Hat trick for Sauser and Stander

At the end of a long, hot day, Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser (36ONE Songo Specialized) made it three stage wins in a row and continued to lead the overall. Eva Lechner and Nathalie Schneitter (team Colnago Arreghini Südtirol) accomplished the same feat in the women's category.

Today a 12km steady upward drag took riders to a 6km climb on an ancient Voortrekker wagon trail, specially opened for the race. At the top, the 18km mark, riders had already ascended almost 1000m. With this stage's major obstacle out of the way, the valley opened up ahead, with the route looping clockwise, following the buffer zone between orchards and mountainside.

The tracks were far from flat and a short section of singletrack compensated the labours of the first 50km. It was very hot in the valley (37 degrees Celsius) and riders were tempted to take a dip in one of the several dams dotted along the route as they began to head home. After a 1.5km rise to the highpoint of the day's outing came the reward of the hard work invested in the first climb. The unmistakable silhouette of Table Mountain was visible from the crest. Riders then enjoyed descending the wagon trail they had previously climbed towards town for a good night's rest.

Men's category

The South African/Swiss team of Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser (36ONE Songo Specialized) again proved their world-class stature by winning stage 2 of this year's Absa Cape Epic. This is their third consecutive win, having also taken top honours in both the prologue and stage 1.

Sauser and Stander of team 36ONE Songo Specialized were the first to cross the finish line for the third consecutive day in 4:32.43 (overall 9:27.38). They were followed by Hannes Genze and Jochen Käss of Multivan Merida Biking in 4:33.31 (overall 9:33.56) with their second podium finish for this event and placed second overall. Lukas and Mathias Flückiger of Trek World Racing in 4:34.07 (overall time 9:48.42) were third, their first podium finish this year. The Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm in (4:34.24; overall time 9:35.02), finished fourth and now sit in third overall. Nicolas Vermeulen and Kevin van Hoovels (team Versluys-Evenza) finished in fifth place in 4:40.18 (overall time 9:49.53).

The 36ONE Songo Specialized team of Sauser and Stander led the Multivan Merida Biking team of Hannes Genze and Jochen Käss by six minutes and 18 seconds, and it is their 12th career stage win together in the Cape Epic.

"Today's stage was hard. We followed a similar tactic to yesterday and tried to stay in front. Towards the end there were some steep climbs, but Susi (Christoph Sauser) was really strong and I just had to follow his wheel and on the flat stretch power to the end," said Stander.

"I was feeling super strong today and had a good day in the saddle," said Sauser. "We were riding together - about eight of us - for most of the day but we broke away near the end. It was really nice to win another stage, but we'll only celebrate tomorrow if we manage to win the stage again. The whole thing can blow up again.

"I've never been as strong as this year - I also had a coach this year which was good for me. It's good to get some advice, even at 35, and do more power workouts. I definitely have more strength in my legs."

Genze, who finished in second place, was exhausted but excited. "Our team worked perfectly today. Jochen had a flat tyre, but the world champion José Hermida gave us his front wheel to continue on. Andreas (Kugler) and Markus (Kaufmann) managed to get us back to the leading group of eight teams by pushing us a bit. That's why I had enough energy at the end. I also had a crash today, which wasn't very nice."

"I had a flat tyre, but Hermida helped me out," said Käss. " It was really nice of him. We're very happy with second place. Of course being on the podium makes us feel stronger. Our goal in this year's race is a podium finish. The other teams are very strong and there's still a long way to go. We'll take it day by day."

Hermida said he was thrilled to help keep one of Multivan Merida's teams in front. "I have no problem being the spares rider. I gave Jochen my wheel and we just took it easy. We'd like a stage win, but our chance will come. We lost a lot of time yesterday - we had a technical problem - so it won't be possible for us to catch up with the others. But a stage win is a priority."

For Platt, it was a good day. "I felt strong today and we only lost the other riders on the last uphill. I hope we can make up some time. Stefan is not 100% and we're waiting for him to feel better and find his legs."

"We were motivated and off to a good start today," said Lukas Flückiger. "Mathias is bit tired as he was ill, but today we didn't have any problems and are very happy with our podium finish. We definitely want a stage win - so we'll go for it in the next five days."

The reigning Belgian champion Nicolas Vermeulen (team Versluys-Evenza) commented on his team's good day. "We only lost the leaders in the last climb and rode in our own rhythm which was nice."

African leaders' jerseys

Mannie Heymans from Namibia and Adrien Niyonshuti from Rwanda (team Garmin adidas MTN) are the leaders in the African Jersey in 10:05.26, followed by Paul Cordes and Charles Keey (MTN/Qhubeka) in 10:17.39. Brandon Stewart and 20-time Cape Epic stage winner Shan Wilson (Toyota DCM) are third in 10:19.55.

Heymans, who won the inaugural Cape Epic in 2004 together with Karl Platt, said "We're out here to defend the African leader jersey and very happy that we managed to extend our lead. Our objective for the rest of the race is to defend it.

