Investec-songo-Specialized’s Annika Langvad and Anna van der Breggen managed to execute a well-devised plan at the Cape Epic today, soloing to victory in the 107km third stage and extending their overall lead.
Langvad said they decided to execute their decisive attack at the hot spot near the beginning of the race.
“We decided to test our legs and our competitors up that first climb. If we got a gap we figured we’d just keep within our limits so that the others would have to work hard to catch us again.
“That was our plan.”
Investec-songo-Specialized’s Annika Langvad and Anna van der Breggen again managed to control the racing after soling to victory in stage three of the Cape Epic today. Photo: Shaun Roy/Cape Epic
Despite Langvad and Van der Breggen’s dominance, Langvad said she did not feel well yesterday and she was glad to redeem herself on what was a tough course today.
“I felt much more recovered today. And we just had a nice and steady stage,” Langvad said afterwards.
“The terrains were so brutal today. There were so many rocks and it was so bumpy and also filled with sand.
“I can hardly feel my arms because it was just so rough out there. It was a tough day, but we’re really happy to take the victory.”
To add to their superiority on the general classification standings their closest rivals, Kross-Spur Racing’s Ariane Luthi and Maja Wloszczowska, suffered a crucial puncture and struggled to plug it.
They were spotted in the technical zone before the halfway mark trying to get it fixed and lost over 12 minutes as a result of the mechanical.
But Summit Fin’s Candice Lill and Adelheid Morath put in an eager and determined chase, as their gap behind the leaders languished around a minute in the second half of the race.
Silverback-Fairtree’s Jennie Stenerhag and Mariske Strauss passed through the Houw Hoek Inn in third, as the Kross-Spur Racing pair continued to give chase.
By the time Langvad and Van der Breggen hit the Lebanon single-tracks, Luthi and Wloszczowska were a whole 20 minutes back, while Lill and Morath fell back to five minutes behind the stage winners with 10km left.
But Lill and Morath were delighted at their strong showing in today’s stage, and especially at the way they worked together throughout the contest.
“We have different strengths and today we brought it together,” Morath said.
“I worked really hard in the beginning to get Candice as smoothly as possible through the climbs. She then set the pace on the downhills and I followed her.
“At the end she helped me out on the flats to the finish. It was great teamwork.”
Lill said what was most challenging in today’s stage was not so much the tricky terrain, but more being able to maintain a consistent pace.
“Everyone talks about the Groenlandberg at the beginning, but there are still many climbs after that.
“We had to communicate well, while trying not to blow before the finish.”
Stenerhag and Strauss ended up finishing the stage in third.
