7C CBZ WILIER soloed to victory on the penultimate stage of the 2019 Absa Cape Epic on Saturday. Louis
Meijato and Johnny Cattaneo seized the initiative after Trek Selle San Marco suffered a disastrous mechanical, to win the brutal 89-kilometre challenge around Stellenbosch, in a time of 03:49:21. "Today was fantastic for us,” Cattaneo said afterward. “We had some good luck and then we tried to push hard over the last 20-kilometres,” he commented. The ‘luck’ he was referring to was indeed the puncture Trek Selle San Marco (who led for almost two-thirds of the race) suffered after Porro crashed at 65kms. They were forced to stop to repair their mechanical which saw the chase bunch of Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing and 7C CBZ WILIER overtake them.
Meija and Cattaneo attacked almost immediately and stayed away all the way to the finish. “This was one of the last two opportunities to win a stage,” Cattaneo added. “That’s what we wanted so we are really happy!” Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing were happy to ride conservatively in second place after that, content in the knowledge that they were further extending their grip on the overall Yellow Jersey. Annika Langvad and Anna van der Breggen (Investec-songo-Specialized) dispelled any vague suspicion that they were fading as the strongest Women’s category team at this year’s Absa Cape Epic with a clinically dominant performance on Saturday’s penultimate Stage 6. After the pair of World Champions was surprisingly beaten into second position on Friday’s Queen stage, Langvad and Van der Breggen snatched their crown back on Saturday with a trouble-free ride in the 89km stage which started and finished at Stellenbosch University. They crossed the line almost nine minutes ahead of South African Candice Lill and her German partner Adelheid Morath (Summit Fin), the winners of Friday’s Stage 5. The result leaves Investec-songo-Specialized holding a massive 30-minute lead over Summit Fin with just the final 70km stage remaining. Ariane Lüthi and Maja Wloszczowska (Kross-Spur Racing) crossed the line just under two minutes behind Lill and Morath and consolidated their third position overall, but are now more than an hour behind the leaders.
2019 Stage 6 Results
Men
1. 7C CBZ WILIER 25-1 Louis Meija (COL) 25-2 Johnny Cattaneo (ITA) 03:49.21,1
2. Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing 4-1 Nino Schurter (SUI) 4-2 Lars Forster (SUI) 03:51.40,9 +2.19,8
3. Trek Selle San Marco 10-1 Damiano Ferraro (ITA) 10-2 Samuele Porro (ITA) 03:53.54,7 +4.33,6
Women:
1. Investec-songo-Specialized 50-1 Annika Langvad (DEN) 50-2 Anna van der Breggen (NED) 04:43.12,9
2. Summit Fin 54-1 Candice Lill (RSA) 54-2 Adelheid Morath (GER) 04:51.56,1 +8.43,2
3. Kross-Spur Racing 53-1 Ariane Lüthi (SUI) 53-2 Maja Wloszczowska (POL) 04:53.40,2 +10.27,3
