what a rollercoaster week...the 8 day race had loads of up and downs for myself and christoph racing in the songo.info colours. i had some stomach trouble in the first few days and after making a recovery we had a great few stages ,just for christoph to be hit with similar illness in the last two stages. here is a brief recap of all the stages.

stage 1,117km,diemersfontein-ceres

the first stage is always super fast and exciting and this year it was ven more so. everyone wanted to fight for that first yellow leaders jersey! i felt pretty good early on in the stage and always kept myself near the front of the lead group. at around the halfway mark we hit the biggest climb of the day and it is here where mtn/quebeka realy drove the pace hard. we were soon only two teams at the front and going full gas. on one of the descents kevin evans from mtb flatted and we opened a small gap but it wasnt long after that i started losing pressure in the rear. christoph and i quickly repaired the flat and rode the next 5km to the tech zone where i could swap the wheel. here some teams joined us and we were around 4 teams going into the last 25km. bulls, trek wr,mtn and ourselves. i didnt feel that great anymore. i could seem to eat or drink anything and i could feel trouble lurking.as we approached the last 10km we hit a railway line section for 7km. my legs finally seized up and we had to let mtn go. at the end we were 2nd around 3min behind.

stage 2,90km,ceres-ceres

this stage was our funeral.i had developed a seripous stomach illness after the first days stage and could eat or drink anything and keep it down.i managed to hold the lead group for 45km but then i also rode myself to pieces!we ended up in 15th around 15min down on the leaders.

stage 3,120km,ceres-ceres

were back! i managed to start eating normally overnight and felt a little better at the start. i kept on fueling my body in the race and by the end felt pretty good. it was a long hard day with some big climbing. going into the last 20km we were with trek wr, bulls and trek-bretjens. with 15km to go suzie had a slow flat which we re inflated and gave chase. just before catching the group, they took a wrong turn. we shouted to them and they lost 30 seconds by the time they got back on route. we put the hammer down and in the end won our first stage by almost 5min!

stage 4,86km,ceres-worcester

this was so far the shortest stage but oh boy was it hard! loads of rough, short, but very steep climbing and my partner was on a mission. we attacked all day before eventually getting away 15km from the finish. we opened up a solid 1min 20 sec by the time we hit the line for our second win.

stage 5 tt,27km,worcester-worcester

my best day at the epic. my legs were super in the tt. suzi and i killed it of the line and kept catching the teams that started before us.the route was very fun and technical. similar to an xc race. we won in a time of 1hr 5min 10 sec with a gap of 1min 20 seconds to the mtn team.

stage 6,120km,worcester-oak valley

this was the final big stage in the epic. it was very important for us to make up time here as were now only 9min off the leading team after clawing our way back from a 20min deficit.

we were very aggressive early on and managed to split the group. with around 40km to go we were 5 teams waiting for the days big climb, groenlandberg. with 5km to go to the foot of the climb christoph got a small cut in his tyre. we repaired it real fast and set off after the other teams who had taken the opportunity to attack on the front. when we got to the climb we were 40 seconds down. trek wr attacked off the front whilst we closed in on the bulls team. we soon past the mtn/qubeka team and halfway up the climb made contact with the bulls. we couldnt shake them from here and ended the day in 2nd with only 10 sec gained to the leaders(bulls).

stage 7,100km,oak valley-oak valley

on this stage christoph got to experience a mild case of the stomach bug and it made life tough. we made the lead group after the first nasty climbs and at 40km we were a group of 5. soon after we took a wrong turn and lst 5min before we got back to the route. mtn/qubeka lucked out here as they now had a 1min lead after being 2min down. the front teams really gassed it on the big climb around halfway and christoph had to let go. we kept the gap steady to the leaders and rode with the mtn team for awhile before pushing on. we almost caught the front group at one stage but ran out of steam by the end. we finished 4th.3min 30 down.

stage 8,oak valley to lourensford,66km

on the final stage there was way more action then on preious years.the pace was furious from the gun and all the contenders were right in the mix. at 25km we started a huge climb, i definitely wasnt expecting it to be so hard. christoph rode steady up here and we had to let the leaders go. after we crested the top we caught a few teams before the bottom. on the run in to the finish we held of a charge from the bulls tam to finish the last stage in 3rd place. we also secured our second place overall.

the race had many challenges for us this year but the result is satisfying.we wanted to win but it just wasnt to be. thanks to all for supporting us out on route and to our support crew claire and benno, you guys are the best. also thanks to my mother mandie and cherise for always taking care of those little needs!

i now have some good off time and will be off to the usa in a few weeks for the sea otter classic.

happy trails

burry