De Groot at Epic

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - After winning the prologue of the Absa Cape Epic 2022 with a time of 01:09:5.9 on Sunday 20 March, BMC MTB racing team, had a tougher day in a scorching stage 1 of the race at Lourensford Wine Estate on Monday 21 March.

Robyn de Groot from George, and her partner, the French Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, missed the podium by one spot, coming in fourth in the women's section with a time of 05:00:47.9.

Stage 1 of the Absa Cape Epic boasted a 92km route to and from Lourensford Wine Estate, with riders making their way towards Stellenbosch's Helderberg Mountain before heading back. Features of the day were the steep climbs, dry conditions, and extreme heat.

However, on Tuesday the ladies took charge and made a comeback by winning stage 2.

With a distance of 123km and a climb of 2 350m, stage 2 took riders from the luxury of Lourensford, through the Helderberg basin and ended in Elandskloof in Greyton.

"You're not sure how you're actually going to feel on the bike on the day and we also didn't know how the heat would've affected us from yesterday," said De Groot on Tuesday evening after winning stage 2.

"We really improvised out on course. Pauline saw a good opportunity to make a break and took a chance. Sometimes you need to take a chance to achieve something different," she said.

At the start of stage 3 on Wednesday morning, De Groot and Ferrand-Prévot were overall just more than six minutes behind the women's leaders, Haley Batten from America and the Argentine, Sofia Gomez Villafane, from team NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized.

With a climb of 2 250m and a distance of 101km, stage 3 of this year's Cape Epic started and ended in Greyton.

De Groot (right) and Ferrand-Prévot coming in for the stage win on Tuesday.
Photo: Jeff Ayliffe