As Langvad and Courtney contemplate a clean-sweep at the Absa Cape Epic, their rivals are battling just to stay in the race.
Illness and injury has been a constant spectre hanging over the women’s race at the Absa Cape Epic, and on Saturday it once again influenced the podium with an obviously ill Mariske Strauss and partner Annie Last forced to concede second overall.
Annika Langvad & Kate Courtney during stage 6 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Huguenot High in Wellington, South Africa on the 24th March 2018. Photo by Ewald Sadie/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
As Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney (Investec Songo Specialized) have been charging inexorably to victory, their rivals have been battling just to stay in the event, let alone remain competitive in the ever-changing fight for the second step of the podium.
On Saturday, as Langvad and Courtney moved to within one stage of a clean-sweep by winning the 76km out-and back race from Wellington, it was the turn of Strauss to fall victim to illness and she had to dig deep to just reach the finish line. The South African and her Silverback-KMC partner Annie Last finished sixth on the stage, a distant 16 minutes behind the rampant leaders.
Sabine Spitz & Robyn de Groot during stage 6 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Huguenot High in Wellington, South Africa on the 24th March 2018. Photo by Ewald Sadie/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Their result, in conjunction with an impressive ride by second-placed Robyn de Groot and Sabine Spitz on Saturday, means the Ascendis Health pair have moved into second overall, a distant 46 minutes back from Investec Songo Specialized but six minutes up on Strauss and Last. Margot Moschetti and Raiza Goulao (PMRA/CST Racing) finished third on the stage.
Last was full of praise for her ill partner who was rushed straight from the finish line to the medical facilities.
“Mariske was not well before she started, so to finish was a really good job,” said Last. “She wanted to finish and she is being taken to the Mediclinic now – hopefully she will be okay for tomorrow.
“She did the 76 kays basically with no food inside her. It was impressive – she had to dig very deep.
Mariske Strauss during stage 6 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Huguenot High in Wellington, South Africa on the 24th March 2018. Photo by Ewald Sadie/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
“We have lost second, but that is life. The Absa Cape Epic is about getting through eight days consistently. Anything can happen, you can have a mechanical, you can get ill, you can have a crash. You can have problems and other teams can have problems. Team Spur had to pull out the other day – It is just one of those things.
“Right now I just hope Mariske is going to be okay.”
Since defending champion Jennie Stenerhag was forced to withdraw with injury two weeks before the start of the 2018 event, all the potential rivals for Investec Songo Specialized have been battling illness: Stenerhag was replaced by Angelika Tazreiter in the Meerendal CBC team, but then Esther Süss was left riding solo when the Austrian was forced out; Spitz struggled on the opening few days with a virus; Team Spur (Ariane Lüthi and Githa Michiels) were lying second on Wednesday when Michiels was advised to retire by the medical team at Mediclinic; and now Silverback-KMC have been forced to give up second position and Strauss is struggling to stay in the race.
The one team that looks like it is running on rails are the leaders, but even Courtney acknowledged that this was no easy ride to the finish.
“I felt so good today!” said Kate as she got off her bike. “Annika and I really executed as a team today. I think we have gotten better and better as a team every day. We are getting better at working together and reading each other’s body language, and better at knowing when to lead and when to be behind. I think it has been a real team effort.
“But this race is hard, very hard. It is an incredibly big challenge. I think it is hard to explain how difficult it is if you have not ridden the tough single tracks, and been out there all day long.
“I think it is one of the most magical mountain bike races. There is so much hype and so many people paying attention. You also get to do it in a team which is very special.”
Mariske Strauss during stage 6 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Huguenot High in Wellington, South Africa on the 24th March 2018. Photo by Ewald Sadie/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Despite collecting their seventh win, Langvad is not too focused on the clean-sweep.
“Clean-sweep? I have not thought too much about making the clean-sweep. I take it very much in small pieces. So I take it day by day, small piece at a time, and in the end it will make a big picture and we will need to see what the big picture is.”
But one team hoping to break the sequence is the Ascendis Health pair who have been improving daily since Spitz shook off her virus.
“It would be fantastic if we could get a stage win tomorrow,” said De Groot who won the Grand Finale at Val de Vie Estate in 2017. “And what that would be to finish? It would be like last year and that is something that we will not give up hope on.”
Candice Lill and Any Beth Mcdougall of team dormakaba during stage 6 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Huguenot High in Wellington, South Africa on the 24th March 2018. Photo by Andrew McFadden/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
In the Absa African Women’s special jersey race Candice Lill and Amy Beth McDougall (dormakaba) are over two hours ahead of Hannele Steyn and Jeannie Dreyer (Nolands Spar Ladies). Only a major disaster is going to prevent the dormakaba pair from collecting the trophy, which is ironically named after Steyn who has finished every Absa Cape Epic since the race’s inception in 2004.
“We just need to keep it steady tomorrow. It is definitely an honour to have the red jersey on our shoulders and it will be an honour to be the first winners of the Absa African Women’s special jersey,” said McDougall.
