The South African/Swiss team of Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser (Songo.info) again proved their world-class stature by winning stage two of the Absa Cape Epic. This is their third consecutive win, having also taken top honours in both the Prologue and Stage One.

With an overall time advantage of 6 minutes and 35 seconds, the Songo.info team will wear the yellow leader jersey for Stage 3 tomorrow [Tuesday, 24 March 2009]. Songo.info crossed the finish line in a time of 03:53:48, 2 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm (Bulls).

For the second stage of the Absa Cape Epic, riders had to follow a 110km route with 1 527m of climbing from Villiersdorp to Worcester, before heading back via Robertson, with the Trek-Brentjens team leading until halfway.

Men’s Category

Sauser and Stander were the first to cross the finish line in a time of 03:53:48 (overall time 09:24:58). The German Bulls team Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm finished in second place in a time of 03:56:08, which also secured them the second place overall (09:31:23). In third place were Emil Lindgren (Sweden) and Andreas Kugler (Switzerland) (Felt Factory 2) in a time of 03:56:09, finishing in 5th place overall (09:42:19). Attackers Bart Brentjens and Chris Jongewaard (Trek-Brentjens) eventually finished in 5th place today (03:58:46), but secured the third overall position (09:36:00).

The South African team Kevin Evans and David George (MTN Energade) finished in fourth place in 03:56:12, and also fourth overall (09:36:25).

Brentjens and Jongewaard again attacked from the start of today’s stage and had a 5 minute lead time at one of the main obstacles of the day – a 3km technical 8% climb. By the time they reached the bottom on the other side, the Songo.info and Bulls team had caught up with them. The Bulls team struggled with punctures all day and had to repair their tyres at least five times.

“Yesterday was a very tough stage and we were both tired. Today we felt good and on the last climb we really went for it. We also made up some time on the flat sections whenever we could,” said Sauser.

Stander had a flat tyre along the route and his team mate’s experience came into play, with Sauser helping him whilst remaining calm, so that they did not lose too much time. After the flat, they hit the gas and caught up with Trek-Brentjens again, riding hard whenever conditions allowed.

“I know how difficult it is mentally to have two teams in front and you have to ride hard to catch up.” Today’s terrain was extremely technical and at times even the pros had to get off and carry their bikes. “It’s not that we wouldn’t be able to ride it, but in terms of race tactics walking is sometimes quicker. You also don’t run the risk of injuring yourself or damaging your equipment. Our focus is to win overall – over the next days we won’t focus so much on winning the stages, but rather on maintaining our overall lead,” continued Sauser.

“On arrival I thought I was in worse shape than last year, but in fact I’m in much better form. I feel better every day and I’m mentally much stronger. We don’t discuss race tactics – Christoph is very experienced – so I do what he says and so far listening to him has always paid off,” said Stander.

Songo.info’s tactics were to push as hard as possible on both the climbs and descents, sometimes making up a minute or more to increase their lead.

Ladies Category

The first ladies to complete Stage 2 were Hanlie Booyens and Sharon Laws finishing in 05:11:17, also keeping them in the overall lead (12:46:17). They were followed by Robyn Adendorff and Sarah van Heerden (WSP – Jeep Girls) in a time of 06:01:41, placing them second overall as well (14:53:12). The Tread Magazine Ladies, Nolene Saunders and Sarah Wielopolska, had their first podium finish in a time of 06:10:47, placing them in third position for this stage and overall.

Mixed Category

Team Adidas Big Tree, Nico Pfitzenmaier and Alison Sydor, followed in the Songo.info’s footsteps by winning the green leader jersey in the Mixed category for the third day in a row. They finished in a time of 04:23:10 putting them in the overall lead (10:43:40). They were followed by Marcel Bartholet and Esther Süss (Wheeler – IXS Pro) in a time of 04:38:20 (second overall – 11:16:08) with Paul Cordes and Yolande Speedy (IMC/ Momentum/ GT Activeworx) in third place (04:39:40). They are also third overall (11:22:51).

Masters Category

The Absa Masters, Doug Brown and Barti Bucher again took top honours in Stage 2 (04:19:51), with an overall Masters lead time of 10:32:43. They were followed by Shan Wilson and Andrew Mclean (Cycle Lab Toyota) who finished today’s stage in 04:25:05 (overall time 10:59:08). In third place were Corrie Muller and Robert Sim (Van Loveren / SAND) in 4:48:04 (overall 11:56:08).

Brown and Bucher now lead their category by 26 minutes and 25 seconds. According to most riders who have participated in the Absa Cape Epic in previous years, yesterday (Stage 1) was the toughest stage in the history of the race. Of the 1 197 riders, only 1 551 riders made it to the finish line on time.

Stage three on Tuesday will take riders from Villiersdorp to Greyton, a 73km route with 1 976m of climbing. Riders will need to tackle the tracks towards Kaaimansgat where they climb 900m in the first 20km. The water canal lies at the 20km mark where the riders steel their resolves for a long ascent up a rugged 4x4 trail. From 400m to 1 000m altitude in 5km, it feels like they are riding straight up a wall.

This is a 3km stretch of portage that takes the best part of 45 minutes. If any rider has the time to turn around they will see 180-degree mountain vistas to help lighten the load. This takes them to the top of Boskloof, from where they need to take care on their way down as erosion has not been kind to these roads. Another gem in the Overberg awaits – the sleepy town of Greyton nestles in the beautiful Riviersonderend mountains, but there is three fun but tough pieces of single track to go, along the last section of the route of stage 3.


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