However, fate intervened once again and Kohei’s broken hand forced him to pull out of the race. This left Max to complete the stage by himself, but his knee had started to swell and was taking its toll. Karl Platt’s Bulls team put up a tremendous fight, but they were no match against the power and speed from the Songo.info team, who had stretched their lead by another 2 minutes and 32 seconds and were first across the line. Bulls 1 and 2 came in second and third respectively. Songo.info was now in a commanding position to win this year’s event.
Stage 7
Stage 7 was a relief to most of the riders as it only featured a fast 54 km loop from the school in Stellenbosch to the glorious Lourensford Wine Estate. The top teams stayed together for the first 15 km until the young Scott Factory team took the initiative to go on the attack and break away. Songo.info and the Bulls teams decided not to take any chances that could result in losing their overall leading positions, leaving Scott Factory Racing and Multivan Merida to fight it out. It came down to who had the best strategy, but with Jose Hermida’s vast experience, it wasn’t an even fight and the Multivan Merida team snatched victory when both riders crossed the line first. Hats off to Phillip Buys and Matthys Beukes for showing great guts and determination, they did South Africa proud! Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel came in third, followed by Songo.info in fourth and the Bulls 1, 2 and 3 teams behind them.
An epic win
Celebrations were well under way as the Songo. info team crossed the finish to clinch the coveted Epic title, and emotions spilled over as they dedicated their win to ex-teammate Burry. It was remarkable to see what the result meant to the team, and proved once again that it takes a dedicated team to win the Absa Cape Epic! •
èRelated articles: • Argus 2013, What a Ride! (Digital article, March '13) • An Epic Journey (Issue 23, p. 50) • 94.7 Cycle Challenge - Ride for a Purpose (Issue 19, p. 132) www.doitnow.co.za • 15