal. The longer days ahead are definitely more suited to Amy’s strengths. I am looking forward to what we can achieve together and to making the most out of our teamwork.”
Results: Absa Cape Epic Prologue Stage
Sunday, 19 March 2023
1st: NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized – Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) & Katerina Nash (CZE) – 1:18:57
2nd: Efficient Infiniti Insure – Kim Le Court (MUS) & Vera Looser (NAM) – +7s
3rd: e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo – Amy Wakefield (ZAR) and Candice Lill (ZAR) – +30.2s
Photo 1 Caption: South African duo Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill secured third place honours at the Absa Cape Epic Prologue stage on Sunday, 19 March 2023. Photo: Renata Bossi / Supplied
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