Cape Epic Stage 3 and Stage 4: Gangé and Gluth continue to march towards top 10

Investec Songo Specialized winning men's and women's races after Thursday's Queen Stage

Terry McKall March 22, 2018

Two of ABSA Cape Epic’s toughest stages arrived back-to-back this year, as Wednesday’s 122 km stage, the longest of the week, was followed by the races 113 km Queen stage on Thursday. The pressure of two immense days in the desert was felt throughout the pack, as general classification leads changed and new winners emerged.

Thriving through all of this, though, was Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney. Investec Songo Specialized’s duo were not without their challenges and misfortunes, surviving crashes as well as pressure from the Silverback-KMC team, but have come out the other side of two hard days of racing in an even stronger position. The sudden withdrawal of their closest competitors, Ariane Lüthi and Githa Michiels (Team Spur), due to fever shows that despite Langvad and Courtney’s lead, nothing is set in stone until they cross the final finish line on Sunday.

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Longest stage checked, 13th, rain, mud, dust and sun. And now tomorrow supposedly the hardest stage with the @capeepic Queen Stage. On fait 13e à la plus longue étape ce matin, pluie, boue, vent, poussière et soleil. Demain l'étape reine, la plus exigeante au calendrier. #omxproteam #silverbackbikes #borntobefast @omxproteam @silverbackbikes

A post shared by Raphaël Gagné (@raphaelgagne) on Mar 21, 2018 at 9:49am PDT

Cape Epic Elite Men

Canada’s Raphaël Gagné and his teammate Martin Gluth of Germany used the two big days in the saddle to fight back to 13th overall in the GC race. The Silverback OMX Pro Team pair continue to look strong, finishing 13th on the epic Stage 3 and 11th on Thursday’s Queen Stage, and are steadily chipping away to recover from a substantial time loss on Stage 1, when flat tires just five minutes into the race caused them to lose touch with a hard charging main field. Going into Friday’s lumpy 39 km time trial, the duo is only 11 minutes off of a top 10 finish at Gangné’s first Cape Epic appearance. While that time gap may sound insurmountable, this is no ordinary stage race and any number of events could still transpire over the three remaining days of racing.

Further forward in the men’s field, Stage 3 and 4 brought new leaders, new winners and unpredictable racing. After two days at the front, Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory Racing) surrendered their lead to Investec Songo Specialized’s powerhouse team of Jaroslav Kulhavy and Howard Grotts. Kulhavy dragged Grotts away from the leading group, with only Canyon Topeak’s Alban Lakata and Kristian Hynek able to follow, and continued to set a relentless pace at the front of the group of four, leaving Cannondale’s pair chasing in a reduced chase group. More flat tires, and eventually Grott’s crash in a sandy section left Canyon Topeak to solo the final kilometre’s home for victory, but Kulhavy and Grotts would take the race lead.

Absa Cape Epic 2018 — Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr (Centurion Vaude) win Stage 4 Photo: Nina Zimolong/Absa Cape Epic/Sportzpics.JPG

Upheaval in the overall on Wedensday ensured that Thursday’s Queen Stage was anything but a scenic ride through the desert. Centurion Vaude’s team of Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr were the first to respond when Cannondale Factory Racing attacked early in the stage in a bid to regain the overall lead, and the duo continued on their own when Cannondale’s pair suffered a series of mechanical setbacks. Fumic and Avancini would be the last to see Rohrback and Geismayr, as no one was able to reel the pair in before the finish line. Behind them, a battle raged for positions on the overall podium, as Kulhavy pulled a suffering Grotts back towards the attacking Cannondale duo. A combination of mechanical issues and perhaps feeling the effects of attacking early, Fumic and Avancini were slowly reeled in by Kulhavy’s pace and then, just as slowly, dropped off the back of the group chasing Centurion Vaude in the lead. At the end of the day the overall podium positions remained unchanged going into Friday’s time trial, but Cannondale had lost valuable time to the Investec Songo Specialized pair.

Cape Epic Elite Women

Investec Songo Specialized, having captured the lead in the men’s race, now hold both elite leaders jersey’s, as Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney used two massive race days to further cement their lead. The pair attacked on Wednesday’s long, 122km stage and were able to extend their lead even after a collision with fading masters racers in a sandy section send both Langvad and Courtney over the bars. Behind them, the Silverback-KMC duo of Mariske Strauss and Annie Last were in a three way battle with Team Spur’s Ariane Lüthi and Githa Michiels and Ascendis Health’s Sabine Spitz and Robyn de Groot. Team Spur finished the day second overall, with Silverback-KMC maintaining a slight lead over Ascendis Health’s pair at the end of the day.

Thursday’s Queen Stage took place on Langvad’s birthday, and her team received an early gift when their closest competitors, Team Spur, were forced to pull out of the race due to Michiels developing a fever and being advised not to start the race. The sudden change left the battle for the podium wide open, and reminded all competitors that no team is safe until racing finishes on Sunday. Silverback-KMC’s pairing of Last and Strauss took this message to heart, attacking early in the stage and putting pressure on Investec Songo Specialized’s dominant duo. The pace proved too hot, though, as Silverback-KMC faded back, eventually conceding in excess of 8 minutes to Langvad and Courtney, leaving Langvad to take a hard fought birthday win.

Cape Epic 2018 Stage 3 Highlights

Cape Epic 2018 Stage 4 Montage