Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy claimed their second stage win in as many days after edging out Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann on stage 3 of the Cape Epic.
Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini finished fourth on the day, more than a minute behind Sauser and Kulhavy but retained their lead in the overall standings.
"That was a good day for us," said Sauser after the stage. "We managed to make good progress and win the stage. It was only a short day so we weren't expecting to eat too much time into the Cannondale Factory Racing XC guys, but we did so we'll take the win and that little bonus. Our plan was always to put in some extra effort up the last climb of the day in the hope that we could split the bunch, and that seemed to work.
"The Cannondale guys were chasing hard, but we could tell that they were on the rivet. We were then able to go down nice and conservatively; there are some horrible, sharp rocks there and the last thing we wanted was a flat or a crash."
In the women's competition, Sabine Spitz and Robyn De Groot had the bettering of Ester Suss and Jennie Stenerhag, however the later sill holds a lead of over eight minutes on the Spitz and De Groot in the GC.
Cadel Evans and George Hincapie claimed the stage win in the masters competition, and clawed back a considerable amount of time in the overall standings, although still lie in third. Tomi Misser and Ibon Zugasti still lead the way in the masters classification but saw their lead trimmed down after finishing third on stage three.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christoph Sauser (Swi) / Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Investec-Songo-Specialized | 3:03:46 |
| 2 | Nino Schurter (Swi) / Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 3 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude 2 | 0:00:08 |
| 4 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC | 0:01:19 |
| 5 | Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) / Max Knox (RSA) Kansai Plascon | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
| 6 | Karl Platt (Ger)/ Urs Huber (Sui) Bulls | 0:02:35 |
| 7 | Philip Buys (RSA) Matthys Beukes (RSA) PYGA Euro Steel | 0:06:56 |
| 8 | Frans Claes (Bel)/ Sebastien Carabin (RSA) Claes-Carabin | 0:07:30 |
| 9 | Michiel Van der Heijden (Ned) / Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-SRAM Young Guns | 0:07:31 |
| 10 | Ismael Ventura (Spa) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Spa) Buff Scott | 0:07:32 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health | 3:41:20 |
| 2 | Esther Suss (Swi) / Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 3 | Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro | 0:03:05 |
| 4 | Candice Lill (RSA) / Vera Adrian (Nam) DormaKaba SA | 0:06:04 |
| 5 | Carmen Bachacher (Aut) / Michelle Vorster ( Nam) Hollard-Velocity SportLab | 0:11:19 |
| 6 | Hielke Elferink (Ned) / Cornelia Hug (Swi) Meerendal CBC 2 | 0:11:52 |
| 7 | Jeannie Bomford (RSA) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) Merchants | 0:12:42 |
| 8 | Ariane Luthi (Swi) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Spur | 0:15:07 |
| 9 | Alice Pirard (Bel) / Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Spur Foundation | 0:24:50 |
| 10 | Fienie Bernard (RSA) / Dalene Van der Leek (RSA) LIVBeyond | 0:26:23 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cadel Evans (Aus) / George Hincapie (USA) BMC Absa Racing Team | 3:23:31 |
| 2 | Bart Brentjens (Ned) / Abraao Azevedo (Bra) CST Sandd American Eagle | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Tomi Misser (Spa) / Ibon Zugasti (Spa) Orbea Factory | 0:06:45 |
| 4 | Henrik Kirk (Den) / Thomas Noerup (Den) AGU-DESIGNYOUROWN.CC | 0:14:08 |
| 5 | Thorsten Keller (Ger) / Friedrich Max (Ger) Rocky Mountain - toMotion | 0:14:32 |
| 6 | Manuel Rojo Nieto (Spa) / Jorge Lopez Janeiro (Spa) Gacosur Iedes Centauro | 0:18:32 |
| 7 | Richard Laurie (RSA) / Brent Russel (RSA) Eurocasa Gaggenau | 0:21:29 |
| 8 | Hannes Hanekom (RSA) / Ben Melt Swanepoel (RSA) @40 | 0:22:18 |
| 9 | Nic Lamond (RSA) / Simon Lamond (RSA) Podium Sports | 0:22:28 |
| 10 | Igna De Villiers (RSA) / Paul Theron (RSA) LGE Midas/Slender-Wonder | 0:23:55 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC | 11:05:51 |
| 2 | Christoph Sauser (Swi) / Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Investec-Songo-Specialized | 0:01:20 |
| 3 | Nino Schurter (Swi) / Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing | 0:04:04 |
| 4 | Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) / Max Knox (RSA) Kansai Plascon | 0:09:32 |
| 5 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude 2 | 0:10:08 |
| 6 | Karl Platt (Ger)/ Urs Huber (Sui) Bulls | 0:15:56 |
| 7 | Jochen Kaess (Ger) / Markus Kaufmann (Ger) Centurion | 0:18:29 |
| 8 | Alban Lakata (Aut) / Kristian Hynek (Cze) Topeak Ergon Racing | 0:20:54 |
| 9 | Michiel Van der Heijden (Ned) / Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-SRAM Young Guns | 0:24:35 |
| 10 | Philip Buys (RSA) Matthys Beukes (RSA) PYGA Euro Steel | 0:26:52 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esther Suss (Swi) / Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro | 13:13:23 |
| 2 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health | 0:08:57 |
| 3 | Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro | 0:24:22 |
| 4 | Ariane Luthi (Swi) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Spur | 0:43:11 |
| 5 | Candice Lill (RSA) / Vera Adrian (Nam) DormaKaba SA | 0:47:28 |
| 6 | Carmen Bachacher (Aut) / Michelle Vorster ( Nam) Hollard-Velocity SportLab | 1:00:56 |
| 7 | Hielke Elferink (Ned) / Cornelia Hug (Swi) Meerendal CBC 2 | 1:02:09 |
| 8 | Jeannie Bomford (RSA) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) Merchants | 1:06:52 |
| 9 | Alice Pirard (Bel) / Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Spur Foundation | 1:49:51 |
| 10 | Fienie Bernard (RSA) / Dalene Van der Leek (RSA) LIVBeyond | 1:55:36 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomi Misser (Spa) / Ibon Zugasti (Spa) Orbea Factory | 12:28:17 |
| 2 | Bart Brentjens (Ned) / Abraao Azevedo (Bra) CST Sandd American Eagle | 0:04:53 |
| 3 | Cadel Evans (Aus) / George Hincapie (USA) BMC Absa Racing Team | 0:11:54 |
| 4 | Henrik Kirk (Den) / Thomas Noerup (Den) AGU-DESIGNYOUROWN.CC | 0:52:47 |
| 5 | Manuel Rojo Nieto (Spa) / Jorge Lopez Janeiro (Spa) Gacosur Iedes Centauro | 0:56:16 |
| 6 | Thorsten Keller (Ger) / Friedrich Max (Ger) Rocky Mountain - toMotion | 1:03:28 |
| 7 | Igna De Villiers (RSA) / Paul Theron (RSA) LGE Midas/Slender-Wonder | 1:07:47 |
| 8 | Hannes Hanekom (RSA) / Ben Melt Swanepoel (RSA) @40 | 1:10:56 |
| 9 | Richard Laurie (RSA) / Brent Russel (RSA) Eurocasa Gaggenau | 1:25:05 |
| 10 | Nic Lamond (RSA) / Simon Lamond (RSA) Podium Sports | 1:28:55 |
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