{"id":18494,"date":"2016-03-18T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2016\/03\/18\/rohrbach-amp-pfrommer-pip-leaders-to-the-post-on-stage-5-r4400\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:31:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T08:31:39","slug":"rohrbach-amp-pfrommer-pip-leaders-to-the-post-on-stage-5-r4400","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/rohrbach-amp-pfrommer-pip-leaders-to-the-post-on-stage-5-r4400\/","title":{"rendered":"Rohrbach & Pfrommer pip leaders to the post on Stage 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nicola Rohrbach and Matthias Pfrommer of Team Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2 today claimed their second stage win at the 2016 Absa Cape Epic in a sprint finish under the oak trees of Boschendal Wine Estate, Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n

The \u201cback up\u201d Centurion Vaude outfit only came together about a week before the event, but they\u2019ve pieced together an impressive race to now sit second in the overall standings. Rohrbach and Pfrommer finished the 93km Stage 5 in 4:07.04,4.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-11321600-1458308818.jpg\"<\/a>Urs Huber of the Bulls looks back to his partner as Nicola Rohrbach and Matthias Pfommer of Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2 finish ahead of Karl Platt of the Bulls to win the stage during stage 5 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Wellington to Boschendal in Stellenbosch, South Africa on the 18th March 2016. Photo by Shaun Roy\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n

Second on the day went to overall race leaders Karl Platt and Urs Huber, who finished right behind Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2. Huber, in fact was first over the line, but Rohrbach and Pfrommer had positioned themselves between Huber and Platt to be the first pair to finish the stage.<\/p>\n

This lead to a minor kerfuffle at the finish, with Platt unhappy at the way Rohrbach and Pfrommer had pushed hard into the final corner \u2013 a potentially dangerous, yet race legal move so late in the day. It was all handshakes moments later, though, with Platt congratulating the race debutants on their Stage 5 victory.<\/p>\n

With five imposing climbs between Wellington and Boschendal Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, Stage 5 of the Absa Cape Epic was billed as the Queen Stage of the 2016 event. Even those at the front are feeling the effects of what\u2019s turning out to be one of the hardest routes in years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough again today,\u201d said Bulls\u2019 Urs Huber. \u201cI think because we have been going fast from the beginning every day has been hard. Even though Stage 4 was shorter it wasn\u2019t any easier yesterday. There was lots of climbing \u2013 long, loose climbs and some with deep sand. There were no rolling hills, so it was hard work again. Luckily it was a bit cooler today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huber, composed as always even moments after a day of racing, says the Bulls pair is now only focussing on maintaining their lead at the top and getting their hands on the 2016 Absa Cape Epic trophy. \u201cWe were not looking at the stage win today. Right now our first goal is to win the Cape Epic. If we are in a position for more stage wins we will take it, but the priority is to wrap the event up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-09046200-1458308925.jpg\"<\/a>The chasing group of Trek Selle San Marco B and Centurian Vaude A during stage 5 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Wellington to Boschendal in Stellenbosch, South Africa on the 18th March 2016. Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n

For Rohrbach and Pfrommer, the general classification is also a priority. Currently sitting in second overall with a seven-minute lead over third-placed Samuele Porro and Damiano Ferraro (Trek-Selle San Marco A), the pair started the day in a watchful mood due to Pfrommer crashing on Stage 4. Once they realised he was feeling okay, they hit their groove. \u201cWhen Matthias felt that the injury was not too bad we got into the front today,\u201d said Rohrbach. \u201cWe went with the Bulls and worked together. We were not focussed on the stage win at all, but we are happy to take it. For the rest of the race it\u2019s all about the general classification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rohrbach, a man with a cross-country background and only asked to join the Centurion Vaude by Meerendal squad days before the event, is having a dream ride. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying myself and having a good time riding with Matthias. I always dreamed of one day riding the Cape Epic, but it was always very hard for me because I am not part of a team. Then when Centurion Vaude approached me to ride, I jumped at the chance. I joined at the last minute, but it\u2019s working out so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a good day for Centurion Vaude, with their other team \u2013 Daniel Geismayr and Hermann Pernsteiner \u2013 coming home third.<\/p>\n

In ninth place on the day and seventh overall are South Africa\u2019s Waylon Woolcock and Darren Lill (USN Purefit). The two have now extended their lead in the Absa African special jersey over Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell (NAD Pro MTB) to 22 minutes. \u201cThis was a target for us coming into the race,\u201d said Lill, \u201cso we are pleased with the way things are going.\u201d<\/p>\n

2016 Stage 5 Men<\/h2>\n

Stage Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2 17-1 Nicola Rohrbach (Switzerland) 17-2 Matthias Pfrommer (Germany) 4:07.04,4
2. Bulls 3-1 Karl Platt (Germany) 3-2 Urs Huber (Switzerland) 4:07.05,0 +0,6
3. Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 4-1 Daniel Geismayr (Austria) 4-2 Hermann Pernsteiner (Austria) 4:07.50,0 +45,6<\/p>\n

Overall Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Bulls 3-1 Karl Platt (Germany) 3-2 Urs Huber (Switzerland) 21:37.46,2
2. Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2 17-1 Nicola Rohrbach (Switzerland) 17-2 Matthias Pfrommer (Germany) 21:47.30,1 +9.43,9
3. Trek-Selle San Marco A 13-1 Samuele Porro (Italy) 13-2 Damiano Ferraro (Italy) 21:54.46,2 +17.00,0
4. Cannondale Factory Racing 14-1 Manuel Fumic (Germany) 14-2 Henrique Avancini (Brazil) 22:08.13,4 +30.27,2
5. Dolomiti Superbike 11-1 Periklis Ilias (Greece) 11-2 Tiago Jorge Ferreira Oliveira (Portugal) 22:18.24,6 +40.38,4
6. Bulls 2 10-1 Simon Stiebjahn (Germany) 10-2 Tim Boehme (Germany) 22:20.58,9 +43.12,7
7. USN Purefit 7-1 Darren Lill (South Africa) 7-2 Waylon Woolcock (South Africa) 22:22.47,2 +45.01,0
8. Trek-Selle San Marco B 18-1 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spain) 18-2 Fabian Rabensteiner (Italy) 22:27.46,8 +50.00,6
9. Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 4-1 Daniel Geismayr (Austria) 4-2 Hermann Pernsteiner (Austria) 22:37.12,4 +59.26,2
10. Topeak Ergon Racing 2 16-1 Jeremiah Bishop (United States of America) 16-2 Erik Kleinhans (South Africa) 22:42.25,9 +1:04.39,7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nicola Rohrbach and Matthias Pfrommer of Team Centurion Vaude by Meerendal 2 today claimed their second stage win at the 2016 Absa Cape Epic in a sprint finish under the oak trees of Boschendal Wine Estate, Stellenbosch. The \u201cback up\u201d Centurion Vaude outfit only came together about a week before the event, but they\u2019ve pieced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,24,2990,1600,738,2991],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-18494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-cape-epic","tag-matthias-pfrommer","tag-nicola-rohrbach","tag-team-centurion-vaude","tag-team-centurion-vaude-by-meere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18494","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=18494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18494"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=18494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}