Determined Sauser and Kulhavy reclaim yellow leaders' jerseys

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Stage 4 started with cool temperatures in the morning. It was a fast stage with lots of singletrack. Rene Haselbacher and Wolfgang Krenn of ASRIN RH77 formed an early breakaway, and they stayed in the lead until the hot spot. Then Sauser and Kulhavy took the lead and powered on, increasing the gap over the course of the stage.

Disaster struck again, but this time not for Sauser and Kulhavy, but for their rivals.

Teams Multivan Merida, Bulls and Bulls 2 missed a route marker. After following what they thought was the correct route, their path intersected stage 5's route, which was already marked, and they then continued to follow stage 5's route markers, and thought that this was today's course.

The route markers are identical for all stages and hence the riders did not realise that they were on the wrong course until much later, after which they were approached and turned around by a media motorbike. They then retraced their steps and rejoined the course where they had left it. They crossed the finish line with a time gap of 21:53 to the leaders.

The commissaires panel and the organisers took the decision to award the first of the three teams in question the winning time plus 10 minutes, the second team received a gap of 10 minutes and one second and the third team received a gap of 10 minutes and two seconds. This decision was based on the time gap between the leaders and the chasing group of Multivan Merida, Bulls and Bulls 2 at the point where the teams took the wrong turn, and added the estimated time it would have taken the chasing group to realise their mistake and turn back, had they not encountered tomorrow's route signage.

Usually, if a team takes an incorrect turn and rides off-course, the team would no longer see any more route markings. They should then realise, within a few hundred meters, that they have left the marked route. The estimated time added to the time gap was calculated on the amount of time it can reasonably be assumed that a team would take to turn around and return to the marked route.

The time was only be adjusted on GC, but not on stage results - hence the podium for stage 4 remains unchanged.

According to organizers, a team is required to take reasonable responsibility for navigating the course. The lead motorbikes are to ensure the course marking is correctly in place and to ensure that the course is free of obstacles. They are instructed to remain out of sight of the leading riders at all times to ensure all riders are required to navigate and no teams receive an unfair advantage by merely following a motorbike.

Race organizers also said that the commissaires were required to exercise discretionary intervention with today's case, distinguishing the difference between yesterday's incident involving team Burry Stander - Songo and today's, with teams Multivan Merida, Bulls and Bulls 2. Yesterday's incident was addressed by rules which provides for teams leaving the marked route, today's required a decision by the commissaires, as riders were still following the official route markers, though for the following day's stage . In both cases, the route marking team returned to the site of the incidents in question and were satisfied that the course was sufficiently marked.

Benno Willeit, team manager of Burry Stander - Songo said, "Our guys showed again that they're the strongest out there. Today everything went smooth and at the last water point we had a gap of five minutes, I think. But today they (Bulls) were unlucky like our guys yesterday by going off-track. They, like we did yesterday, took the wrong turn. A few meters after that they saw a sign that is no different from all the other Cape Epic markings - it looked the same and they just followed it. By the time they realised they were wrong, they had to ride all the way back and in the process lost 20 minutes. This is not how we would like to win the race though. This morning we didn't think about the lead and now we have a lead of one minute. It's enough to bring home the yellow."

Friedeman Schmude, team manager of the Bulls, said, "The decision was made by the UCI. It's a done deal it seems. All the teams have a difference of opinion obviously. And it's a difficult situation for the teams and the decision makers."

Men

Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy (Burry Stander - Songo) showed their true form by winning stage 4 of this year's Cape Epic in a time of 4:32:49. It was Sauser's 28th stage win in the history of the event, and the duo reclaimed the overall lead.

The two were followed by Marco Fontana and Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory Racing) in 4:50:57. South Africans Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes (Scott Factory Racing) finished third in 4:52:17 for their first podium finish of this year's race.

Previous race leaders Karl Platt and Urs Huber, as well as their Team Bulls teammates Thomas Dietsch and Tim Boehme, finished in seventh and eighth place respectively after losing their way.

Sauser and Stander lead the overall with a time of 19:40:05. They had beaten previous leaders Platt and Huber by 21:54 on the day and would have been over 13 minutes ahead in the GC. However, Platt and Huber filed a a successful appeal and were given back more than 10 minutes of time so that they are in second overall by one minute and 12 seconds. Dietsch and Boehme are in third overall at 13:30.

"We were really strong today and pushed hard to the finish. The gap between ourselves and the other teams just became bigger and bigger," said Kulhavy. "It was really good for us mentally and will motivate us for the next three stages. We'll be really careful and hopefully we can win. I'm enjoying the race and it's great for me as well as my career. It's really an epic race and amazing. It's a relief to be in the lead and great for motivation - the yellow leader's jersey is very important. We still have a long way to go - we'll see how it goes."

Fontana said, "It was hard out there today and I could feel the pain in my legs. Midway I started feeling better, but the last climb was long with loose rocks - it was very tough. We just got into our own rhythm and nearly caught up with the second Songo team when they had a flat. It's very nice to be second and on the podium again. We finished in third place in the prologue."

His teammate Fumic said, "Today was tough and we benefitted from the mistakes of the other teams. We were suffering a lot but when we got to the last 5km, we heard that we were in second place and that helped us to push to the finish. This is an awesome race and we're enjoying it. It's 100% what everyone told us and an believable experience. We're a great team."

