{"id":67643,"date":"2024-03-20T15:15:34","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T13:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/?p=67643"},"modified":"2024-03-23T20:54:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T18:54:25","slug":"cape-epic-stage-3-canyon-sidi-storm-to-victory-ghost-factory-racing-make-it-four-from-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/cape-epic-stage-3-canyon-sidi-storm-to-victory-ghost-factory-racing-make-it-four-from-four\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Epic Stage 3: Canyon SIDI Storm to victory, GHOST Factory Racing make it four from four"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Canyon SIDI\u2019s Andreas Seewald and Marc Stutzmann rode hard and fast to claim Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic in a sweltering Wellington, while Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) won their fourth stage in as many days to cement their place at the top of the Aramex Women\u2019s Category general classification. With four days of racing to come, it looks like a special effort will be required from the chasers in the Women\u2019s Category to unseat GHOST Factory Racing from pole position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) win Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Andreas Seewald and Marc Stuzmann of Canyon SIDI win Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the UCI men\u2019s race, the pace was ferocious from the start thanks to the early tar and district road kilometres. The entire men\u2019s field roared out of Tulbagh\u2019s Saronsberg Cellar in a mad dash, clearly intending to reach the Wellington finish before the extreme heat of the day peaked. Once off the smoother surfaces, though, the racing tactics began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first challenge of the day was the rugged Waterval climb inside the Waterval Nature Reserve. Georg Egger (ORBEA LEATT Speed Company) found out just how rugged when he contrived to go over his handlebars – on an uphill. World Bicycle Relief\u2019s Sebastian Fini was also a victim of the terrain, losing precious seconds thanks to his chain dropping off. Fini and Schurter were never able to make up the lost time. From Waterval, the leading teams on Stage 3 emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hans Becking and Wout Alleman (BUFF – MEGAMO) put in an early surge, with Canyon SIDI (Andreas Seewald and Marc Stutzmann), Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne (Matt Beers and Howard Grotts), Pyga Euro Steel (Philip Buys & Pieter Du Toit), ORBEA Leatt Speed Company (Georg Eggar and Lukas Baum) and, somewhat surprisingly, 2018 winner Jaroslav Kulhavy\u2019s Superior Lions team joining the Yellow Leader Jersey wearers at the front of the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Georg Egger leads the race during Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by Sam Clark\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the bumpy middle sections of the stage, the riders enjoyed some respite on the smooth tar of Bain’s Kloof Pass before entering the relatively kinder Wellington trails. At 65km into the 94km race, there were four teams in it – Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne, Speed Company, BUFF – MEGAMO and Canyon SIDI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That all changed on Stage 3\u2019s penultimate descent into Doolhof, when the German-Swiss pair of Seewald and Stutzmann decided to, rather fittingly in a region known for its fine wines, pop the cork. It was a calculated risk that paid off. The three chasing teams failed to respond, allowing Canyon SIDI a hassle-free run to the finish. Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne rolled over in second on the day, with Speed Company Racing a few seconds behind them in third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt feels amazing to have won,\u201d said Andreas Seewald. \u201cEveryone knew it was going to be a fast, tough start, but we worked together with our second team and got into the front group which was critical.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seewald added, \u201cWe had some difficulties in the first few days, but we’re still fighting for the GC. A stage win is awesome, and there’s still a long way to go. We’re looking forward to more climbing ahead. Today we\u2019ve shown that we are strong on the climbs so we plan to take it one day at a time and put the pressure on the climbs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andreas Seewald and Marc Stuzmann of Canyon SIDI win Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lukas Baum cooling off after Stage 3. Photo by Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fantastic Four for GHOST<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the Aramex Women\u2019s Category on Stage 3, GHOST Factory Racing, Cannondale Factory Racing (Candice Lill and Mona Mitterwallner), Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne (Sofia Gomez Villafane and Samara Sheppard), as they have done all week so far, set the early pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point on the Waterval climb, it looked like GHOST Factory Racing\u2019s Nicole Koller was in trouble, needing to walk for a few metres. This proved to be a moment of false hope for the other women\u2019s teams, as Koller was soon back on her bike and leading from the front alongside Terpstra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From then, it looked like another three-team tussle for the stage until Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM (Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda) appeared in the manner of an overexuberant child jumping out from behind the curtains and yelling \u2018surprise\u2019 at an unsuspecting granny, and added to the frontline festivities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American rider Skarda looked to be having a good time on the stage, putting in a few attacks, but the Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM challenge eventually faded, leaving GHOST, Cannondale and Specialized to race for stage honours. In a move that surprised even them, Terpstra and Koller upped the tempo around 70km and were able to pull away from Lill, Mitterwallner, Villafane and Sheppard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Sam Clark\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Alexis Skarda and Vera Looser returned to the lead back at the base of Bainskloof Pass. Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Candice Lill Leads the usual suspects at the front during Stage 3.

Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With no response forthcoming from Cannondale Factory Racing and Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne, the Orange Jersey leaders were able to comfortably cruise to their fourth stage win out of four at the 2024 Absa Cape Epic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was pretty hard in the beginning,\u201d said Terpstra. \u201cThere were a lot of turns and rocks and you couldn’t get into a good rhythm. Eventually, we got going, though and found a nice pace. We were surprised to get a little bit of a gap on the jeep track. Once we had it, we thought we\u2019d try to stay out in front. However, it was a long way to the finish, so we weren’t sure what would happen. But it was nice that we could keep it up until the end and take another stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitterwallner admitted that she and Lill tried to make the racing hard for the overall leaders, but just could shake them off. \u201cGHOST had all the answers every time we tried something. Then they attacked when we didn\u2019t expect them to attack and for me, I could just not respond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage 4 of the Absa Cape Epic might be the perfect opportunity for Mitterwallner and partner Lill to respond though. At 88km long with 3000m of climbing, Stage 4 is undoubtedly the Queen Stage of this year\u2019s Epic. South African riders will know the trails well, so expect to see the likes of Lill, Beers and other local riders guiding their partners through the monstrous twists and turns on the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sprint for 2nd place on Stage 3. Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Candice & Mona take another 2nd during Stage 3. Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Podium during Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic Mountain. Photo by Max Sullivan\/Cape Epic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Results:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Men\u2019s Category, Stage 3<\/strong>
1 Andreas Seewald & Marc Stutzmann (Canyon SIDI) 3:40:24
2 Matt Beers & Howard Grotts – Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne + 49
3 Georg Egger & Lukas Baum (Speed Company) + 50<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men’s Category GC after Stage 3<\/strong>
1 Hans Becking & Wout Alleman (BUFF – MEGAMO) 12:29:38
2 Matt Beers & Howard Grotts (Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne) 12:31:25
3 Nino Schurter & Sebastian Fini (World Bicycle Relief) 12:33:25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aramex Women’s Category, Stage 3<\/strong>
1 Anne Terpstra & Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) 4:31:27
2 Candice Lill & Mona Mitterwallner (Cannondale Factory Racing) 4:32:43
3 Sofia Gomez Villafane & Samara Sheppard (Toyota-Specialized-Ninetyone) 4:32:44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aramex Women’s Category GC after Stage 3<\/strong>
1 Anne Terpstra & Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) 15:22:54
2 Candice Lill & Mona Mitterwallner (Cannondale Factory Racing) 15:25:23
3 Sofia Gomez Villafane & Samara Sheppard (Toyota-Specialized-Ninetyone) 15:30:48<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canyon SIDI\u2019s Andreas Seewald and Marc Stutzmann rode hard and fast to claim Stage 3 of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic in a sweltering Wellington, while Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller (GHOST Factory Racing) won their fourth stage in as many days to cement their place at the top of the Aramex Women\u2019s Category general […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,24],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-67643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-cape-epic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67643","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=67643"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67670,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67643\/revisions\/67670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67643"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=67643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}