Swiss duo Nino Schurter and Lars Forster secured their fourth win during the stage 4 time trial at the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike race, with overall leaders Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini crossing the finish line second. The Brazilian-German team keeps the yellow jerseys for another day, while the gap to Schurter and Forster has decreased to just one minute and 13 seconds. Colombian Louis Meija & Italian Johnny Cattaneo complete the men’s podium.
In the women’s race, the outstanding Danish-Dutch duo Annika Langvad and Anna van den Breggen took their fifth consecutive victory, while Candice Hill and Adelheid Morath came in second. Swiss rider Ariane Lüthi and Maja Wloszczowska of Poland placed third.
After three marathon stages, the 2019 Absa Cape Epic route provided some relief in terms of distance, but the singletrack-filled stage 4 time trial did not ease up on the difficulty.
The route packed all the best Oak Valley and Paul Cluver trails into one short, sharp stage. The climbing began out of the gate as the route provided opportunities for the strongest riders to put time into their rivals. Climbs like Tierkop, Ma se Gat, Berg Adder, Puff Adder and a horrendous 350 meter long beast all added up to provide a total of 1,000 meters of elevation gain.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nino Schurter (Swi) / Lars Forster (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing | 1:38:00 |
| 2 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing | 0:02:00 |
| 3 | Louis Meija (Col) / Johnny Cattaneo (Ita) 7C CBZ WILIER | 0:03:00 |
| 4 | Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco | 0:04:00 |
| 5 | Urs Huber (Swi) / Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) BULLS Heroes | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
| 6 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) / Ondrej Cink (Cze) KROSS-SPUR | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 7 | Daniel Geismayr (Aut) / Jochen Kaess (Ger) Centurion Vaude | 0:05:00 |
| 8 | Alan Hatherly (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) SpecializedFoundationNAD | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 9 | Francesc Guerra Carretero (Spa) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Spa) BUFF SCOTT MTB | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Martin Frey (Ger) / Simon Schneller (Ger) BULLS Youngsters | 0:06:00 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) / Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing | 14:59:00 |
| 2 | Nino Schurter (Swi) / Lars Forster (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing | 0:01:00 |
| 3 | Damiano Ferraro (Ita) / Samuele Porro (Ita) Trek Selle San Marco | 0:10:00 |
| 4 | Urs Huber (Swi) / Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) BULLS Heroes | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 5 | Daniel Geismayr (Aut) / Jochen Kaess (Ger) Centurion Vaude | 0:21:00 |
| 6 | Alan Hatherly (RSA) / Matthew Beers (RSA) SpecializedFoundationNAD | 0:22:00 |
| 7 | Kristian Hynek (Cze) / Petter Fagerhaug (Nor) Canyon | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 8 | Francesc Guerra Carretero (Spa) / Enrique Morcillo Vergara (Spa) BUFF SCOTT MTB | 0:28:00 |
| 9 | Louis Meija (Col) / Johnny Cattaneo (Ita) 7C CBZ WILIER | 0:33:00 |
| 10 | Karl Platt (Ger) / Alban Lakata (Aut) BULLS Legends | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annika Langvad (Den) / Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Investec-songo-Specialized | 2:02:00 |
| 2 | Candice Lill (RSA) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Summit Fin | 0:01:00 |
| 3 | Ariane Lüthi (Swi) / Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Kross-Spur Racing | 0:03:00 |
| 4 | Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) / Mariske Strauss (RSA) Silverback - Fairtree | 0:04:00 |
| 5 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Nadine Rieder (Ger) Meerendal WIAWIS Rotwild | 0:07:00 |
| 6 | Theresa Ralph (RSA) / Sarah Hill (RSA) Galileo Risk | 0:09:00 |
| 7 | Sonya Looney (USA) / Catherine Williamson (GBr) FreakShow SCOTT | 0:17:00 |
| 8 | Hannele Steyn (RSA) / Katja Steenkamp (RSA) Land Rover Jaguars | 0:27:00 |
| 9 | Jeanette Treherne (RSA) / Vivienne Turvey (RSA) T and T | 0:44:00 |
| 10 | Sarah Kaehler (Aus) / Kylie Burrows (NZl) Cable Logging Geraldine | 0:50:00 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annika Langvad (Den) / Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Investec-songo-Specialized | 17:44:00 |
| 2 | Candice Lill (RSA) / Adelheid Morath (Ger) Summit Fin | 0:26:00 |
| 3 | Ariane Lüthi (Swi) / Maja Wloszczowska (Pol) Kross-Spur Racing | 0:34:00 |
| 4 | Jennie Stenerhag (Swe) / Mariske Strauss (RSA) Silverback - Fairtree | 0:52:00 |
| 5 | Sabine Spitz (Ger) / Nadine Rieder (Ger) Meerendal WIAWIS Rotwild | 1:08:00 |
| 6 | Theresa Ralph (RSA) / Sarah Hill (RSA) Galileo Risk | 2:05:00 |
| 7 | Sonya Looney (USA) / Catherine Williamson (GBr) FreakShow SCOTT | 2:41:00 |
| 8 | Hannele Steyn (RSA) / Katja Steenkamp (RSA) Land Rover Jaguars | 5:12:00 |
| 9 | Jeanette Treherne (RSA) / Vivienne Turvey (RSA) T and T | 7:46:00 |
| 10 | Hildegarde Cronje (RSA) / Auralia Edwards (RSA) Hils&Rails | 8:09:00 |
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