Ghost Factory Racing’s Anne Terpstra and Nicole Koller confirmed their status as genuine title contenders when they retained the Aramex Women’s leaders jerseys and won an exciting sprint to claim Stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic on Monday.
There was little to separate Terpstra and Koller and Cannondale Factory Racing’s Candice Lill and Mona Mitterwallner until the final few metres, though earlier in the day it appeared that a blockbuster finish was on the cards.
Up until the 50km mark, it was neck and neck between the GHOST, Cannondale, Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne (Sofia Gomez Villafane and Samara Sheppard) and Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM (Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda) teams. At one stage, ahead of the climbing, Villafane put in an attack, but GHOST and Cannondale both responded, with Lill charging into the front and staying there up until the very end (even with a slight wrong turn in the closing kilometres).
With the finish at Saronsberg in sight, a two-team sprint finish loomed; Lill powered ahead, but Terpstra and Koller were again the stronger team on the day, claiming their second stage win in as many days.
They retain the overall Orange Leaders jersey in the Aramex Women’s category, with Lill and Mitterwallner only a minute behind in the GC. Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne, third-placed in the GC, now sit six minutes behind the leaders.
“We weren’t too sure what to expect today!” said Terpstra “It was very different being in Orange but I think all in all we did a really good job. We were on a very similar level with Cannondale – we did some more work in the beginning, and they did some more work in the end. We rode at our own pace in the beginning, then Cannondale were quite strong but we made a bit of a gap at the end and had a very exciting finish.”
Her Ghost teammate Koller added, “It’s very cool to wear the Orange jersey. Everybody wants to wear it and it gives us motivation and confidence going into the rest of the week!”
Stage 2 of the Absa Cape Epic is another Saronsberg Cellar start and finish day, where participants will tackle 97km and 2200m of climbing. The bulk of the stage will take place in the Witzenberg Valley, where the sandy and rocky terrain will test the abilities of the entire field.
How to watch
To watch the racing action unfold, tune in to the daily live broadcast on the Epic Series’ YouTube channel, from Sunday, 17 March. Fans of mountain biking can also share in the excitement of the race by following @capeepic on Instagram or by liking the Cape Epic Facebook page. For more information please visit www.epic-series.com/capeepic or click here to view the full 2024 race register.
GALLERY