"Adrien and I didn't do much training together and he's not a guy with lots of words, but every day just gets better and better. We're getting stronger as the Cape Epic progresses. I had a big heart for Adrien at the beginning of the race and as we go along, my heart is getting bigger. It's a dream come true to ride with him. He's been through so much - I really admire him. It's a pity about Kevin and David, but we'll wear the African Leader jersey with pride." Kevin Evans had to abandon after he broke his collarbone during stage one.

Ladies category

Eva Lechner and Nathalie Schneitter (team Colnago Arreghini Südtirol) won the ladies category for the third day in a row in a time of 5:56.23 (overall time 12:28.00), ahead of Sally Bigham and Karien Van Jaarsveld (team USN) in a time of 6:01.50 (overall 12:41.39). Naomi Hansen and Jodie Willett of adidas finished in third place in 6:07.58 (overall time 13:26.15). Lechner and Schneitter lead by 13 minutes and 39 seconds.

"We had a good day today. This is another world for me and I'm happy to be back and to have won this stage," said Lechner. "The TransAndes challenge, which we competed in earlier this year, was much shorter. I think the longest stage was around 60km. It was an easy race and we did it for fun.

"The Cape Epic is really hard and competitive. We're cross country riders and prefer shorter stages, but I must admit to enjoying the stage racing."

"The hardest part for me today was the first 30 minutes as my legs felt tired," said Schneitter. "I enjoyed the downhills a lot and generally had a good day. We're a good team and it helps a lot that we know each other well. We've had three good days and I believe I'll get one bad day and Eva will then need to bring me home somehow.

"We've done two six-day races since October and know that we're fine until day six of this race, but aren't sure what will happen on the last two days. I'm convinced Sally and Karien will catch up with us later in the race."

Sally Bigham of the USN team had an unfortunate crash yesterday. "Two minutes from the start, a guy crashed into me, I was going at 35km/h and stopped instantly. I landed on my head, and hurt my neck, shoulder and arm. So yesterday was a little hard. Today went very well and I'm happy with our results. I didn't hurt myself too much yesterday and the physio and ice packs worked - Lady Luck was definitely on my side. We're taking each day as it comes and riding our own race. Hopefully our endurance will kick in again during the later stages of the race."

Her partner Karien van Jaarsveld noted the heat. "We did over 2000m of climbing. Sally and I ride very well together as a team. She's very experienced and I'm learning from her."

Mixed category

The Wheeler - BIXS team, Bärti Bucher and Esther Süss, won the mixed category for the third day in a row in 5:23.08 (overall time 11:16.10), followed by Erik Kleinhans and Ariane Lüthi in 5:42.13 (overall time 11:49.47). The Swiss team of Daniel Annaheim and Renata Bucher (Baumat / zaboobikes.com) again finished in third place in 5:50.20 (overall time 12:13.29).

Reigning Marathon World Champion Süss a teacher by profession, said, "It was hard today and much faster than yesterday. It's difficult riding with the men and I'm just happy I made it. We were riding with Robert Sim and Doug Brown. It's good to be in the first position - it gives you drive and power. There's definitely more singletrack this year which, of course, I love."

"I struggled a bit at the beginning. I'm not so used to so many riders around us,"Lüthi, "but as soon as I got into my rhythm, it went better. It's still early days and anything can happen. We're happy about our position - it gives us confidence."

Master's category

The Juwi team of Carsten Bresser and Udo Boelts won the stage for the third consecutive day in 4:59.31 (overall time 10:30.14). They were again followed by Robert Sim and Doug Brown of the Robert Daniel team in 5:10.34 (overall time 10:57.09) with the Nandos team of Adrian Enthoven and Gerrie Beukes in third place in 5:23.09 (overall time 11:17.19). The Juwi team lead by 26 minutes and 55 seconds.

"We found endurance rhythm as I call it. Carsten had a flat, but everything worked out," said Bolts. "This is a mountain bike race, not a road race, so anything can still happen. One can never be too confident - the race only ends at Lourensford."

"Robert (Sim) had bad day today and I had it bad yesterday," said Brown. "Hopefully we can both feel good soon and get a podium win."

"Today started with a long, hard climb - quite technical - and the section on top of the plateau was also quite hard," said Enthoven. "The map is deceptive as it's much more difficult out there. We were riding with Ester and Bärti today and really enjoyed it. They ride consistently and smooth and it suits us well."

Stage 3 - Saronsberg/Tulbagh to Worcester (125km, 1900m of climbing)

With the fast roads out of town, riders will cover 13km before the first climb. It's steep at times and very loose, requiring hard bursts of effort to gain momentum over the rockiest parts. If there was ever a theme of race week, it's "from effort comes reward".

After the 4km climb, riders arrive at a plateau with a beautiful valley nestled between spectacular mountains that resemble the pictures found on the covers of fantasy novels. There will be little time to look around during the race though - the deeply rutted descent tests the rider and equipment alike.

After smooth farm roads and more rocky tracks, the tyres will be put to the test, with devil thorns lying in wait. A long drag upwards on a rough path leads to a remote hut at the foot of the cliff face of the bare rock of the mountainside. This area is a geologist's paradise. After the final water point, Cape Epic veterans will have déjà vu, with a similar run into the race village through some winding singletrack.

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