The pair extend their lead after winning by 4min 38sec
Fanties Pass in the Tulbagh Valley is not for the faint-hearted, and so it proved on the third stage of the Absa Cape Epic in Saronsberg on Wednesday, as Sina Frei and Laura Stigger powered up it to take their fourth win on the trot and extend their overall lead.
While the young Swiss-Austrian duo are looking dominant, their NinetyOne-songo-Specialised teammates and leaders in the men’s race, Matt Beers of SA and France’s Jordan Sarrou, have a scrap on their hands. They were fifth on Wednesday, losing half a minute overall to stage winners German Andreas Seewald and Czech Martin Stosek , who had attacked on the brutal Fanties Pass, which has an average grading of 14%, with a 20% stretch thrown in for good measure.“It was super tough at the end,” said Frei, the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist. “We had some really good teamwork and it’s amazing to win another stage.
The 24-year-old Swiss had to slow up to allow the 21-year-old Stigger to hold her wheel, with the Austrian admitting she had “suffered quite a lot”.They won by 4min 38sec from Ariane Lüthi of Switzerland and SA’s Robyn de Groot , with South Africans Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss third, 6:08 behind. They now lead overall from Salusmed by 11:15 with four days to go.
“The Italian guys worked with us towards the finish,” said Stosek. “I was confident we could do it in the sprint at the end because I know Andy had good legs today. He almost killed me on the climb.”Samuele Porro and Fabian Rabensteiner of Trek-Pireli lost the sprint by two seconds, followed home by Swiss Urs Huber and Germany’s Simon Schneller in third, and their German teammates, Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn fourth. “That was a super hard stage.
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