Absa Cape Epic 2022 – Stage 4 – News

It was tight, tense, and tactical in the men’s race. Speed Company Racing’ Georg Egger (GER) and Lukas Baum (GER) blazed a trail from the start, but around 50km into the day, they were joined by Matt Beers (RSA) and Christopher Blevins (USA) of Toyota-NinetyOne-Specialized, and then soon after yellow jersey leaders Canyon Northwave MTB and Andreas Seewald (GER) and Martin Stošek (CZE) joined the front of the race. The three teams matched each other pedal stroke for pedal stroke until the final 5km where Matt Beers (RSA) and Andreas Seewald (GER) sped off the front. Blevins (USA) was stuck behind Speed Factory Racing, but timed his attack perfectly and pulled away dramatically with a kilometer to go. He dropped Speed Company Racing, with Canyon Northwave MTB’s Martin Stošek (CZE) unable to match his power. Beers (RSA) crossed the line at a dawdle alongside Seewald, but Blevins (USA) came racing around the corner of the finish chute to make sure Toyota-NinetyOne-Specialized was the first team home.
In the women’s category Robyn de Groot (RSA) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA) rode a blemish-free ride to win their third stage of the event. The BMC MTB Racing team found themselves after 40km all alone at the front of the race. Overall orange leaders Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) and Haley Batten (USA) of NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized chased after them but ended up 1 minute and 12 seconds behind. All South African pair of Private Client Holdings Mari Rabie (RSA) and Hayley Preen (RSA) managed to cross the finish line in third as they did yesterday.