The Cannondale Factory Racing duo wins stage 2 extending their leadership. Second place for the prologue winners, Northwave’s Daniel Geismayr and teammate Nicola Rohrbach
German Manuel Fumic and Brazilian Henrique Avancini took the stage 2 of the 15th Absa Cape Epic (Robertson – Robertson 106 Km), in South Africa, on Tuesday March 20th, repeating yesterday’s success in stage 1.
Team Cannondale Factory Racing, preceded Austrian Daniel Geismayr and his teammate Nicola Rohrbach, winners of the opening prologue in Cape Town, Sunday March 18th. Alban Lakata and Kristian Hynek finished third.
In the early part of the stage, five teams moved to the front – Cannondale Factory Racing (Fumic and Avancini), Canyon Topeak (Lakata and Hynek), Centurion Vaude (Rohrbach and Geismayr), Buff Scott MTB (Guerra Carretero and Pinto) e Specialized Investec Songo (Kulhavy and Grotts). A puncture at Kulhavy’s rear wheel saw the Specialized Investec duo drop out of the lead group, giving way to the four leading teams that raced together, taking turns in the lead. In the finale, Fumic and Avancini controlled the rivals, promoting the decisive attack in view of the finish line, preceding the opponents by only a few seconds.
In the overall standings, Fumic and Avancini lead with a 2’23” advantage on Jaroslav Kulhavy and Howard Grotts and 5’37” on Geismayr and Rohrbach. In the women’s category, Northwave’s Sabine Spitz and her teammate Robyn de Groot occupy the fourth overall place, 26’04” behind the leaders, Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney.
Onigo di Pederobba (Italy), March 20th, 2018
