The Songo.info team of South African Burry Stander and Swiss rider Christoph Sauser continued their winning streak by again taking top honours in Stage 3 of this year’s Absa Cape Epic presented.

Their fourth consecutive win gives them an overall time advantage of 6 minutes and 53 seconds (12:44:36). They will again wear the Yellow Jersey out of Greyton for Stage 4 (tomorrow, Wednesday, 25 March 2009) of the gruelling mountain bike race.

Team Songo.info was closely followed by the Swiss Flückiger brothers, Lukas and Mathias (Trek World Cup Team), who managed to move up two positions from 11th to 9th overall (13:48:01). Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm (Bulls Team) held on to their 2nd position overall (12:51:28) with Trek-Brentjens riders, Bart Brentjens and Chris Jongewaard maintaining their third (12:55:57).

Today’s route of 73km took riders from Villiersdorp to Greyton, with 1 976m of climbing passed Kaaimansgat, through some single track, 3-kilometre stretch of portage, eventually leading to the top of Boskloof, and then down towards the tranquil town of Greyton.

Men’s Category

Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander of Songo.info were again the first to cross the finish line of Stage 3 in a time of 03:19:38. The Flückiger brothers, Lukas and Mathias, followed in second place (of 03:19:50), only 12 seconds behind the winning team. Bart Brentjens and Chris Jongewaard (Trek-Brentjens) finished in third place (03:19:57), closely followed by the Bulls, Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, in a time of 03:20:05.

The South African team Kevin Evans and David George (MTN Energade) finished in seventh position today in 03:28:37, but managed to maintain their fourth position overall (13:05:02). Yesterday’s second runners-up Emil Lindgren and Andreas Kugler (Felt Factory 2) finished in 6th place today (03:28:35) and are now in 5th place overall (13:10:54).

According to Stander, today’s shorter route was harder than yesterday’s. "Bart and his team mate Chris (Trek-Brentjens) were really pushing the pedals all the time. The very first climb today was already hard for me. There was a lot of loose gravel and we had to walk in quite a few places along the route. These hiking sections with your bike on your back were always followed by very fast descents and you really had to stay focused. I found it exhausting as you need energy to control your bike. We also had another flat and then needed to catch up with the leaders again."

Both Sauser and Stander are very good climbers and the ascents in today’s stage were the decisive factor to winning. On these sections the stronger climbers can ride hard and do not wear themselves out as much. They can then conserve energy by teaming up on the flat sections of the route.

On working so well together as a team, Sauser comments that Stander takes the lead in the early mornings.

"He works really hard then, and as soon as the sun’s up and I’m warmed-up, I take over. We complement each other very well and are the perfect match. Also, one mustn’t forget that we have a fantastic Songo.info support team. They’re a bunch of good people who are really committed and make life off the bike as easy as possible for us. Burry enjoys fixing his bike and often works on it till quite late. We have loads of fun and really good team vibes."

Ladies Category

Absa ladies Hanlie Booyens and Sharon Laws finished in first place for the fourth day in a row (04:35:28), and remain in the overall lead (17:21:45) in their category. They were again followed by Robyn Adendorff and Sarah van Heerden (WSP Jeep Girls) in a time of 05:18:52, placing them second overall as well (20:12:04). The Tread Magazine Ladies, Nolene Saunders and Sarah Wielopolska, secured their second first podium finish in a time of 05:29:57, placing them in third position for this stage and overall (20:38:22).

Mixed Category

Hanging on to their overall lead (14:38:09) and their green leader jerseys, Nico Pfitzenmaier and Alison Sydor (Adidas Big Tree) again won the Mixed category in a time of 03:54:30 for the fourth day in a row. They were followed by Marcel Bartholet and Esther Süss (Wheeler IXS Pro) in a time of 04:01:12 (second overall 15:17:21) with Paul Cordes and Yolande Speedy (IMC/ Momentum GT/ Activeworx) in third place (04:10:21). They are also placed third overall (15:33:12).

Masters Category

Despite crossing the finish line first today, the Absa Masters Doug Brown and Barti Bucher received a 2 minute time adjustment by the UCI Commissaires due to cutting short on the route. They finished in a time of 03:47:00 and are still the overall leaders in this category (14:19:43). Shan Wilson and Andrew Mclean (Cycle Lab Toyota) therefore finished in first place (03:46:05) on the podium, and remain second overall (14:45:13). In third place were Corrie Muller and Robert Sim (Van Loveren/ SAND) in 04:08:13 (overall time 16:04:20).

Tomorrow’s Stage 4 (114km and 2 202m of climbing) begins on the open roads with a steady climb followed by a tricky section on fast rocky tracks, testing the reactions early in the morning. After crossing the causeway, a winding trip up and over the hills along farm roads and jeep tracks will take the field back towards Greyton. The last 15km sees a few more sections that test the riders’ technical skills on the climbs as well as the descents. Most of the terrain makes for good riding but with some 20% slopes, the heart may be willing but the legs will scream blue murder. This devastating series of hills will deliver a knockout combination to those lacking in base conditioning. A small reward comes at the end though, some single track then a walk across the riverbed just outside town.

Visit www.cape-epic.com for more details and to see where the riders are online during the race.
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