Centurion Vaude’s Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr surged ahead to win the race in the latter parts of stage four in the Cape Epic, which finished in Wellington today.
After being in the chasing group for the majority of the race, Rohrbach and Geismayr took control after the Bains Kloof Pass to make their way to the front and create a sizeable gap. They managed to hold onto their lead as the stage concluded.
Centurion Vaude’s Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr pictured winning stage four of the Cape Epic in Wellington today. Photo: Zoon Cronje/Cape Epic
Rohrbach and Geismayr were first through the Dimension Data hotspot soon after the 45km water point.
Heading onto the 15km Slanghoek Traverse technical section – which started at the 50km mark – Rohrbach and Geismayr, Cannondale Factory Racing’s Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini, Investec-Songo-Specialized’s Jaroslav Kulhavy and Howard Grotts, Buff Scott’s Francesc Guerra Carretero and Luis Leao Pinto made up the leading group.
Both Bulls’ teams – Simon Stiebjahn and Tim Bohme and Karl Platt and Urs Huber – were also in the mix.
Fumic and Avancini then created a 35-second gap from the chasing bunch, as they began placing the marathon riders under pressure. Kulhavy and Grotts and Rohrbach and Geismayr gave chase.
The Cannondale Factory Racing pair put the hammer down on the technical section, having increased their lead to a minute, as the chasers – Kulhavy and Grotts and Rohrbach and Geismayr – kept it going.
Fumic and Avancini held their lead of approximately a minute at the 79km water point, with Rohrbach and Geismayr chasing.
After suffering a flat Kulhavy and Grotts lost valuable time and dropped to fifth. Platt and Huber were giving chase in third and Carretero and Pinto in fourth.
South Africa’s Matthys Beukes and Julian Jessop had a comfortable lead at the same point for the African’s jersey, as the jersey looked to change hands heading into the fifth stage.
On the 9km Bains Kloof Pass, which was flocked with harsh winds on the day, Rohrbach and Geismayr came out of nowhere to take the lead on the tar descent. Fumic and Avancini were in second, with Platt and Huber in third.
The Centurion Vaude pair built a 20-second gap from the chasing group, while Fumic and Avancini had dropped further back. Kulhavy and Grotts were giving a hard chase in second.
Rohrbach and Geismayr withheld the pressure to come out on top, with Kulhavy and Grotts putting on the better chase between them and Carretero and Pinto.
Fumic and Avancini, after looking like certain stage victors in the first half of the race, finished in fifth.
Kulhavy and Grotts hold onto the yellow jersey ahead of stage five tomorrow, while Beukes and Jessop jump into the African’s jersey after finishing 14th overall.
View the results here.