Stefan Sahm was shocked when he heard of his fourth place today. "It's crazy. Something's gone wrong and the guys must've taken a wrong turn."

Rudi van Houts with his teammate José Hermida of Multivan Merida finished in sixth place today (4:54:43; 20:06:01). "We took the wrong turn and followed the markers for tomorrow's route. We thought we were right and kept on going until someone told us we're on the wrong road. We didn't know where to go and still don't know what we did wrong. It was a 3 or 4km detour," he said.

Huber of the Bulls team said, "We missed the road and we don't know why. There were markers, but after a while we turned around. We lost time today."

Platt said, "I'mm upset because we lost time today. You always follow the next mark and we followed the markers for around 7km, but apparently it was the markers for tomorrow's route. I was pretty sure it was the right way and this really shouldn't happen."

The African leaders' jerseys were won by Darren Lill and Charles Keey of team Cannondale Blend (5:04:52; overall 20:32:53). They finished in second place today behind Buys and Beukes of Scott Factory Racing (4:52.17; overall 20:36.24).

Buys of the Scott Factory Racing team said, "I was really surprised when I heard that we were third today. It was a nice stage for mountain biking and quite fast with lots of singletrack which suited us."

Beukes said, "We raced for fifth place today. We thought the others were ahead of us. It's very nice to finish on the podium. It was also not too hot or dusty."

Maseko Prince and Phillimon Sebona of Exxaro PwC Academy 1 won the Exxaro Jersey for the second time in a time of 5:35:11 (overall 24:42:16).

Prince said, "It was really nice to win today. Yesterday we had a lot of problems with the bikes, but we tried our best today and worked well as a team. My partner helped me a lot. I'm very happy and enjoying the Cape Epic - it's awesome."

Ladies

Yolande Speedy and Catherine Williamson (Energas) won their third stage in a row in 5:49:59. They now lead this category by one hour, 40 minutes and 31 seconds (overall 24:50:06). In second place, with their second podium finish, were Sara Mertens and Laura Turpijn of C-Bear in 6:16:03 (overall 27:29:28). Hanlie Booyens and Ischen Stopforth of Pragma Volcan Ladies finished in third place in 6:23:45 (overall 26:30:38).

"It was definitely a hard day with some proper climbing," said Speedy. "We felt pretty strong and it was quite a fast stage with some stunning singletrack. We're very happy with our results. Our legs are sore and our bodies tired, but we're still managing to get in a good effort."

Williamson said, "We had a good start and it was a really nice stage with some nice trails and forests. I had a bit of a crash but nothing major. We rode at our own pace and it was the best day so far."

Mixed

The RE:CM team of Erik and Ariane Kleinhans won their fifth stage in a row in the mixed category in 5:34:28 (overall 23:02:26), followed by Cherise Stander and Duane Stander of Africanmtbkid 1 in 5:37:07 (overall 25:41:53). In third place were Theresa Ralph and Damian Perrin of Biogen Britehouse (5:40:22; overall 25:49:48). Erik and Ariane Kleinhans lead this category by one hour, 20 minutes and 42 seconds.

Cherise Stander said, "I definitely didn't think we'd finish in second place - it's very unexpected. Today six years ago, Burry and I started dating, so it would be the perfect day for us to finish on the podium. I'm just very happy at this stage."

Masters

The masters category was won by Nico Pftizenmaier and Abraao Azevedo of the Bridge team in 5:01:05 (overall 21:35:38). They were followed by Bart Brentjens and Robert Sim (Superior-Brentjens 2) in 5:01:14 (overall 22:17:48). In third place were South Africans Neil Bradford and Tim Osrin of HCL/Harvest Foundation 1 in 5:23.17 (overall 22:40.08). Pfitzenmaier and Azevedo lead this category by 42 minutes and nine seconds.

Pfitzenmaier of team Bridge said, "It was a great route today, and I really enjoyed the singletrack. We just kept our rhythm and the power was there all the time. We're a good team and it's always a big goal to do well at the Cape Epic. I have unfinished business from last year, but it's still a long way to go. We just cross our fingers that everything goes well."

Grand masters

Bärti Bucher and Heinz Zoerweg of Songo.info again finished in first place in the Grand Masters in a time of 5:24:33 (overall 23:05:45). This was their fifth stage win. They were followed by Paul Furbank and Chris Brand of Genesis Capital in 5:52:52 (24:43:47) with Ernesto's Cycling's Deon Wilkins and Raul Navarro in third place in 5:55:08 (overall 25:51:44). This was their first podium finish.

Bucher and Zoerweg lead this category by one hour, 38 minutes and one second.

Bucher said, "Today Doug and Linus were behind us after the first water point, but they had a puncture which was bad luck for them. Anything can happen at the Epic. It only finishes at Lourensford - we can then talk about the race."

Stage 5: Wellington to Wellington (75km, 1800m of climbing)

The fifth day is like a bonus day - short, sweet and fun. Riders will already have had a taste of the Bain's MTB Trails at Welvanpas on the previous day. It is a fantastic purpose-built network of singletrack, perched between the Wellington vineyards and the slopes of Bain's Kloof. The relatively short distance of 75 kilometers offers more singletrack than any previous Cape Epic stage, featuring some amazing cross country terrain and lots of twisting ups and downs - all in all an extra enjoyable day to re-energise body and mind. To avoid any congestion on the trails, the start groups will be staggered over 1.5 hours.

Full Results