{"id":14012,"date":"2021-10-17T18:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2021\/10\/17\/stigger-and-frei-fly-in-absa-cape-epic-prologue-r8335\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T18:59:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T18:59:32","slug":"stigger-and-frei-fly-in-absa-cape-epic-prologue-r8335","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/stigger-and-frei-fly-in-absa-cape-epic-prologue-r8335\/","title":{"rendered":"Stigger and Frei fly in Absa Cape Epic Prologue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\tSina Frei and Laura Stigger (NinetyOne-songo-Specialized), both riding in the Absa Cape Epic for the first time, laid down an impressive marker during Sunday\u2019s 20km Prologue.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ACE21_prologue_NickMuzik_5251.jpeg\" class=\"ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed\" data-fileid=\"1691824\" data-ratio=\"66.67\" data-unique=\"27ilsh0ny\" style=\"height: auto;\" width=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ACE21_prologue_NickMuzik_5251.c08db0ec980ed6dadb8ef3ec85505137.jpeg\" ><br \/>\n\t<em>Laura Stigger and Sina Frei of 91-Songo-Specialized during the Prologue of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Photo credit: Nick Muzik.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe Swiss-Austria combo rode serenely and smoothly in wet and slippery conditions to claim top spot on the Absa Cape Epic Prologue podium in a time of 54:08.6. The Table Mountain based Prologue is a fast and furious affair, with non-stop climbing and one or two technical descents. Frei and Stigger had no issues with the ups nor the downs.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tMud-splattered by the finish, the pair were delighted with their efforts. \u201cIt was really tough out there today thanks to the weather, but we are used to those conditions from some of our recent XCO rides, so we handled it well,\u201d said Stigger.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tFrei added, \u201cWe are very happy with the result, but we know there are seven hard days to come. Today went well, though. It was very good for us, and we both felt great throughout the day. We kept up a good speed and we communicated well &#8211; so hopefully we keep that up over the next few days.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ACE21_prologue_NickMuzik_5579.jpeg\" class=\"ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed\" data-fileid=\"1691823\" data-ratio=\"66.67\" data-unique=\"jbi8tq341\" style=\"height: auto;\" width=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ACE21_prologue_NickMuzik_5579.4e32f3ac647a0d8a50880d6ea39ee385.jpeg\" ><br \/>\n\t<em>The Women&#8217;s Podium. Photo credit: Nick Muzik.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe all-South African pair of Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss (Faces CST) claimed second spot on the Prologue podium, finishing in 55:41, around 90 seconds behind NinetyOne-songo-Specialized. The pair were relaxed throughout and finished the 20km race all smiles and ready to move on to the longer stages.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn third, it was Ariane L\u00fcthi &amp; Robyn de Groot (Salusmed). L\u00fcthi, a three-time winner in the Elite women\u2019s race, and De Groot looked comfortable throughout the Prologue, which is not generally the strength of the two renowned marathon riders. The pair will be serious contenders at the 2021 Absa Cape Epic, with their third-place Prologue finish setting them up nicely to attack in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>\t<strong>Full results <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsplits.com\/races\/cape-epic-2021\/events\/1\/reports\/results?category=women&amp;header=false&amp;navigation=false\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"w-full aspect-video\" contenteditable=\"false\">\n<div>\n\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"113\" id=\"ips_uid_5489_8\"  width=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f_eWNiiqPO0?feature=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sina Frei and Laura Stigger (NinetyOne-songo-Specialized), both riding in the Absa Cape Epic for the first time, laid down an impressive marker during Sunday\u2019s 20km Prologue. Laura Stigger and Sina Frei of 91-Songo-Specialized during the Prologue of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Photo credit: Nick Muzik. The Swiss-Austria combo rode serenely and smoothly in wet [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":58206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5305],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-14012","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\/14012","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=14012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14012"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=14012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}