Platt and Huber win Cape Epic stage 2

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The yellow leaders' jerseys changed hands again after stage 2 of the Cape Epic mountain bike racing, producing the third set of leaders in as many days.

The temperature during stage 2 was ideal and not as hot as during stage 1. It was less sandy and a fast rolling stage. The course was particularly rugged, and there were two major casualties in the pro field. The top two teams in the GC experience technical problems.

Race leader José Hermida (Multivan Merida) picked up a five-inch nail. He had to repair his tire to get him to the next tech zone for a wheel change. This cost his team over 11 minutes at the end of the day.

Jaroslav Kulhavy and Christoph Sauser (Burry Stander - Songo) also had issues when Kulhavy broke his chain while in the lead. Then his chain tool broke. With a bit of improvisation, they managed to get it back together again, but lost nine minutes in the process.

Karl Platt and Urs Huber (Bulls) were in the front with Sauser and Stander, and the Bulls riders won the stage and took over the GC lead.

Men

Karl Platt and Urs Huber of team Bulls won stage 2 in a time of 5:35:32. They were followed by Thomas Dietsch and Tim Boehme of team Bulls 2 with a stage time of 5:41:21. Six seconds later, Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy of Burry Stander - Songo crossed the line to claim third place. Swooping in for fourth place were Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel of team Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing with a stage time of 5:45:48.

It was Platt's 13th career Cape Epic stage win.

The winners of yesterday's stage 1, Jose Hermida and Rudi van Houts of team Multivan Merida, followed in fifth place in 5:47:00. They dropped out of the race lead and into fourth place overall.

Platt and Huber lead the race with an overall time of 11:05:08. Dietsch and Boehme are second while original race leaders Sauser and Kulhavy dropped one more place into third overall.

"It all feels like a dream. It's my first stage win at the Cape Epic," said race leader Huber. "We were fighting hard today and it was a really good day for me. I hope we can keep our rhythm for the next few stages."

Platt said, "I can't find any words to express how I feel. We were hoping for a stage win at this year's race, but didn't expect it on stage 2. This is the Cape Epic - you need to improvise, take your chances and go for it. We were also riding conservatively today. At one point, Kulhavy attacked and we just tried to keep up. He was going very fast - I can see why he is the Olympic champion."

Previous race leader van Houts said, "We lost some time today as we had a puncture and had to replace a tube. Especially after winning yesterday, we had to push hard. Sauser and Kulhavy were riding hard again today, but everything evened out again on the flat sections. We'll check the map tonight and be careful tomorrow. We're still in a good position in the overall and will keep on fighting."

"Now I know what everyone means when they talk about how hard the Cape Epic can be."

Hermida added, "If you ride on your own it's difficult to ride as fast as when you're with the group which keeps pushing you. But we rode at a steady pace and eventually joined up with the second group. We also rode carefully as we didn't want to get a puncture again."

Ladies

African/British duo Yolande Speedy and Catherine Williamson (Energas) won today's stage in a time of 6:51:22. They were followed by the Pragma Volcan Ladies, Hanlie Booyens and Ischen Stopforth in 7:18:30 (overall 14:37:38). Kath Kelly and Erin Greene of www.rrsport.co.nz were third in 7:27:54 (overall 15:06:26). Speedy and Williamson now lead this category by 36 minutes and seven seconds.

"I must confess my partner is a powerhouse - she's really strong," said Speedy. "Esther and Jane must have had some problems. Hanlie and Ischen caught up with us and we were riding as hard as we could to the finish. It was a super fast stage for us, even with the sting in the tail at the end. It's very nice to win a stage. We just hope that Esther and Jane are ok. It's so sad that Sally and Milena had to withdraw yesterday due to illness."

Williamson said, "It was a very long, hard stage, but winning a stage is brilliant. I kept looking behind me - I was really worried that the others were going to catch up with us. I think we ruined a few egos along the way today."

Esther Süss and Jane Nuessli of BMC Wheeler had some bad luck. "I had a tummy bug and felt very weak," said Süss. "After the first few kilometers, I said to Jane that my legs aren't feeling strong and that I'm not sure if I can do this. Jane said that whatever I decide to do, would be fine - she'll support me."

Nuessli, who was in tears, said, "Esther just carried on. I've never seen such courage. She's a real tough cookie and I'm so proud of her."

