Sauser, Stander stand up in South Africa

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Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander (Songo-Specialized by DCM), winners of four stages during last year's Cape Epic, are back in top form after winning stage 3 of this year's race in a time of 4:38:00. They finished four minutes and 10 seconds ahead of the Flückiger brothers, Lukas and Mathias, of team Trek World Racing, who finished in second place (4:41.10). The Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm finished in third place (4:41.51), less than a second ahead of team Trek-Brentjens' Bart Brentjens and Jelmer Pietersma. The Bulls Team has now taken the overall lead.

Today's stage took riders on fast open roads, followed by a short section of smooth, flowing singletrack. After a leg-trashing 3km climb out of the Ceres bowl and up onto a plateau, riders were relieved to see the first water point. A rough doubletrack then headed through some rare fynbos and riders needed to stay alert on the challenging downhill section.

Almost half of the day's climbing was done within the first 40km and racers needed to be careful to ride within their limits, not spending too much energy too early. After traversing the farmlands past a very inviting dam, riders hugged the foothills of Matroosberg, passed a ski hut - dreaming of snow on such a hot day. More descending took them back down into the Ceres bowl with the first section on tar, but the next one much more technical. The last climb of the day was short but very steep and loose, forcing riders to walk.

The profile looked fairly flat from here on, but if heat and rugged terrain did not break their spirits, the sandy patches and devil thorns on the last 15km easily made up for it.

Stander feels good and with Sauser, rides to stage win

Sauser and Stander were the first to cross the finish line of stage 3, placing them in fourth position overall (13:40.00). They were followed by the Lukas and Mathias Flückiger (Trek World Racing) who are now in sixth place overall (13:42.27). In third place was the Bulls 1 team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, who took over the overall lead (at 13:30.07) from Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata, who had serious technical problems along the route and lost a lot of time (finishing stage 3 in 4:52.44). Evans and Lakata of Team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon are now in third position overall (13:36.37) with Trek-Brentjens now in second place overall (13:34.10).

"It's a huge relief to have done better than the first two days," said Stander. "I suffered a bit at the beginning of the stage, but felt very hungry at the first water point - a very good sign - and had something to eat. That made me feel better and I continued fueling my body after not being able to do so for the first two days.

"I started feeling better and stronger and we started pushing to catch up with the leaders. As soon as we were with them, Christoph and I decided to go for it and open the gap. As long as I can eat, my body feels good. It's a really nice feeling to have won this stage and to know the game is back on. We're in fourth place overall. But, you never can tell what happens in this race. It's still a long way to go."

Commenting on the high level of the competition he's been facing, Stander said, "This is definitely the toughest Cape Epic I've ever done and you can see that the riders are more fatigued. Hopefully during the next couple of days we'll feel good."

Sauser was pleased that Stander was riding back in his usual form. "It's lovely that Burry's back. Every morning at the start we didn't know if he may have to pull out," said Sauser. "Also, if your partner's not feeling well, you also feel bad. Today after the long technical climb, I saw that we were back in the race. We had to inflate tyres on two occasions, so lost some time, but when the Flückiger brothers took the wrong turn, we went for it and made good time. In this race you don't only need to pedal - you have to keep your eyes open and your brain switched on."

The Flückiger brothers, winners of last year's final stage, finished in second place on the day, their first podium finish in this year's event. "We had very good legs today. Around 5km before the finish, we took the wrong turn and lost about five minutes," said Mathias who was still in school in Switzerland as of last Thursday. "We were riding at a good pace today and are very happy with the results. It's just very hot - I've come from a very cold Switzerland and my body is still acclimatizing."

"It's a pity that we took the wrong turn. Our legs and heads were good today, and our bikes perfect. It was a good technical ride," said brother Lukas.

Platt of the Bulls team was happy with the day. "It was a good stage and it feels great to be in the leader's jersey. We missed one of the signs and followed the motorcycle - we lost four minutes or so. We feel really sorry for Kevin and Alban. They're incredible strong and had some bad luck today. It must be hard for them. Fortunately, we only had small punctures, so nothing major."

"It's perfect to be in the overall lead, but now the fight really starts," predicted Platt's teammate Sahm.

According to Kevin Evans, of the MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon team, "We were in the lead when we started having problems around halfway. We probably had about four punctures and you start running out of tubes and bond. Today was unlucky for us, but there's still a good few days to go."

"I had to run with my bike on my back for the last 2km as my rim exploded," said Evans' teammate Alban Lakata. "When I hit the tar I could feel that it wasn't going to make it - it was already that bad. Today was just unlucky. We even got some pumps from the other riders to inflate the tyres, but the damage was too much. In a way this is actually not all bad - I was starting to feel the pressure of riding in the leader's jersey. Now we can watch the leaders and maybe narrow the gap again."

