Cape Epic stage 8 and Final Roundup
The 2010 ABSA Cape Epic presented by adidas has once again come and gone with Team Songo.info being able to reflect on 8 days worth of highs, lows and some mixed fortunes. The final stage was once again from Oak Valley to Lourensford wine estate in Somerset West covering the compulsory portage section of the historical Gantouw Pass.
With many teams still under pressure for a stage win it was once again a day of hard racing taking in the short and steep climbs of the Nuweberg and Grabouw region. Jose Hermida and Rudi van Houts of Merida emerged victors on the day with their first stage win for the race with Songo.info coming in second place ahead of Rabobank/Giant.
With the week that was Burryhad the following to say: “We’re very happy to finish second in this year’s race, but we still want to win,”… “Everything has to get together all eight days of the race, and it didn’t always work out for us. I’m really looking forward to a week’s rest and then to the rest of the season. This is excellent preparation for the World Cups. It gives you such depth – all riders suffer at some point – and in every race you suffer.”
According to Christoph this years race was a real rollercoaster, “The first two stages were tough and at one point we weren’t sure we’d be able to continue, then we were on a high, then I had a stomach bug and so on. At the beginning of today’s race I struggled a bit, but then my legs came back and I felt stronger. I’ll now rest for a week and then start with some short interval training. I’m looking forward to the season as we rode with some of the strongest riders in the world at this year’s event.”
Songo and Sipho capped off a great weeks riding with Sipho crossing the line in Lourensford as the youngest finisher of the 2010 race. This also served as a brilliant reflection of the progress the Songo.info program has managed to achieve in Kayamandi over the three years that it has been active. Check in again with us soon for a full account of Songo Fipaza and Sipho’s ABSA Cape Epic…
Cape Epic Stage 7 Report
Stage 7 of the Cape Epic was won by the in form Fluckinger brothers of Trek World Racing followed closely by Team Bulls who did an outstanding job of defending their yellow jerseys and increasing their lead by another 3 minutes. With 10km to go it was almost sure that Vogel and Schurter of Scott/Swisspower would have won their first stage but Nino Schurter suddenly started suffering from the immense effort that they had put in and were passed by the chasing teams.
Jose Hermida and Rudi van Houts of Multivan Merida claimed thier first podium for the race in third followed by Christoph and Burryof Songo.info at 3min 30sec back. Christoph was unfortunate to pick up a stomach virus similiar to that of Burry’s earlier in the week and had to suffer through the stage. MTN were also in difficulty for most of the stage and Songo.info were able to increase thier gap to third place.
Tomorrows final stage will most certaily not be a procession with many of the top teams still under pressure for a stage win. It is unlikely that the overall classification will change much but action is guaranteedover the final 63km of this years ABSA Cape Epic.
Behind the Scenes at the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic
A regular day at the Cape Epic for Benno would be getting up at 5am to do a final check through of the bikes before
the 7am start. He will then accompany the guys to the start line with a bag of spare parts as well as a set of spare wheels
in the unlikely event of a mechanical problem before the gun goes off.
At the end of the stage Claire is ready with recovery drinks a clean set of clothes if the guys are on the podium.
Benno is then off to the bike wash area to clean off the worst of the days dirt while Claire prepares lunch for Burry and
Susi back at the camper van. Most days consist of a variety of vegetables, quinoa, and rye or wholewheat pasta. A day
is not complete though for Burry if he does not get his chocolate milk…
The boys usually do an afternoon sleep for an hour so while Claire then cleans and preps the camp area for late afternoon
massage. By this time Benno has already stripped the bikes down to inspect for any damage on the days stage. The Cape
Epic is the perfect race to test new parts and product for the year as anything that can survive this rugged terrain for 8 days
in a row is good enough for use on the World Cup circuit throughout the year.
This year the team has new prototype equipment as well as various suspension setups which they are trying out on every
stage. The new “Sludge” sealant combined with Specialized S-Works Fast Trak LK 2.00 has proved a good combination thus
far with no major punctures yet.
Further more all cable and housing are replaced on day 4 with chains being replaced at least 3 times over the 8 days. Some
may see this as a waste or unecessary but Benno’s work ethic is driven by that of problem prevention and not problem solving.
From around 4pm the riders are ready for massage with Claire and she says the daily routine is usually as follows:
“most days involve pretty intense work on their legs but they definitely loosen up as the week goes on…the massage itself is
usually follows my World Cup routine and then addressing any specific other specific needs they may have”. One thing she does
love about the Cape Epic is being able to do her treatments outdoors in favourable weather, yesterday they were caught out though
with the strong wind which was blowing so the media centre for the race had to do.
Benno spends at least 6 hours a day working on Burry and Christophs bikes with the aim of getting them in race condition and
trying to eliminate any possible problems that could arise during the stage.There are so many variables that you cannot account for
in this unique race but after 6 years of working at the Epic he has a really good routine figured out and I assure you, once his work
is done the bikes could easily be placed back on a showroom floor.
….and when there is a break while the riders are out racing on the longer stages there’s nothing like a quick power nap!
Cape Epic Stage 6 Report
Greg Beadle/Sportzpics
Stage 6 was earmarked as the hardest one of this years race and one that would further shake up the general classification. Unfortunately the lead opposition teams were up for the challenge and rod every strongly to defend their yellow jersey. The first half of the stage was very flat and fast with Max Knox and Brandon Stewart of DCM breaking away early to win the first hotspot of the day at 38km.
Reaching the foothills of the big climb for the day it was the Bulls, MTN, Trek WR and Songo.info and it was unfortunately then that Christoph punctured leaving them with a furious chase to get back on. When they rejoined Trek WR had ridden off the front and MTN were falling off the back leaving just the Bulls in the yellow jersey.
Coming into the finish,it was the Fluckinger brothers of Trek World Racing who took a well deserved win followed by Songo.info and Bulls 2min 30 later. MTN/Qhubeka ended up losing time which has moved Songo.info up to 2nd place in the overall classification.
Tomorrows stage features 98km of riding through a lot of technical single track and short, steep climbing. It should once again favour the cross country specialists but as we have see
Cape Epic Stage 5 Report
With Burry feeling stronger and stronger each day the team had been waiting for stage 5′s Time Trial with far more positive anticipation. Coming down to the line they once again did not fail to deliver and won their third consecutive stage by 1min 10sec over MTN/Qhubeka and about 1min 26sec to third placed Bulls from Germany.
Judging from the last few days of racing, who had pushed hard and who had taken it easier the guys decided that the team splits to mark would be those of Scott/Swisspower with Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel and Multivan/Merida with Rudi van Houts and Jose Hermida. The figure of 8 course provided good opportunity for spectators on the day as well as giving the guys time splits. At waterpoint 1 they were up on Hermida and by just over a minute and level with MTN and the Bulls.
Coming into waterpoint 2 they had turned up the pace and were 50 sec faster than MTN and 1min over the Bulls. Over the final 9 km they managed to open up the gap even further to close some more time on the overall general classification.
Christoph had the followingto say: “it was basically drafting behind Burry from start to finish and for the first time I was suffering on a high level!”
The deficit to the top step of the podium now stands at 7 min and with tomorrows queen stage ahead all is set for a big showdown. At 123 km in length featuring 2300m of climbing with the famed “Groenlandberg” monster to traverse nobody in the top 5 can afford to have a “bad” day.
Some more images of the days racing and preparation below by Gary “Flipper” Perkin.
- Team Songo.info
- Susi double checking his cleats