Süss said, "I would not have been able to finish today without Jane. She supported me the whole way without complaining."

Mixed

It was a hat trick for the RE:CM team of Erik and Ariane Kleinhans when they won the mixed category in 6:27:03 (overall 12:51:11), followed by Theresa Ralph and Damian Perrin of Biogen Britehouse (6:35:12; ovcerall 14:29:27). Peta Mullens and Jarrod Moroni of Target Trek-Moronis Bikes were third (6:45:04; overall 13:34:50).

Johan Labuschagne and Yolandi de Villiers of Exxaro Cycle Lab 1 finished in fourth place in 6:45:15 (overall 13:40:11). Erik and Ariane Kleinhans lead this category by 43 minutes and 38 seconds.

"We started hard and were in front of Erik and Ariane. I thought we lost them, but when I looked over my shoulder shortly after the climb, they were on our heels," said Ralph. "We had a very nice cruise down the hill chatting and sharing the work, and rode together to around the 90 or 100km mark. From there I just couldn't keep up and we lost 4 or 5 minutes on them. It was such a pleasure riding with them. Yesterday we had some bad luck - Damian had a fall and we had to try and repair his bike ourselves. We lost a lot of time - probably an hour or so. Yesterday was a tough day."

Masters

Carsten Bresser and Udo Boelts (Juwi) again won the masters category in a time of 6:04:24 (overall 12:05:39). They were followed by Nico Pftizenmaier and Abraao Azevedo of the Bridge team in 6:05:36 (overall 12:22:25) with Neil Bradford and Tim Osrin of HCL/Harvest Foundation 1 in third place (6:28:47; overall 12:47:01).

Bresser and Boelts now lead this category by 16 minutes and 46 seconds and are placed 15th overall.

Pfitzenmaier of team Bridge said, "Abraao had a sore back yesterday and we had to see a chiropractor. We're very happy with today's stage. We rode with Bresser and Boelts until the last steep hill, when they started running off their bikes. We couldn't chase them down again, but it was good riding today. It's still a long race and anything can happen. We're optimistic and looking forward to having a close race."

Grand masters

Bärti Bucher and Heinz Zoerweg of Songo.info again finished in first place in the grand masters in a time of 6:23:58 (overall 13:02.05). They were followed by Linus van Onselen and Doug Brown (Balamory) in 6:37.07 (overall 13:32:10) with Paul Furbank and Chris Brand of Genesis Capital in third place in 6:52:54 (overall 13:54:25).

"Today was much better than yesterday," said Bucher. "It wasn't as hot as the day before and the heat was more manageable. It was also greener and not so sandy. Every day we give our best and it's nice to have a lead. It's great fun riding with Heinz, but also tough."

Best Africans

The African Leaders' jerseys were won by Darren Lill and Charles Keey of team Cannondale Blend (5:47:01; overall 11:26:47) for the second day in a row.

"We tried to ride as conservatively for as long as possible. Around the middle of this stage, 5 or 6 teams broke away and we rode together until we got to some jeep track where we started splitting up," said Keey. "We managed to stay with the Bulls team at first but couldn't keep the pace. We're happy with our performance."

Exarro Jersey

Prince Maseko and Phillimon Sebona of Exxaro PwC Academy 1 won the Exxaro Jersey today in a time of 6:58:02 (overall 14:07.30).

Stage 3

Mountains surround the town of Tulbagh and the 94km stage 3 will offer a tour of the basin, with a figure of eight traversing the vineyards and farmlands, skirting these mountains. By now riders should be used to starting with a climb. This 400-meter climb over 15 kilometers, with a short warm up, should be rather gentle on the legs. This is followed by three kilometers of sweeping singletrack, finishing off with a section through popular forest.

It should be a pleasant day, with lots of ups and downs interspersed with flowing singletrack sections. The day is more gentle, the soil is softer, the vegetation more lush and the hills shorter.

If riders happen to hear the finish line, smell the race village, but their odometer only reads 55 kilometers, they need to keep pedaling. The second part of the figure of eight is shorter, but includes the same amount of climbing as the first one. Dr Evil and the route-design team show their true colours after water points three: a 1,5-kilometer climb on a steep farm road, followed by a short descent and three more short but sharp climbs on rough surface, before it is finally (almost) all downhill and back to the fields of Saronsberg Wine Estate.

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