The final stage of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic was short with only one major climb at the halfway mark. Riders left Stellenbosch along the mountainside through Coetzenberg and Eden Forest, then worked their way into the Stellenbosch Winelands. The trail climbed up through the vineyards, opening up spectacular views of False Bay, as far as Cape Point, and back to Table Mountain and Durbanville, where the journey started seven long days ago. Having mastered the nine-kilometer climb up the side of the Helderberg Mountain into the Lourensford Neck, the finish line was almost within sight as the view into the striking Lourensford bowl opened up. This was the first time in Absa Cape Epic history that riders approached Lourensford Wine Estate from a totally different direction and not Gamtouw Pass. The final 25 kilometers were predominantly downhill, on forestry roads on the higher elevations, interspersed with some single-track, and into the orchards and vineyards on the lower slopes. The final run onto the lush green polo field packed with grandstands, marquees and supporters was unforgettable.<\/p>\n
Absa Cape Epic Winners Jaroslav Kulhavy and Christoph Sauser of Burry Stander-SONGO celebrate as they finish the final stage during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Photo by Karin Schermbrucker\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This year\u2019s Absa Cape Epic saw 1 258 participants starting the Untamed African Mountain Bike Stage Race last Sunday (17 March 2013) at Meerendal Wine Estate, with 1 105 riders at the start shoot this morning. Those who finished today (Sunday, 24 March 2013), enjoyed the ultimate reward of receiving the highly sought after finisher t-shirt and medal when they crossed the final finish line at Lourensford Wine Estate. <\/p>\n Burry Stander – SONGO team of Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy walked away with top honours as overall winners of this year\u2019s exciting Absa Cape Epic, following Sauser\u2019s consecutive victories the last two years as well as in 2006. With a 6 minutes and 21 seconds lead time at the start this morning, Sauser and Kulhavy finished the last 8 days of the Untamed Mountain Bike Race of 706 km and 15 950m of climbing in an overall time of 29:40.44,9. In second place in an overall time of 29:47.55,3 were the German-Swiss duo of Karl Platt and Urs Huber of the Bulls. In third place were the Bulls 2 team of Thomas Dietsch and Tim Boehme in an overall time of 30:07.35,9. Multivan Merida\u2019s Jos\u00e9 Hermida and Rudi van Houts finished in fourth place overall (30:19.55,0) with Cannondale Factory Racing\u2019s Marco Fontana and Manuel Fumic in fifth place overall (30:47.09,8).<\/p>\n Jaroslav Kulhavy(Czech Republic) of Burry Stander-Songo and Christoph Sauser(Switzerland) of Burry Stander-Songo take the overall win during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Christoph Sauser(Switzerland) of Burry Stander-Songo leads the bunch out of Stellenbosch during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Men\u2019s Category<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Hermida and Rudi van Houts of Multivan Merida won the final stage of this year\u2019s Absa Cape Epic in 2:22.20,2 in a sprint finish with South Africans Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes of SCOTT Factory Racing in 2:22.21,3. Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel of Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing finished in third place in 2:26.03,6. The Swiss-Czech duo, Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy of team Burry Stander – SONGO finished in fourth place in 2:27.18,9. They dominated this week\u2019s Absa Cape Epic by winning four of the eight-day challenges and proved they are kings of the mountains. <\/p>\n Says Kulhavy of Burry Stander \u2013 SONGO: \u201cI had a crash in the last 5km\u2019s. I\u2019m very happy with our victory. It\u2019s perfect for us and Burry\u2019s family. I learnt a lot from Christoph \u2013 he is very experienced and this is his second home. It was an amazing week for me.\u201d Adds Sauser: \u201cThis year the competition was the toughest. I\u2019ve never won the Absa Cape Epic off the lead. It\u2019s unbelievable! From Stage 4 we never looked back. You can\u2019t look back at the Epic and just take it day by day. We rode for more than 30 hours and with every pedal stroke you had to push. It\u2019s the whole three months that lead up to the event that is important. The pressure is immense as there\u2019s not really a back-up team. We had a few moments at the end, but what counts is getting here. We also had a lot of support from Burry\u2019s family and his fans \u2013 that definitely gave us wings too.\u201d<\/p>\n Karl Platt of the Bulls comments: \u201cIt was an exciting race. It would\u2019ve been cool if the Yellow Zebra leader jersey changed hands every day. We were hoping for a win but in the end we did everything we could. Today we had no bullets left. We\u2019re happy with second place. It was a great performance for the Bulls as we have two teams on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Hermida of Multivan Merida jokingly says: \u201cToday was a really hard stage, but we both wanted that big bottle of champagne. That\u2019s what motivated us to win this stage.\u201d Van Houts adds: \u201cIt was a hard day but we\u2019re very happy to finish the Absa Cape Epic on a high.\u201d<\/p>\n Team Burry Stander Songo during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Absa African Jersey<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The Absa African Leader jersey was won by Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes of SCOTT Factory Racing in an overall time of 30:47.43,2. Says Matthys Beukes of SCOTT Factory Racing: \u201cIt was very hard today and I rode beyond what I thought I was capable of. We\u2019re delighted with our podium finish and very grateful. We did much better than we expected to do.\u201d Adds his teammate Philip Buys: \u201cMy legs were surprisingly good today. I struggled at the start but soon got used to the pain. We were leading with the Mervida team for most of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n Exxaro Jersey<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Prince Maseko and Phillimon Sebona of Exxaro PwC Academy 1 won the Exxaro jersey in an overall time of 37:08.33,7. Says Prince: \u201cI\u2019m very happy. It\u2019s like a dream come true. We experienced a lot riding with the professionals. Today I rode with Sauser for part of the way which was fantastic. I\u2019m really happy.