Energas Claim Fourth Straight Epic Stage Win

Absa Cape Epic leaders Yolande Speedy and Catherine Williamson (Energas) took advantage of a chilly early morning start to win their fourth consecutive stage in 4:06.55,9 and claim an overall lead by 2 hours, 3 minutes and 1 second.

In second place, with their third podium finish, were Sara Mertens and Laura Turpijn of C-Bear in 4:17.01,3 (overall 31:46.29,7). Hanlie Booyens and Ischen Stopforth of Pragma Volcan Ladies finished in third place in 4:29.25,8 (overall 31:00.03,7).

Says Williamson (Energas): “It wasn’t a lot of fun. It would’ve been more fun if you had fresh legs, but there were so many steep climbs and my legs are shattered. It was quite hard today. The single-track was really nice and we enjoyed that. The bit in-between was not as nice.”

Adds teammate Speedy: “It was a nice course, but I suffered in the beginning. Catherine pushed me on the climbs and I found my legs later. It was a tough day with steep climbs and I hardly enjoyed the downhills as everything was just aching so much.”

The fifth day was like a bonus day – short, sweet and, most importantly, great fun! Riders already had a taste of the Bain’s MTB Trails at Welvanpas on the day before. It was a fantastic purpose-built network of single-track, perched between the Wellington vineyards and the slopes of Bain’s Kloof.

The relatively short distance of 75 kilometers offered more single-track than any previous Absa Cape Epic stage, featuring some amazing cross-country terrain and lots of twisting ups and downs – all in all an extra enjoyable day to re-energise body and mind.

Mixed Category:

Theresa Ralph and Damian Perrin of Biogen Britehouse won today’s stage in a time of 3:44.34,6 (overall 29:34.22,8).

They were followed by the RE:CM team of Erik and Ariane Kleinhans in 3:45.09,2 (overall 26:47.35,1), with Johan Labuschagne and Yolandé de Villiers of Exxaro Cycle Lab 1 third place in 3:54.25,2 (overall 28:29.50,6).

Cherise Stander and Duane Stander (Africanmtbkid 1) finished in fourth place today, in 3:55.33,7 (overall 29:37.27,0). Erik and Ariane Kleinhans (RE:CM) lead this category by 1 hour, 42 minutes and 15 seconds.

Says Ralph of Biogen Britehouse: “It was full gas the whole way and not one section that we relaxed. We were always pushing the limit and encouraging each other. The route was fun, with lots of winding trails and some technical bits. The single-track was really nice and there were good intervals.”

Says Erik Kleinhans of RE:CM: “This is the first day that we didn’t win the stage. We didn’t want to take any chances as tomorrow is a hectic stage and we wanted to spare our arms and tyres today. Biogen Britehouse were in the lead for most of today.

“They created a gap down the first downhill and we managed to close the gap, but we’d really like to win tomorrow. It’s our home town and we tried to give our legs and arms a bit of a break. Biogen put in a lot of effort on the last downhill to win. They earned their win today.”

Stage 6: Wellington to Stellenbosch (99 km, 2 950 m of climbing):

With a maximum stage time of 10 hours, riders should prepare themselves for a long stage, the last real hurdle of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic. The first 20 kilometers are primarily in the forestry plantation on the slopes of Du Toit’s Kloof, with a steady 10-kilometer climb followed by an equally long, fast descent interrupted occasionally by some soft forest single-track.

The second major climb is primarily through orchards that soon give way to mountain fynbos as the trails turns more rugged, including another single-track descent, but riders need to watch out for the handle-bar-grabbing fynbos.

By the time riders cross under the N1 national highway at the 35-kilometer mark, they will have completed almost half the climbing of the day. The next section is fast going along farm and gravel roads along the Drakenstein Mountains towards Franschhoek. The route makes the turn towards Helshoogte Pass, as the trail hugs the steep slopes of the iconic Simonsberg Mountain.

Riders will pass through wine farms and the Idas Valley before passing underneath the R310 road. From here it is one last steep climb, before a descent sweetened by some more forestry single-track that takes riders into the race village.

Follow the riders on the live site at www.cape-epic.com, the mobi site (m.cape-epic.com), on Twitter (#absacapeepic), Facebook (www.facebook.com/capeepic) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/absacapeepic).