Absa Cape Epic

[glassmoon]

Some exciting news regarding this awesome mtb stage race...
Annika Langvad (uci mtb marathon world champion) is teaming up with Anna van der Breggen (uci road race world/olympic champion) for the chase of her (Annika's) 5th CE title.
How cool is that?

https://www.cape-epic.com/news/1140/langvad-and-van-der-breggen-pair-up-in-dream-team/

 

[jmdirt]

Some exciting news regarding this awesome mtb stage race...
Annika Langvad (uci mtb marathon world champion) is teaming up with Anna van der Breggen (uci road race world/olympic champion) for the chase of her (Annika's) 5th CE title.
How cool is that?

https://www.cape-epic.com/news/1140/langvad-and-van-der-breggen-pair-up-in-dream-team/

Really Cool!

 

[glassmoon]

Good start fro the usual suspects...
Prologue winners:
Annika Langvad / Anna van der Breggen
Nino Schurter / Lars Forster

- info, live streams, etc.: https://www.facebook.com/capeepic
- results: https://www.cape-epic.com/

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Avancini was rather unhappy with Nino in the post stage interview; I'd always assumed Nino was popular with rivals.......

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Avancini was rather unhappy with Nino in the post stage interview; I'd always assumed Nino was popular with rivals.......

not much of a drama though, just usual different ideas of colaboration between teams/riders. could be nino was more vocal towards the cannon guys for not working together upfront...
https://www.cape-epic.com/news/1187/
EDIT: maybe a little drama after all...
From Nino's FB:
I’m very sad about where our disagreement went between Avancini and me in todays race.
I give him credit for coming to me to apologized. However, at no time I did give him “***” as he is saying and I never was rude to any of my competitors as he explains. I respect all my racing colleagues!
The way he explained things to public and his fans is a lie that I would not expect from a champion he is. Let’s keep it fun from now on.

 

[glassmoon]

Nino/Lars win again
women still fighting
live: https://www.facebook.com/capeepic/videos/308116006449254/

 

[glassmoon]

Men
Bad luck for ScottMTB as Lars punctured rear wheel and was unable to fix it initially so they had to wait for their backup team to catch them and give Lars their wheel... then they fought hard to limit the initial over 9 min gap to 6:45 losing the yellow jerseys by 2m41s. Looks like we have a battle in front of us till the end
https://www.cape-epic.com/news/1198/drama-on-stage-3-sees-yellow-jerseys-change-hands-/

1. Cannondale Factory Racing 3-1 Manuel Fumic (Germany) 3-2 Henrique Avancini (Brazil) 13:19.31,9
2. Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing 4-1 Nino Schurter (Switzerland) 4-2 Lars Forster (Switzerland) 13:22.13,4 +2.41,5
3. BULLS Heroes 6-1 Urs Huber (Switzerland) 6-2 Simon Stiebjahn (Germany) 13:27.17,0 +7.45,1
4. Trek Selle San Marco 10-1 Damiano Ferraro (Italy) 10-2 Samuele Porro (Italy) 13:27.28,0 +7.56,1

Women
Business as usual as Annika and Anna extending their lead to rather comfy 23mins.

 

[glassmoon]

40-tish km "time-trial" today before the Queen Stage tomorrow
Nino/Lars tail-whipping their bikes through the trails to win the men race today, closing the gap in overall (to Fumic/Avancini) to 1m13s before tomorrow's epic stage.
Annika/Anna 5 out of the 5 further extending their lead...
- official timings will be on/at usual places later...

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Annika/Anna 5 out of the 5 further extending their lead...
- official timings will be on/at usual places later...

Ladies... you can't just win every stage!

 

[glassmoon]

Queen stage done.

Men
Buys/Beukes win with Nino/Lars right behind them. Cannondale guys lost 6 mins so Nino/Lars are back in yellow with a 5:00 lead.

Ladies
Great victory for Candice Lill & Adelheid Morath from SummitFin. Annika/Anna with little bit strugle through the stage 2nd with 4 mins gap but still with comfy 22 mins lead in GC.

 

[RedheadDane]

Looks like they listened to me. So, no birthday celebration by winning, then.

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Looks like they listened to me. So, no birthday celebration by winning, then.

No for long though

Another stage win - Anna felt particularly strong today.

Nino/Lars 2nd again but put another 3 mins into Cannondale team extending their lead to 8 mins in GC.

 

[glassmoon]

No surprises during the final stage today...

Anna/Annika take the final stage and the overal with Lill/Morath on 2nd. This is 5th overal win for Annika Langvad.
Nino/Lars take the men's GC with Manu/Henrique 2nd.

 

[glassmoon]

2022 edition started today. Nino had a mechanical so we are in for some catching up from Scott-Sram team...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zngtn8paK3M

 

[stonerider]

Another mechanical for Nino today. Bad luck or bad tire choice?

 

[Axel Hangleck]

When does it stop being bad luck, and become poor choice of equipment? If it was me, I'd go for a more durable tyre, especially when you're 5 mins down. You can't afford another mishap.....
However, they're an experienced team who've been there many times - they know what they're doing.

 

[glassmoon]

Maybe Nino has little too much fun on the trails whipping that rear wheel and jumping around... who knows. He said that one flat was during the climb even - something really sharp in the grass - at least one more rider had a flat in exact same place. I'm sure they have best tires available and almost certainly not opting for ultralight XC variants...

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Looking super strong, and a minute up the road/trail, and another puncture.....So they're still over 8 mins back on the leaders, despite winning the stage, albeit in a sprint.

 

[Ripper]

Looking super strong, and a minute up the road/trail, and another puncture.....So they're still over 8 mins back on the leaders, despite winning the stage, albeit in a sprint.

Interesting race today.

I think they really need to look at tire choices. Nino is pretty skilled, so I don't think he is likely just riding "too rough", so this many flats, and big ones, makes me think they either have a defective/crap batch of tires, or the tires are just a poor choice for the conditions. Of course sponsorship stuff needs to be considered, but I think after three days in a row of bad luck, they might want to makes some tire changes if possible.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Well, Lars finally had a bad day, and they've lost more time, and are over 14 mins down. It's not over, but something dramatic needs to happen to the teams above them. It is the Cape Epic, so who knows.
The women's looks a bit more stable; Songo-Specialized look in control, and have looked strong all race.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Absa Cape Epic | The Untamed African MTB Stage Race

The Absa Cape Epic is a physically grueling and mentally demanding mountain bike multi-stage race set in South Africa's Western Cape region.

www.epic-series.com

 

[Axel Hangleck]

NIbali to race the Cape Epic with team mate Ivan Santaromita;

Vincenzo Nibali correrá la Cape Epic estrenándose como embajador Scott

Vincenzo Nibali rodará sobre bicis Scott y tiene la Cape Epic en su calendario de 2023. El italiano jugará un papel destacado en el nuevo equipo Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team

esmtb.com

 

[Axel Hangleck]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYykalQUHfU&ab_channel=EpicSeries

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Very interesting couple of days, with the Prologue, and today's Stage 1.....

 

[stonerider]

Specialized's top men's and women's team had some issues with cramps and/or bonking today. Nibali is doing very well for a "roadie" with limited MTB racing experience.