\u201d Sebona adds: \u201cI\u2019m so happy to be at the finish after 8 days of fighting. I\u2019d like to thank my partner for pushing me and I hope Exxaro will be proud of us this year. You don\u2019t remember the suffering and the pain. It\u2019s all temporary, but the happiness if there forever. I\u2019d like to thank Exxaro for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Ladies Category<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Yolande Speedy and Catherine Williamson (Energas) won the category in an overall time of 38:58.51,9. In second place overall were the Pragma Volcan Ladies Hanlie Booyens and Ischen Stopforth in 40:32.56,3, with C-Bear\u2019s Sara Mertens and Laura Turpijn in third place in 41:11.13,5. C-bear won today\u2019s stage in 3:18.57,9.<\/p>\n Yolande Speedy of Energas says: \u201cIt was better than I thought and we played it safe knowing we had the lead. We kept it steady on the climbs and I was very careful on the downhills. We\u2019re very happy that we made it and we had amazing support. I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better partner. It\u2019s amazing to take away this win. It\u2019s such a prestigious event.\u201d Says Williamson: \u201cI won\u2019t forget this week in a hurry and it\u2019s a very special win knowing what we\u2019ve been through. We\u2019ve really had the true Epic experience. We just tried to keep humoring Yolande today. I was acting like a marshal. I needed one of those stop-start signs today. We made a lot of friends and they were helping us frequently. This is the biggest victory yet. I won\u2019t forget this one at all. It\u2019s brilliant; it\u2019s massive.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Turpijn of C-Bear: \u201cThree times second and two times first. We knew Yolande unfortunately had to take it easy, but we decided to go for another stage win.\u201d Adds Mertens: \u201cWe really wanted it. It\u2019s great! Before it was living the dream but now it\u2019s playing the game with Laura.\u201d<\/p>\n Telkom Business Master\u2019s Category<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The Telkom Business Masters category was won by Nico Pftizenmaier and Abraao Azevedo of the Bridge team in an overall time of 32:27.38,4. Bart Brentjens and Robert Sim (Superior-Brentjens 2), won Stage 7 and finished in second place overall in 33:28.57,5. In third place overall were South Africans Neil Bradford and Tim Osrin of HCL\/Harvest Foundation 1 in 34:04.22,0.<\/p>\n Pfitzenmaier of team Bridge says: \u201cIt feels amazing to win. We had a good race. We took it day by day and became stronger and stronger. It really feels like crossing the finish line of the Tour de France. Today\u2019s stage was tough with a lot of climbing, but the rewards were the magnicifent views. You get into a rhythm and routine, but I\u2019m glad it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n LOURENSFORD – Masters overall winners Nico Pfitzenmaier & Abraao Azevedo of Bridge during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Photo by Gary Perkin\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Grand Masters<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n B\u00e4rti Bucher and Heinz Zoerweg of Songo.info won the Grand Masters in a time of 35:01.16,3. They won all 7 stages as well as the Prologue in this year\u2019s race. In second place overall were Paul Furbank and Chris Brand of Genesis Capital in 37:31.29,6 with Izak Visagie and Peter Stopforth of Cape Style Wines in third place overall in 38:34.00,9.<\/p>\n Says B\u00e4rti Bucher of Songo.info: “This is what we worked for – an overall victory at the 10th Absa Cape Epic. It was a great experience once again and I just want to thank my partner Heinz for making the week so great. He was really strong and I enjoyed riding with him. Another Cape Epic that I wont forget.\u201d<\/p>\n Mixed Category<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The RE:CM team of Erik and Ariane Kleinhans won their category in a time of 34:59.54,4. In second place were Australians Peta Mullens and Jarrod Moroni of Target TREK-Moronis Bikes in 37:18.49,4 with Exxaro Cycle Lab 1\u2019s Johan Labuschagne and Yoland\u00e9 de Villiers in third place in 37:27.29,8. Erik and Ariane Kleinhans (RE:CM) won today\u2019s stage in 2:54.44,8.<\/p>\n Says Erik Kleinhans: \u201cIt was a fantastic experience and our biggest goal of the year. We\u2019re very glad to be here without any issues. We tried to keep it consistent and we had a safe race. We know how to win these races and were very prepared for this. We\u2019re extremely happy. Ariane was a bit nervous and we made some small mistakes today. Over the last 20km when we came over the big climb, we knew we\u2019d be safe. It\u2019s a fantastic feeling; it\u2019s amazing.\u201d Adds Ariane Kleinhans: \u201cIt\u2019s a huge relief. It\u2019s such a long, long way with so many challenges. We had such amazing support from our team RE:CM. It feels really nice and I\u2019m so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Winners of the Mixed Team category, Ariane Kleinhans (front) and Erik Kleinhans (rear) of Team RE:CM during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, South Africa on the 24 March 2013<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Photo by Kelvin Trautman\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Follow the riders on the live site at www.cape-epic.com<\/a>, the mobi site (m.cape-epic.com<\/a>, on Twitter (#absacapeepic), Facebook (www.facebook.com\/capeepic<\/a>) and YouTube (www.youtube.com\/absacapeepic<\/a>).<\/p>\n Share in the legend!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The final stage of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic was short with only one major climb at the halfway mark. Riders left Stellenbosch along the mountainside through Coetzenberg and Eden Forest, then worked their way into the Stellenbosch Winelands. The trail climbed up through the vineyards, opening up spectacular views of False Bay, as far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21948","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21948"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}