Cape Epic: Fumic and Avancini take men's lead on stage 3

Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini grabbed the stage 3 win at the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike race Wednesday and overtook previous race leaders Nino Schurter and Lars Forster in the general classification after the pair suffered a puncture and ended up in fourth place. In the women’s race, favorites Annika Langvad and Anna van der Breggen took their fourth consecutive win in front of Candice Lill and Adelheid Morath. Jennie Stenerhag and Mariske Strauss were third.

Stage 3 featured with 107km and 2,800 meters of climbing, one of the most challenging of this year’s race. The day started with the ascent of the Nuweberg, followed by the Groenlandberg - the highest point of the route at 1,100 meters above sea level.

A white-knuckle descent followed, then it was upwards again on the stage’s Technical Terrain climb to Die Nek. In the Elgin Valley, far below, a mix of rocky singletrack, concentration-demanding dual track and two more infamous climbs awaited.

Nevertheless, there were riding rewards on offer too, following the last significant climb of the day, on the initially rocky but always thrilling Lebanon trails. Then the trail home followed the easiest possible route and included flowing singletrack through cattle filled pastures, to end the day with the second largest accumulated altitude gain in the 2019 Cape Epic.

Brief Results

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Men Stage 3
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing4:30:00
2Urs Huber (Swi) / Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) BULLS Heroes0:02:24
3Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco0:03:44
4Nino Schurter (Swi) / Lars Forster (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing0:06:45
5Daniel Geismayr (Aut) / Jochen Kaess (Ger) Centurion Vaude0:06:46
6Francesc Guerra Carretero (Spa) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Spa) BUFF SCOTT MTB0:08:11
7Alan Hatherly (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) SpecializedFoundationNAD0:08:33
8Kristian Hynek (Cze) / Petter Fagerhaug (Nor) Canyon0:08:36
9Tony Longo (Ita) / Gregory Brenes (CRc) 7C CBZ WILIER 20:09:28
10Karl Platt (Ger) / Alban Lakata (Aut) BULLS Legends0:10:22
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General Classification after stage 3
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing13:19:31
2Nino Schurter (Swi) / Lars Forster (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing0:02:42
3Urs Huber (Swi) / Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) BULLS Heroes0:07:46
4Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco0:07:57
5Daniel Geismayr (Aut) / Jochen Kaess (Ger) Centurion Vaude0:17:14
6Kristian Hynek (Cze) / Petter Fagerhaug (Nor) Canyon0:17:42
7Alan Hatherly (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) SpecializedFoundationNAD0:18:24
8Francesc Guerra Carretero (Spa) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Spa) BUFF SCOTT MTB0:24:36
9Karl Platt (Ger) / Alban Lakata (Aut) BULLS Legends0:26:26
10Louis Meija (Col) / Johnny Cattaneo (Ita) 7C CBZ WILIER0:32:14
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Women Stage 3
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Annika Langvad (Den) / Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Investec-songo-Specialized5:23:43
2Candice Lill (RSA) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Summit Fin0:05:52
3Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) / Mariske Strauss (RSA) Silverback - Fairtree0:19:54
4Ariane Lüthi (Swi) / Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Kross-Spur Racing0:21:57
5Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Nadine Rieder (Ger) Meerendal WIAWIS Rotwild0:30:23
6Theresa Ralph (RSA) / Sarah Hill (RSA) Galileo Risk0:31:32
7Sonya Looney (USA) / Catherine Williamson (GBr) FreakShow SCOTT0:47:10
8Hannele Steyn (RSA) / Katja Steenkamp (RSA) Land Rover Jaguars1:36:15
9Jeanette Treherne (RSA) / Vivienne Turvey (RSA) T and T2:27:13
10Hildegarde Cronje (RSA) / Auralia Edwards (RSA) Hils&Rails2:27:14
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General Classification after stage 3
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Annika Langvad (Den) / Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Investec-songo-Specialized15:42:52
2Candice Lill (RSA) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Summit Fin0:23:44
3Ariane Lüthi (Swi) / Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Kross-Spur Racing0:29:48
4Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) / Mariske Strauss (RSA) Silverback - Fairtree0:47:36
5Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Nadine Rieder (Ger) Meerendal WIAWIS Rotwild1:00:32
6Theresa Ralph (RSA) / Sarah Hill (RSA) Galileo Risk1:55:19
7Sonya Looney (USA) / Catherine Williamson (GBr) FreakShow SCOTT2:23:31
8Hannele Steyn (RSA) / Katja Steenkamp (RSA) Land Rover Jaguars4:44:11
9Jeanette Treherne (RSA) / Vivienne Turvey (RSA) T and T7:01:05
10Hildegarde Cronje (RSA) / Auralia Edwards (RSA) Hils&Rails7:16:43

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