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The defending Champions of the Absa Cape Epic, Georg Egger and Lukas Baum (ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company), raced to victory on stage 5, moving into the yellow leader jerseys at the same time.
Now, ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company head into stage 6 with a minute-and-a-half lead over Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing). Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne’s Matt Beers and Christopher Blevins are holding steady in third overall at seven minutes back from the leaders.
Vera Looser and Kim le Court (Efficient Infiniti Insure) celebrated back-to-back stage victories on Friday, winning stage 5 two-and-a-half minutes ahead of Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill (e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo).
The stage 5 win pushed Le Court and Looser into second place overall. Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Katerina Nash (NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized) were third on the day and now sit 30 minutes back from Wakefield and Lill who remain in the leader jerseys.
Riders woke to grey skies and heavy rain on Friday.
In the men’s race, downpours drenched the course for the first 30km.The German duo of Egger and Baum made their move early in the race, attacking on the the Tierkop climb around kilometer 20.
By 41km, they’d raced over the Groelandberg climb and held a commanding 50-second lead over the chasers. As the race progressed, the lead continued to grow with neither SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing nor Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne able to respond.
“We felt really good from the start,” Baum said. “I wanted to control the pace up Tierkop, which we were able to do, and then at the highest point we were able to create a gap between us and the rest.”
Baum said that the conditions in the first half of the stage made the racing treacherous.
“That must be one of the most brutal days I’ve had on the bike. I was suffering out there in the conditions. The ground was loose and with every climb we were riding through these little rivers. When I hit that puddle and went for a swim, I thought I was in the ocean. It was super deep.”
Vera Looser and Kim le Court also made their move on a climb, attacking on the Groenlandberg and cruising past Wakefield and Lill in the process.
Earlier in the stage, another rider accidentally knocked Looser over, and she fell into a puddle, damaging a shoe. She patched it up with duct tape and was able to race back quickly to Le Court. From there they rode steadily to the front.
“We thought this morning that today could be another good day for us,” Le Court said. “But then we had a really bad start and we were actually last going up the Tierkop climb. At that point we decided to do our own race and not worry about anything — then we just started catching everyone.”
Wakefield admitted that the week of racing is wearing on her.
“I can’t lie,” she said, “I am counting down the days until the finish! That was another dark day for me. There are two days to go and I am hanging in. I need to thank my partner again for helping me so much today. Vera and Kim rode really well. I think tomorrow they will attack again and it will cause some exciting racing.”
2023 Absa Cape Epic stage 5 results:
Men’s category:
1. Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company Racing: Georg Egger, Lukas Baum – 04:13:46.5
2. Singer Racing: Simon Stiebjahn, Martin Frey – 04:16:18.8 (+00:02:32.2)
3. SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing: Nino Schurter, Andri Frischknecht – 04:16:27.3 (+00:02:40.7)
CM.com Women’s category:
1. Efficient Infiniti Insure: Kim le Court, Vera Looser – 05:23:46.5
2. e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield, Candice Lill – 05:26:23 (+00:02:36.5)
3. NinetyOne-songo-Specialized: Sofia Gomez Villafane, Katerina Nash – 05:42:47.2 (+00:19:00.7)
2023 Absa Cape Epic general classification after stage 5:
Men’s category:
1. Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company Racing: Georg Egger, Lukas Baum– 19:35:29.3
2. SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing: Nino Schurter, Andri Frischknecht – 19:36:58.6 (+00:01:29.2)
3. Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne – Matthew Beers, Christopher Blevins – 19:42:38.3 (+00:07:08.9)
CM.com Women’s category:
1. e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield, Candice Lill – 24:24:32.4
2. Efficient Infiniti Insure: Kim le Court, Vera Looser – 24:38:25.8 (+00:13:53.3)
3. NinetyOne-songo-Specialized: Sofia Gomez Villafane, Katerina Nash – 24:52:48 (+00:28:15.5)