Ariana Kleinhans and Annika Langvad took top honours during the prologue stage of the 2015 Absa Cape Epic on Sunday.
Team RECM Kleinhans and Langvad during last year’s Absa Cape Epic. Photo: Supplied
Kleinhans and Langvad, who ride in the colours of RECM Specialized, completed the 20km route in a time of 53:38.
Jennie Stenerhag and Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) raced into second place in a time of 57:14 with Milena Landtwing and Hielke Elferink (Meerendal Wheeler Cannondale) rounding out the podium with a finish time of 57:25.
“It feels amazing to win the Prologue,” said Kleinhans. “We felt very good going into the day and our preparation had been excellent. Everything went super smooth today, as well.”
Langvad said it was great to be back in South Africa and straight into the Cape Epic groove. “I feel like we just carried on from last year – but even better.” said Langvad.
“Everything felt natural and I think that our tactics have gotten so good that we don’t need to change anything,” she added.
Stenerhag and De Groot, riding as a team at the Cape Epic for the first time, were somewhat surprised with their second place finish.
“We just wanted to be steady and get it over and done with,” said Stenerhag.”There is a long week ahead. We will just ride our own race from here and not worry about anyone else.”
Third-placed finishers Landtwing and Elferink surprised even themselves with their result.
“Technically, the route was nothing special, but we needed to be careful because you can easily make mistakes and that can be the end of your race,” said Landtwing.
“A good start is half the work done,” added teammate Hielke Elferink. “But it will be important to not start too fast tomorrow. It’s going to be a long, hard week.”
In the men’s race, Swiss duo Fabian Giger and Martin Gujan sprung to an early lead and claimed the yellow zebra jerseys in a time of 46:18.
Team Bulls’s Karl Platt and Urs Huber were second with Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy (Investec Songo Specialized) rounding off the podium in third.
The race moves on to Elgin tomorrow, where riders will start Stage one at Oak Valley Wine Estate.
Go to Absa Cape Epic for more results and photos.
