![\"ccs-62657-0-44570200-1521728087.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-44570200-1521728087.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Kate Courtney and Annika Langvad win stage 4 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from HTS Drostdy in Worcester to Huguenot High School in Wellington, South Africa on the 22nd March 2018. Photo by Sam Clark\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\nAnnika Langvad celebrated her birthday by winning a \u201cbrutal\u201d Stage 4 of the Absa Cape Epic with her American partner Kate Courtney on Thursday and extended their lead in the Women\u2019s category to an almost unassailable 32 minutes.<\/p>\n
The birthday presents started rolling in for Langvad even before the start as their nearest rivals, Ariane L\u00fcthi and Githa Michiels (Team Spur), were forced to withdraw with the tough Michiels picking up a fever overnight and being advised not to start by the race medical staff.<\/p>\n
And then out on the course the Investec Songo Specialized pair broke away early on the 113km stage from Worcester to Wellington as their rivals let them ride off the front. By the time they reached the finish, Langvad and Courtney could celebrate a win of over eight minutes over Mariske Strauss and Annie Last (Silverback-KMC), with Robyn de Groot and Sabine Spitz (Ascendis Health) just more than a minute further back.<\/p>\n
It is hard to see Langvad and Courtney not being crowned the 2018 champions when the race finishes at Val de Vie Estate on Sunday, but the leaders refuse to concede that their victory is finalised.<\/p>\n \u201cDay by day it looks better and better, but we are not going to jinx anything because we know that even a tiny little issue can cause a lot of problems,\u201d said Langvad after crossing the line.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a really tough birthday present to myself. That was the hardest day out there so far this year. It was brutal \u2013 super brutal. There was so much single track, so much concentration, so much power and so much on-the-gas all the way through.<\/p>\n \u201cIt did not feel like we were dominating out there.<\/p>\n \u201cMariske and Annie put the hammer down big time over the first half of the stage. I was sure that we were not going to make it but after the hotspot sprint they sat up and we just slowly pulled away.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a long climb we opened up a gap and all of a sudden we saw they had fallen behind. We went really hard out there and when we got a time split of 11 minutes we were surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtney agreed that it was a tough way for Langvad to celebrate her birthday.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a tough present to give \u2026 it was a really hard day for us, and it was very tough for me. Some of my weaknesses are flats and sand and there was a lot of that today.<\/p>\n<\/a>Mariske Strauss and Annie Last of team Silverback-KMC; Sabine Spitzand Robyn De Groot of team Ascendis Health during stage 4 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from HTS Drostdy in Worcester to Huguenot High School in Wellington, South Africa on the 22nd March 2018. Photo by Greg Beadle\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Kate Courtney and Annika Langvad win stage 4 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from HTS Drostdy in Worcester to Huguenot High School in Wellington, South Africa on the 22nd March 2018. Photo by Sam Clark\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n