Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander (36ONE-SONGO-SPECIALIZED) won the last stage of the Absa Cape Epic and thus cemented their overall victory in this grueling multiday mountain bike stage race.
Sauser and Stander won the seventh and last stage from Oak Valley to Lourensford Wine Estate of 64km in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 11 seconds. Alban Lakata and Robert Mennen were second in the stage, followed by SONGO-SPECIALIZED’s Max Knox and Kohei Yamamoto who took the last podium spot for the stage.
The Swiss/South African combination overall time for the 780km was 31:46.50. South Africans Kevin Evans and David George (32:14.12) were second, while Hannes Genze and Andreas Kugler (32:17.57) won a tight battle to take the final overall podium spot.
Sauser and Stander won the prologue and five of the seven stages.
The Epic started last Sunday at Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville, then riders traveled to Robertson before a hard few days in Caledon and then a mud bath waited at Oak Valley in Grabouw before the finish at Lourensford.
“We worked hard for this stage and the overall win. We will never say no to opportunity to win a stage,” said Stander.
“We won by a big margin (27 minutes), but it wasn’t only us working for it. The whole team and all the equipment played a role. We learnt in previous years. The Epic is a story. Everyday is a chapter and that makes it so amazing.
“Now we know the yellow jersey is ours. Until now it felt like we are borrowing it. Nothing compares.”
Sauser added: “Every year the Epic gets harder, the intensity is much higher. Our equipment made such a big difference. It helps mentally to know that even though the stage is hard the equipment will hold. Crossing the finish-line here at Lourensford is the best feeling of the whole week. It’s so big for us.”
Knox and Yamamoto finished 9th overall. Yamamoto said he enjoyed the experience and is now looking forward to some rest before the next races.