Second Cape Epic win for overall leader's Schurter/Stirnemann

Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann made it back-to-back wins at Cape Epic with the Swiss duo in a commanding position as overall leaders with one stage to come. The SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing riders covered the 103 km course 16 seconds faster than Hector Leonardo Paez Leon and Max Knox (Kansai Plascon), with Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr (Centurion Vaude 2) third at 1:13 minutes.

Schurter and Stirnemann are on the cusp of their first Cape Epic victory as they lead Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy (Investec-Songo-Specialized) by 6:49 minutes ahead of the seventh and final 85km stage from Oak Valley to Val de Vie in Paarl.

"I don't know what happened today, but it was much less suffering than yesterday! It was a good day on the bike," said Stirnemann. "Every day I feel like I am getting stronger on the bike. I recovered well last night; that showed this morning when I could get my rhythm a lot quicker."

In the women's race, Mariske Strauss and Annie Last (Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro) took out the victory 30 seconds ahead of leader's Esther Suss and Jennie Stenerhag (Team Meerendal CBC). With one stage to come, Suss and Stenerhag hold a massive 35 minute lead over the stage 6 winners.

"I am extremely happy and it is nice that we have the bigger gap but we know with their handlebar that broke that it can happen to us as well. We still have to be safe until the finish line," Suss said.  

Brief Results

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Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Nino Schurter (Swi) / Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing4:26:38
2Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) / Max Knox (RSA) Kansai Plascon0:00:16
3Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude 20:01:13
4Christoph Sauser (Swi) / Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Investec-Songo-Specialized0:05:58
5Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Fabian Rabensteiner (Ita) Trek-Selle San Marco 20:10:35
6Michiel Van der Heijden (Ned) / Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-SRAM Young Guns0:13:59
7Philip Buys (RSA) Matthys Beukes (RSA) PYGA Euro Steel0:14:45
8Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:15:54
9Jose Hermida (Esp) / Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) MERIDA FACTORY RACING0:16:23
10Calle Friberg (Swe) / Matthias Wengelin (Swe) Bioracer-Apollo Sports0:16:52
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Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro5:16:18
2Esther Suss (Swi) / Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro0:00:30
3Carmen Bachacher (Aut) / Michelle Vorster ( Nam) Hollard-Velocity SportLab0:05:51
4Candice Lill (RSA) / Vera Adrian (Nam) DormaKaba SA0:08:23
5Ariane Luthi (Swi) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Spur0:10:47
6Jeannie Bomford (RSA) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) Merchants0:28:52
7Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health0:35:08
8Fienie Bernard (RSA) / Dalene Van der Leek (RSA) LIVBeyond0:37:48
9Alice Pirard (Bel) / Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Spur Foundation0:39:20
10Hielke Elferink (Ned) / Cornelia Hug (Swi) Meerendal CBC 20:42:47
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Masters
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Cadel Evans (Aus) / George Hincapie (USA) BMC Absa Racing Team4:48:11
2Bart Brentjens (Ned) / Abraao Azevedo (Bra) CST Sandd American Eagle0:01:42
3Tomi Misser (Spa) / Ibon Zugasti (Spa) Orbea Factory0:03:00
4David Evans (Aus) / Anthony Shippard (GBr) SRAM PYGA0:24:44
5Michael Creedon (Irl) / Andrew Cairns (RSA) Oakhaven Capital0:30:48
6Thorsten Keller (Ger) / Friedrich Max (Ger) Rocky Mountain - toMotion0:34:22
7Igna De Villiers (RSA) / Paul Theron (RSA) LGE Midas/Slender-Wonder0:35:13
8Nic Lamond (RSA) / Simon Lamond (RSA) Podium Sports0:40:03
9John van de Wouw (Ned) / Freddie van der Schoot (Ned) MTB van de Haterd0:41:57
10Richard Laurie (RSA) / Brent Russel (RSA) Eurocasa Gaggenau0:44:57
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General Classification men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Nino Schurter (Swi) / Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing22:37:13
2Christoph Sauser (Swi) / Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Investec-Songo-Specialized0:06:49
3Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col) / Max Knox (RSA) Kansai Plascon0:14:46
4Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) / Daniel Geismayr (Aut) Centurion Vaude 20:19:21
5Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:25:06
6Michiel Van der Heijden (Ned) / Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-SRAM Young Guns0:34:30
7Karl Platt (Ger)/ Urs Huber (Sui) Bulls0:49:25
8Philip Buys (RSA) / Matthys Beukes (RSA) PYGA Euro Steel0:59:43
9Alban Lakata (Aut) / Kristian Hynek (Cze) Topeak Ergon Racing1:05:51
10Jochen Kaess (Ger) / Markus Kaufmann (Ger) Centurion Vaude1:12:03
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General Classification women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Esther Suss (Swi) / Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro28:05:01
2Mariske Strauss (RSA) / Annie Last (GBr) Hansgrohe Cadence OMX Pro0:35:33
3Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Robyn De Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health0:47:17
4Ariane Luthi (Swi) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Spur1:03:57
5Carmen Bachacher (Aut) / Michelle Vorster ( Nam) Hollard-Velocity SportLab1:19:16
6Candice Lill (RSA) / Vera Adrian (Nam) DormaKaba SA1:19:27
7Jeannie Bomford (RSA) / Samantha Sanders (RSA) Merchants1:13:22
8Hielke Elferink (Ned) / Cornelia Hug (Swi) Meerendal CBC 21:13:31
9Fienie Bernard (RSA) / Dalene Van der Leek (RSA) LIVBeyond3:28:08
10Alice Pirard (Bel) / Sabrina Enaux (Fra) Spur Foundation3:32:59
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General Classification masters
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Tomi Misser (Spa) / Ibon Zugasti (Spa) Orbea Factory26:16:01
2Cadel Evans (Aus) / George Hincapie (USA) BMC Absa Racing Team0:02:43
3Bart Brentjens (Ned) / Abraao Azevedo (Bra) CST Sandd American Eagle0:02:48
4Thorsten Keller (Ger) / Friedrich Max (Ger) Rocky Mountain - toMotion2:14:10
5Igna De Villiers (RSA) / Paul Theron (RSA) LGE Midas/Slender-Wonder2:20:28
6Manuel Rojo Nieto (Esp) / Jorge Lopez Janeiro (Esp) GACOSUR IEDES CENTAURO2:58:18
7Michael Creedon (Irl) / Andrew Cairns (RSA) Oakhaven Capital2:55:08
8Nic Lamond (RSA) / Simon Lamond (RSA) Podium Sports2:57:50
9Richard Laurie (RSA) / Brent Russel (RSA) Eurocasa Gaggenau3:03:26
10Hannes Hanekom (RSA) / Ben Melt Swanepoel (RSA) @403:20:11

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