• Home
• | Terms & conditions
• | Contact us
• | RSS

Cape Epic hat-trick for German duo

29 March 2010

Germans Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, racing as Team Bulls, on Sunday recorded their third win in the Absa Cape Epic, one of the world's toughest mountain bike stage races.

They finished 10 minutes ahead of the Songo-Specialized by DCM combination of Switzerland's Christoph Sauser and South African Burry Stander. The final podium position went to the South African/Austrian pair of Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata, racing as MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon.

Team Bulls' winning time was 29 hours, 47 minutes and 46 seconds.

Previously the Germans won the Epic in 2007 and 2009. Platt also won it in its first year, 2004, when he teamed up with Namibian Mannie Heymans.

Best African Team

The Best African Team award went the way of Max Knox and Brandon Stewart of DCM Chrome. Their total time was 31 hours, 45 minutes and eight seconds.

After securing victory, Stefan Sahm said: "It's an incredible feeling, words can't describe it. It means so much to Karl and I."

Platt added: "To win the Absa Cape Epic again - now for the fourth time - is absolutely unbelievable. It means so much to me, especially this year with the most competitive field ever."

Victory on the eighth and final stage - at 65 kilometres the shortest stage of the race - went to Multivan Merida's José Hermida and Rudi van Houts, who finished sixth overall. Second into Lourensford were the Rabobank Giant Off Road team of Emil Lindgren and Fabian Giger, with Sauser and Stander in third.

Platt and Sahm celebrated overall victory after crossing the line in fourth place, with Evans and Lakata finishing fifth.

'It didn't always work out for us'

Stander, the under-23 world cross country champion, commented afterwards: "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."

Sauser explained: "This Absa Cape Epic was really a big rollercoaster ride for us. 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."

Danish sisters Kristine and Anna-Sofie Noergaard, racing as Team Rothaus-CUBE, secured the women's title with a dominating performance that saw them win five of the eight stages.

They finished in 37 hours, 31 minutes and 3.3 seconds, just over half-an-hour ahead of Team Sludge, made up of the South African/German combination of Hanlie Kotze-Steyn and Ivonne Kraft.

The final podium position went to Team bike2help.ch – Big Tree's Giuliana Vitali and Tamara Horn, who finished over three hours behind Team Sludge.

'It feels fantastic'

"It feels fantastic to finish the race and also to have won," said Kristine Noergaard of Team Rothaus-CUBE.

"South Africa and its people have been fantastic. The course this year was great – still tough, but not as bad as we expected."

After taking victory on the final stage, Hannele Steyn-Kotze of the Sludge Ladies was happy: "This is my home town," she explained, "and it was really nice to finish first. We knew it would take a lot, but I so wanted to thank my family and friends for their support by winning this stage."

The winners of the mixed category were the MTN Business Qhubeka team of South Africa's Yolande Speedy and Paul Cordes. They won five of the eight stages and finished in an overall time of 34 hours, 29 minutes and 32.3 seconds.

Second place went to the Wheeler-BIXS combination of Bärti Bucher and Esther Süss, with the Adidas Big Tree duo of Nico Pfitzenmaier and Sally Bigham in third.

'I had goose bumps'

A satisfied Speedy said: "This is the first time that I've won the final stage and it's fantastic winning overall. I had goose bumps coming in – it was great to see the crowds and get their support."

Cyclelab's Shan Wilson and Andrew McLean were convincing winners in the Masters' category, finishing more than two hours ahead of Adrian Enthoven and Gary Marescia of Cycle Lan Jag Foundation, with Corrie Muller and Robert Sim of Big Tree Masters in third.

A total of 1 172 riders started the 2010 Absa Cape Epic, with 980 of them making it to the finish. That's an 83.6 percent finishing rate for one of the world's toughest mountain bike stage races.