![\"ACE21_S4_IMG_1951_Photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/412062334_ACE21_S4_IMG_1951_PhotoSamClark.8c1adae61bb756406f5fb416ea61f12e.jpeg\")
\n\tSina Frei and Laura Stigger during stage 4. Photo credit: Sam Clark.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tEarly on the stage, it looked like their 2021 Cape Epic domination might be broken. The Computer Mania MTB duo of Cherie Redecker and Adelheid Morath burst into life right from the start. Seemingly startled by the early pace-setters, Salusmed responded, as did the overall leaders NinetyOne-songo-Specialized. The three teams formed the lead bunch, with Luthi and De Groot looking in great form.\u00a0
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\n\tAfter a sluggish start, Faces CST\u2019s Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss then hauled in the leading riders – not long after the racing led to a bad crash for Luthi. At the finish, she made her way straight to the medics.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t \n\t \n\tGeneral classification after Stage 4:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n Sina Frei and Laura Stigger (NinetyOne-songo-Specialized) won their fifth consecutive Absa Cape Epic stage in the Slanghoek Valley today. It means they now hold a near-unassailable 17 minute lead over Robyn de Groot and Ariane Luthi (Salusmed) with three stages to go. Sina Frei and Laura Stigger during stage 4. Photo credit: Sam Clark. Early […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":58172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5305],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-13970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-null"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13970"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=13970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ACE21_S4_IMG_1990_Photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/707069586_ACE21_S4_IMG_1990_PhotoSamClark.17d38a8901267aa838fdc0392f68064f.jpeg\")
\n\tCandice Lill and Mariske Strauss during stage 4 of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Photo credit: Sam Clark.<\/em>
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\n\t\u201cWe were going really well and feeling good,\u201d said Luthi. \u201cCandice and Mariske were putting the pressure on – then I am not sure what actually happened. I hit something, went down, and landed on a rock. It was incredibly painful. I gathered my bottle, but I think I was in a bit of shock from the crash and it took me a while to get going again.\u201d\u00a0
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\n\tBy now, Frei and Stigger had pulled away but Faces CST was able to claim second place on the day. \u201cAfter four crashes on four stages of the race my body was kind of in survival mode today,\u201d said Mariske Strauss. \u201cBut we pushed through to the end and were glad to take second.\u201d
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\n\tLill added, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the perfect day for us and we had some struggles early on but we came back strongly and had a solid finish.\u201d\n<\/p>\n![\"ACE21_S4_IMG_1805_Photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1575263861_ACE21_S4_IMG_1805_PhotoSamClark.ebe44cf8dd2392bca90ef52f51bb0339.jpeg\")
\n\tAriane L\u00fcthi and Robyn De Groot during stage 4. Photo credit: Sam Clark.<\/em>
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\n\tFor Stigger and Frei, the comfortable lead meant they could take the time to enjoy the trails – even if the toll of five days of racing is starting to tell. \u201cEvery day is a little bit tougher,\u201d said Stigger. \u201cThe body is definitely feeling it. But there were amazing trails today and we really enjoyed riding them; that makes it easy to get up in the morning when you know you are going to ride good trails.\u201d
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\n\tStigger added that teamwork has been crucial to their successful ride so far. \u201cWe\u2019ve had good teamwork. We race together in Europe, we are friends, so that makes it easier to ride and race together.\u201d
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\n\tStage 4 Results:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n
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