French rookie Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and South African partner Robyn de Groot (BMC MTB Racing) won the prologue at Absa Cape Epic 2022 with an impressive performance in the Prologue on Sunday 20 March. Ferrand-Prévot, road, cyclocross and XCO world champion (her last active MTB world title is in 2020), set the pace in the 24km prologue at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West followed by De Groot.
Reigning Absa Cape Epic champion Matt Beers did not come to the 2022 edition to play: the Toyota-NinetyOne-Specialized team wins and convinces thanks to Beers paired with American rookie Christopher Blevins.
Second place in the prologue went to German newcomers Georg Egger and Lukas Baum (Speed Company Racing), while Andreas Seewald and Martin Stošek (Canyon Northwave MTB) finished third.
To report the excellent performance of Juri Ragnoli who finishes 4th paired with Andri Frischknecht.
Bad day for the champions of 2019 Nino Schurter and Lars Forster (SCOTT-SRAM) who finished four minutes from the pace.
Schurter suffered a puncture in the rear tire at the start of the stage and then on the course decided to completely replace the wheel in the technical area. Even though he and Forster roared long after the pitstop, they still wasted a lot of time.
“This is the race,” said an optimist Schurter at the finish line. “It can happen to anyone at any time and on any day. It is a long race with many stages to come ”.
The physical shape shone for Robyn De Grott, former SA Marathon champion who goes back over the years on a path not particularly suited to her characteristics: "I didn't know what I was looking for!" De Groot said after the Prologue. “I just had to stick to Pauline. For me it was a super race. I arrived at the event feeling fresh. I feel much better than the latest Absa Cape Epic. "
With starting times at one-minute intervals for women's teams, it is difficult for runners to know where they are in the race. This forces elite teams to "run their own races". It creates a bit of confusion, even for the most experienced runners, with Ariane Luthi also uncertain about her final position after the race. “Oh, we're third,” she exclaimed. "Is fantastic! We just ran our race today and didn't worry too much about the other riders. I am very proud of the way we drove: we were really in sync out there, we made no mistakes and we finished well. " Luthi's partner Amy Wakefield was also delighted with the performance and grateful that the fans were on the road to cheer on the popular couple. “Support means so much to us. Of course we can't say thank you when we walk past, but it's so nice to hear the cheering cheers. It really lifts you up. We drove a coherent prologue; I am thrilled with how we performed today.
This is my first podium, so I'm really happy and can't wait to race for the rest of the week ”. The first stop on the Absa Cape Epic is the Queen Stage and boasts a 92km route to and from Lourensford Wine Estate, with cyclists heading to Stellenbosch's Helderberg mountain range before returning to Lourensford. A feature of the day will be the steep climbs, the dry conditions and the late summer heat which appears to be blocked for the next few days.
Tune in to the live broadcast of Stage 1 from 07:30 on https://www.cape-epic.com/.
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