“Long shot” pays off for South Africans
South Africans Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes notched up the first South African win in the 2015 Absa Cape Epic after an audacious early break on Wednesday’s rugged 111km Stage 4.
The looped route – starting and finishing in Worcester – included some back-breaking climbs and rocky surfaces, giving rise to many tyre problems throughout the field. The sunny day also made conditions difficult for some of the backmarkers.
But the top contenders for the overall win all managed to get through without much drama and the yellow zebra jersey remained on the shoulders of the Investec-Songo-Specialized team of Swiss Christoph Sauser and his Czech teammate Jaroslav Kulhavy.
An elated Buys admitted after crossing the finish line that he and Beukes (Scott Factory Racing) had taken a “long shot” gamble by breaking away inside the first hour.
“We went hard from the start,” he said. “I said to Matthys that I couldn’t hold the pace for another three hours, so we backed off.”
“But then I started feeling better and the gap just kept growing. Towards the end we controlled it … accelerating when we felt good,” said Buys.
At one stage the lead had grown to over six minutes, but the big guns behind them – not too concerned about Buys and Beukes because they are not a threat in the overall general classification – closed it down a bit over the three closing “Skyscraper” climbs.
Topeak Ergon’s Kristian Hynek of the Czech Republic and Austrian Alban Lakata finished together with Sauser and Kulhavy, three-and-a-half minutes behind the South Africans.
Sauser and Kulhavy generally rode conservatively and to protect the yellow zebra jersey on the day: “Every day wearing the yellow is like winning a break point in tennis and today was another set point,” smiled Sauser.
Hynek and Lakata remain in second place overall, with Spain’s Jose Hermida and Dutch partner Rudi van Houts (Multivan Merida) in third. Four time winner Karl Platt of Germany and Swiss partner Urs Huber are fourth after losing another two minutes to the leading teams on Wednesday.
In the Sasol Women’s category Team RECM Specialized continue to dominate at the Absa Cape Epic. They strengthened their grip on the orange leader’s jersey with another powerhouse display on the 111km loop of the Worcester countryside.
Second over the line for Stage 4, more than 20 minutes after Team RECM Specialized, was a much happier looking Team Ascendis Health, with both Jennie Stenerhag and Robyn de Groot finishing with grins instead of grimaces. Third in the Sasol Women’s category on Stage 4 were Esther Suss and Alice Pirard of Team Meerendal Wheeler.
From this stage of the race riders start to tire and mistakes can derail a charge for victory and ruin months of training. “That’s the nature of stage races,” said Kleinhans. “Everyone starts to get tired from now but you just have to push on.”
“It was really sandy again, and so rocky at the start,” said Kleinhans. “It was also real Karoo riding out there today, so you had to watch for thorns and sharp stones.” The pair are riding slightly heavier and thicker tyres than normal, and it’s a strategy that appears to be paying off.
“They are only slightly heavier than our usual tyres,” said Kleinhans, “but it really gives you the confidence to push on, especially when you are slightly tired towards the end of the day and you aren’t able to dodge obstacles quickly. With these you can go over stones feeling confident that you won’t puncture.”
Source: www.cape-epic.com