![\"ccs-62657-0-53189600-1426697731.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-53189600-1426697731.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nChristoph Sauser of Investec Songo Specialized during stage 3. \/\/ Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n Riders further back in the field also spent several hours battling in baking heat as the temperature steadily ticked up towards the 30\u00baC mark.<\/p>\n Swiss Sauser and his Czech partner Jaroslav Kulhavy (Investec-Songo-Specialized) were again imperious at the front of the field, powering away on the last 15km to register a 25 second win and extend their overall lead to more than seven minutes. It was their third stage win in succession and Sauser looks increasingly likely to become the first person to win the event five times.<\/p>\n Christoph Sauser checks Jaroslav Kulhavy’s wheel for a puncture. \/\/ Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS.<\/span><\/p>\n Kulhavy\u2019s rear tyre developed a slow leak midway on the ride, but they \u201cbombed\u201d it \u2013 pumped it with a canister containing compressed CO2 \u2013 and replaced the tyre at Water Point 2.<\/p>\n A dust-caked Kristian Hynek of the Czech Republic, who finished second with Austrian Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon), said immediately after finishing that the course was a \u201creally tough one \u2026 I thought a transition might be easier\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cToday was really close and it\u2019s still an open race,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re fighting, we\u2019re really strong and we\u2019re good climbers.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Mennen of Topeak Ergon pushes through the sand. \/\/ Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n Asked about the difference in this year\u2019s race compared to last year, Hynek said simply: \u201cJaro is a game changer\u201d.<\/p>\n The Topeak Ergon pair moved up into second position overall as the Bulls \u2013 four time winner Karl Platt of Germany and Switzerland\u2019s Urs Huber \u2013 dropped from second to fourth after some bad luck. Platt had punctured badly a couple of kilometres from Water Point 3 and ended up riding on his rim to the tech zone and a spare wheel.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we lost about three-and-a-half minutes there,\u201d said Platt. They also lost contact with the front group and by the end were nearly seven minutes back from Sauser.<\/p>\n Multivan Merida\u2019s Jose Hermida of Spain and Rudi van Houts of the Netherlands also moved past the Bulls into the top three in spite of the former suffering from stomach problems.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n