![\"ccs-2-0-03834600-1395953426.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-2-0-03834600-1395953426.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nNino Schurter and Philip Buys of SCOTT-Odlo MTB Racing make a break during stage 4 of the 2014 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from The Oaks Estate in Greyton, South Africa on the 27 March 2014<\/span><\/p>\n Image credit: Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/p>\n Buys and his Swiss partner, two times cross country world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo), won the 88km stage four – which started and finished in Greyton – after breaking from the field near the halfway stage and managing to keep a chasing pack at bay.<\/p>\n They are both cross country specialists – shorter races with an emphasis on technical skills – and yesterday\u2019s shorter stage with many singletrack sections suited them.<\/p>\n Buys said he and Schurter \u201cmanaged to increase the gap on each downhill and then maintain it on the climbs \u2026 it is a very special feeling to win it\u201d.<\/p>\n Schurter, the world\u2019s top ranked mountain biker, said the South African was getting stronger every day: \u201cSoon I\u2019m going to be in trouble and in the hurtbox.\u201d<\/p>\n Nino Schurter and Philip Buys of SCOTT-Odlo MTB Racing celebrate as they win the 4th Stage during stage 4 of the 2014 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from The Oaks Estate in Greyton, South Africa on the 27 March 2014<\/span><\/p>\n Image credit: Shaun Roy\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/p>\n Behind them there was an early shock when four-times winner and pre-race favourite Karl Platt withdrew with a damaged knee. He had damaged it in a fall on Tuesday and started Thursday\u2019s stage, but had to withdraw, leaving his partner Urs Huber (Team Bulls) to ride on alone but out of the race.<\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted to finish the race \u2026 I have never not finished the Epic before. But on the first climb I knew there was trouble. At seven kilometres I said to Urs it is no use, I can\u2019t pedal,\u201d recounted Platt. \u201cI wont say it was the hardest decision ever to make, because I had no choice. I am very disappointed because I was in the shape of my life. I will be back though. I just want to say thanks to all the support.\u201d<\/p>\n Urs Huber commiserates with Team Bulls team-mate Karl Platt after Karl decides to quit his race due to a knee injury during stage 4 of the 2014 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from The Oaks Estate in Greyton, South Africa on the 27 March 2014<\/span><\/p>\n Image credit: Greg Beadle\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/p>\n For the first time since the race began Sunday the leading men\u2019s team retained the yellow jersey: Topeak-Ergon\u2019s Robert Mennen (German) and Kristian Hynek (Czech) finished third on the stage but still have a lead of nearly 12 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the first team to have it for a second day and we\u2019ll do our best to keep it until Sunday (the closing stage from Elgin to Lourensford wine estate),\u201d said Hynek. \u201cThe shirts fit us well and we like the colour \u2026 we don\u2019t want to give them back.\u201d<\/p>\n Second Thursday was German pair Markus Kaufmann and Jochen Kaess (Centurion-Vaude), but they remain outside the top 10 overall after a bad day on Tuesday when Kaufmann broke the frame of his bike.<\/p>\n Moving into second overall after finishing fifth Thursday were four-times winner Swiss Christoph Sauser and Czech Frantisek Rabon, in spite of the former breaking a chain and crashing during the stage.<\/p>\n Rudi van Houts of Multivan Merida Biking during stage 4 of the 2014 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from The Oaks Estate in Greyton, South Africa on the 27 March 2014<\/span><\/p>\n Image credit: Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/p>\n Sauser said later that he and Rabon had been behind Schurter and Buys when they made their break but his chain broke. He fixed it and was chasing back to a group just behind the leading pair when his pedal hit a rock hidden in grass and he was thrown over his handlebars.<\/p>\n He had been hurt around the upper chest and shoulders, but had finished well and was looking forward to the remaining three stages.<\/p>\n Sauser\u2019s chances of this year being first to win the Epic five times might hinge on Friday\u2019s 115km stage from Greyton to Elgin, which contains a huge 2 800m of vertical gain and several brutal climbs on the way.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n