Cannondale Factory Racing’s Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini won the 107km third stage of the Cape Epic in the Oak Valley Estate in dramatic style today.
The pair capitalised on a crucial mechanical suffered by the leaders since day one, SCOTT-SRAM’s Nino Schurter and Lars Forster.
Schurter and Forster suffered a mechanical in Groenlandberg leading towards Die Nek. Foster’s tyre was slashed and they struggled to get it off the rim.
Cannondale Factory Racing’s Henrique Avancini (pictured) and Manuel Fumic won the third stage of the Cape Epic today in dramatic fashion as they took the overall lead. Photo: Shaun Roy/Cape Epic
Forster rode on the rim for a distance before a member of their back-up team, DSV-SCOTT-SRAM’s Gert Heyns, provided an extra wheel.
But they lost over nine minutes as a result.
In pursuit of Fumic and Avancini, who solo-led for the rest of the race and who were their closest rivals on the general classification, they managed to chip away some two-and-a-half minutes before hitting a plateau.
For Fumic and Avancini it was not only a relief to take the yellow jersey from Schurter and Forster, who were looking almost unbeatable before the stage, but it was also an emotional stage victory.
“It was quite a special victory,” Avancini said afterwards. “Two years ago in the same area we had three flat tyres and I had stomach problems.
“It was probably the day I suffered the most on a bike. So today was like personal redemption for me.
“We just rode solid today and tried to change things [up] a bit. After Lars got a puncture we just tried to ride a consistent pace.
“We’re really happy, because we rode safe.”
Fumic said they headed into the stage with a plan. “We wanted to put the yellow jerseys under pressure.
“At the top of the first long climb we saw Lars was struggling. From there on we knew we had got them where we wanted them to be.
“We then put them under more pressure because normally when you’re under pressure you make mistakes, and that’s what happened to them today.
“It was a bit unlucky for them, but we took advantage.”
Schurter said they still felt strong in today’s stage, despite not being able to make up enough time after their mechanical.
“We’re still confident and I think anything is still possible on the GC. There’s still a lot to come and some of the other teams can also have technical issues.
“Tomorrow is going to be a time-trial, which suits us quite well. I hope we can recover by tomorrow and pull some time back there.
“I know the Stellenbosch trails quite well and I’m sure we’ll attack there.”
He and Forster finished the stage in fourth. After giving a consistent chase throughout the stage, BULLS Heroes’ Urs Huber and Simon Stiebjahn finished second.
“We are happy with the result. It was a tough and long stage and we could always ride in the front group,” Huber said.
“At the end of the day we had a bit of luck after SCOTT-SRAM’s puncture, but we’re really happy to make another move in the GC.”
Fumic and Avancini currently hold a lead of more than two minutes over Schurter and Forster in second.
Meanwhile Investec-songo-Specialized’s Sam Gaze and reigning champ Jaroslav Kulhavy had to withdraw from the Epic due to Gaze having suffered a concussion from his crash in stage one.
Hesitant before the start of today’s stage, Gaze pulled out after riding just 100m into the race.
