The first stage of the 2022 Absa Cape Epic was a thrilling 92km route with 2 850m of climbing, that saw Andreas Seewald and Martin Stošek of Team Canyon Northwave MTB win the men’s race, while the NinetyOne-songo-Specialized duo of Hayley Batten and Sofía Gómez Villafane prevailed in the women’s race.
Seewald and Stošek managed to get clear up the brutally steep climb to the Lourensford Saddle. They carefully managed their efforts after topping out through the 40-deg C heat to stay ahead and not only finish on the top of the podium for the stage but also pull on the Ciovita Men’s category leader jerseys.
While the new leaders rode a near-perfect stage, there was high drama in the rest of the elite group with overnight leaders Toyota-NinetyOne-Specialized losing significant time while SCOTT-SRAM’s bad luck continued with another puncture scuppering their hopes of pulling back time.
Tuesday’s Stage 2 to Elandskloof, Greyton could also see fresh faces in the orange CM.com Women’s category leader jerseys. Batten and Gómez Villafane pushed the pace early on and broke the bunch apart on the King’s Climb. They worked well together, traded blows with the other teams, and then held their lead through the Red Route descent of the Helderberg Trails as well as the dusty trails through Ernie Els and Alto Wines. As in the Men’s race, it was on the day’s most challenging climb, where the real racing started.
They were passed by a charging Symbtech ZA with Amy Wakefield leading Ariane Lüthi up and over into the scintillating singletrack back towards Lourensford. The SA-Swiss duo built a substantial lead before Lüthi fell foul to an unfortunate puncture which cost them dearly and allowed Batten and Sofía Gómez Villafane to capitalise.
In the end, Symbtech ZA finished second (moving into second in the General Classification at the same time), chasing all the way, with Lill and Strauss taking third spot (and third in the GC).
“That’s the kind of racing that makes an event exciting,” Batten said. “Ariane and Amy really put on a great show; when they came past us on that steep climb, I said to myself ‘it’s game on now’. I really had to mentally dig in to chase back.”
Tuesday’s stage is a 123km transition from Lourensford Wine Estate to Elandskloof Farm Cottages, Greyton.