The Absa Cape Epic takes another‚ not entirely unexpected‚ turn on day two

The Absa Cape Epic took another‚ not entirely unexpected‚ turn on Monday as Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini won a bunch sprint to win the first stage and claim the men’s leader jersey on the fields of the Arabella Wine Estate on a day that saw both the defending champions give up their titles.

The Cannondale Factory Team pair held off the charge of two-time champion Jaroslav Kulhavy and Howard Grotts (Investec Songo Specialized)‚ with whom they had changed the face of the race after a strong break that saw the yellow jersey taken away from prologue winners Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr (Centurion Vaude). “Today was such a good day for us.

"We worked well with the Investec Songo Specialized guys and never went over our limit which is good‚” said Brazilian Avancini.

“We attacked on the Land Rover Technical section and got away‚ then Jaro and Howie joined us and we rode strongly to open the gap.”

Cannondale and Specialized were six minutes ahead of the chasing pack at one stage‚ eventually finishing five-and-a-half minutes in front of third-placed Fabian Rabensteiner and Michele Casagrande (Trek Selle San Marco 2).

Fumic and Avancini now lead Kulhavy and Grotts by 41sec‚ with Rohrbach and Geismayr 5:33 in third.

“Nothing is won yet‚ nothing is finished yet‚” said Fumic‚ who has now won four Cape Epic stages with Avancini.

“There are still six big days to go.

"We know how the Epic can go‚ and how things can change.

"But it is always great to win a stage and even better to be in yellow.”

The Danish/American combination of Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney (Investec Songo Specialized) overcame a puncture to the latter’s bike to beat Ariane Luthi and Githa Michiels (Team Spur) and increase their lead to over two minutes.

Luthi and Michiels caught the leaders‚ with Luthi particularly aggressive as she tried to shake the leaders.

However‚ Langvad‚ who won three Epics with Luthi‚ was calmness personified as she and Courtney got on with their repairs and then surged to the finish almost a minute ahead.

South African Mariske Strauss was third with her British partner Annie Last (Silverback-KMC)‚ eight minutes behind on general classification.

“They say anything can happen in this race and we definitely had that experience today‚” said Courtney.

“Luckily we were able to fix the puncture quickly‚ but I learned a lot from the master about staying calm and just working together as a team and maximising our strengths.

“Annika obviously has a lot of experience‚ but this is my first Absa Cape Epic and one of the first times I have been out there so long and responsible for my own equipment. She is teaching me a lot.”

South African marathon champion Robyn de Groot and her Ascendis Health teammate‚ the 46-year-old German mountain biking legend Sabine Spitz‚ endured a tough day after she had struggled with illness.

Still‚ fourth place overall‚ albeit a 13:28 gap to the leaders‚ offers some hope for redemption over the next six days.

It was a day for illness‚ it seemed‚ as Amy Beth McDougall overcame a bug that saw her head straight to the doctor with that customary smile on her face. She and Candice Lill (Dormakaba) still lead the Africa women’s jersey.

Defending champions Nino Schurter‚ the cross country world champion‚ will ride on without partner Matthias Stirnemann of Scott-Sram on Tuesday‚ who was afflicted by a stomach bug overnight and finished well off the pace.

Bad luck befell the 2018 women’s champion Esther Suss‚ who lost Meerendal CBC partner Angelika Tazreiter after she dislocated her shoulder in a crash.

“I feel so sorry for Angelika to have to go out like that‚” said Suss.

“It just hasn’t been my year‚ but the Epic is a special race and‚ for me‚ it is a race I love.

"Even though I am not competing for the title this year‚ I can use the race as the best training for the rest of the season‚ riding on some of the best trails in the world.”