Noergaard sisters race to a stage win

The first women to complete stage 3 were Kristine and Anna-Sofie Noergaard (Team Rothaus-CUBE) in a time of 5:41.34. They remain in second position overall (16:56.53). They were followed by the winners of the first two stages, Hannele Steyn-Kotze and Ivonne Kraft (team Sludge Ladies) in a time of 5:49.36. They are still the overall leaders in this category (16:53.42). They were followed by Julia Skea and Carla Rowley of Team RBS Biogen in a time of 6:16.13 (fourth position overall - 18:35.28). In fourth place today were Giuliana Vitali and Tamara Horn (Team bike2help.ch - Big Tree) who finished in a time of 6:27.39, placing them in third position overall (18:21.13).

The Danish power sisters, Kristine and Anna-Sofie Noergaard, who won today, are enjoying the race so far.

"We're never the fastest at the beginning of the race, so we haven't been disappointed with our results so far," said Kristine. "From experience we know that it's important to race our own race all the way and to follow our own speed. Today we didn't decide to attack. I asked Anna-Sofie how her legs were feeling, she said well, so I said let's go. We're here to have fun, do what we can and sometimes a bit more. We don't put too much pressure on ourselves."

"Since Anna-Sofie had a baby, we've both realised that mountain biking is not the most important thing in the world. Of course, it's nice to be on the podium though."

"I started riding again about four weeks after giving birth. My son's called Karlo and is named after one of our favourite riders Karl Platt," Anna-Sofie said. Karl always manages to have fun, so we think Karlo is going to be strong and also have fun.

"This year's Cape Epic is harder than ever - and so many rocks and stones. It's also really tough because of the heat and water. In Europe, we can get water wherever we like - even from people standing next to the road. And we really don't enjoy getting up at five in the morning, but at least we're not staying in a tent like in 2007. We promised ourselves then that we won't do that again."

Speedy and Cordes top mixed field

Yolande Speedy and Paul Cordes (MTN Business Qhubeka) again finished in first place today in a time of 5:13.51. They have taken the overall lead in their category (15:21.15). They were followed by Nico Pfitzenmaier and Sally Bigham of the Adidas Big Tree team (5:37.09) who are in third position overall (15:59.55). In third place today were Bärti Bucher and Esther Süss (Wheeler - BIXS) in a time of 5:45.23, who are placed second overall (15:49.02).

"It's actually quite amazing that we finished in second place today. We had to stop at the second feed zone because I had a mechanical problem," said Bigham. "For some unknown reason, my back brake stopped working, but luckily they managed to fix it. I felt really strong, so let's keep our fingers crossed that we carry on as we have been."

Big Tree Foundation team rides to masters' stage win

The Big Tree Masters Team Corrie Muller and Robert Sim finished first in this category in a time of 5:27.27. They are in sixth place overall (17:02.51). Cyclelab's Shan Wilson and Andrew Mclean finished second in 5:29.09, and they remain the overall leaders in the masters (15:20.43). They were followed by the Adrian Enthoven and Gary Marescia (Cycle Lab Jag Foundation) in 5:35.28 and are placed second overall (16:16.56).

Muller said he had to wait seven years to win a stage of the Cape Epic and is so stoked that he finally managed to do so. "In the first stage, we were struck by bad luck when Rob lost his derailleur and had to ride singlespeed most of the way. As we're supporting the Big Tree Foundation we were feeling really bad that we weren't getting the publicity and podium finishes they were hoping for."

"We were becoming totally demoralised and today we're all smiles," said Sim. "One day in the Cape Epic can change it all, anything can happen in this race."

"We didn't have a good day from the beginning and decided to ride at our own pace and recover a bit. Shan was also not feeling well," said McLean. "You have to take the good days with the bad. It's the Cape Epic! We're still in the lead but still have a long way to go. We didn't really have technical problems today - just no legs."

Stage 4: Ceres to Worcester, 86km

Stage four will take riders from Ceres to Worcester, a distance of 86km and 1,640m of climbing. It will be a short climb up Mitchell's Pass followed by a fast downhill section on tar, before turning off into the winelands past Waverly Hills Farm and Mountain Ridge.

Then there is a long zig-zagging section of rustic dual and singletrack up and down the foothills of the mountains, before the cyclists finally climb up onto the saddle. After another descent and climb to the next saddle ahead, riders will be rewarded with spectacular views into the Breede River Valley. Even when they have home in their sights, there is still the rough 2km Boesmansberg climb to scale.

This stage is not the toughest or the longest ever, but after the combination punches of the first three stages, riders will be counting the pedal strokes to the short time trial of stage 5, the following day.

Video from stage three is provided by www.rsaweb.co.za.

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