Team e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo continues to dominate at the 2023 Absa Cape Epic. Not only have they managed to retain their orange jersey after Stage 4, but they have also extended their lead, boasting an impressive 10-minute buffer on second place.
Battling it out on the Oak Valley and Paul Cluver trail network, Team e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo crossed the line in second during the highly anticipated mid-race time trial, the hardest yet in the Absa Cape Epic’s history.
This achievement is a testament to smart planning; the team raced with the mentality that there is far more to lose than to win on a day like today, in lieu of what is to come in the remaining 3 days.
Candice shares the following from today’s race:
“Today was the Time Trial – 46 kilometres. We decided to use it as a day to consolidate and avoid hard racing, ahead of tomorrow’s Queen Stage. We rode very well and were fairly comfortable, catching team NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized towards the end, riding 2 minutes into them.
It was an interesting day of racing – team Efficient Infiniti Insure decided to go all-in and made up a few minutes. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out in the next three days.
I do think that our climbing is stronger than the other teams, specifically on the longer stages. We are going to focus on making this work in our favour in the remaining three days of racing. But hey, anything can happen!”
Amy shares her thoughts on how today went:
“I am very happy with how we executed today. We went in with the mentality that there is far more to lose than to win on a day like today, especially in lieu of what is coming up tomorrow and in the next two days thereafter.
We managed our effort well, riding consistently and never going too far into the red. We also focused on having fun; there’s enough pain involved in this race and lots more to come! We had fun, stayed safe and put out a solid effort.
We unexpectedly caught NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized with about 15 kilometres to go, further protecting our GC buffer. We are also very happy for Kim [Le Court] and Vera [Looser] of team Efficient Infiniti Insure – they had a brilliant day. They put 3 minutes into us and 5 minutes into NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized which is very impressive.
We are feeling good for the coming three Stages!”
Stage 4 results:
1st: Efficient Infiniti Insure – Kim Le Court (MUS) & Vera Looser (NAM) – 2:09:32
2nd: e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo – Amy Wakefield (ZAR) and Candice Lill (ZAR) – +2:52
3rd: NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized – Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) & Katerina Nash (CZE) – +5:13
The UCI Women’s GC after Stage 4:
1st: e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo – Amy Wakefield (ZAR) and Candice Lill (ZAR) – 18:58:09
2nd: NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized – Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) & Katerina Nash (CZE) – +10:42
3rd: Efficient Infiniti Insure – Kim Le Court (MUS) & Vera Looser (NAM) – +16:29
