March 29, 2008 (George, South Africa) – Once again a traditional start had riders leave the beautiful coastal town of Knysna, up Simola Pass, a 3km climb with a 7% gradient. Stage 1, Knysna to George (Saasveld Campus Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University), featured 123 km with 3091m of climbing. Riders then had to turn into lush, indigenous forests.

This route was as beautiful as it was demanding, with sharp climbs, slippery corners and heart-in-the-stomach descents through Homtini, Jubilee Creek nature reserve, and a technical descent through Katara forest. Riders then got onto stretches of the seven passes route, with some deviations on more rugged terrain, before they reached the first race village on the beautiful Saasveld Campus.

Day 2 of the Absa Cape Epic saw another stage win for a South African rider with young Burry Stander (Songo.Info) claiming the yellow leader jersey stepping up to the pace of his partner Christoph Sauser, one of the world’s most prolific mountain bike riders of all times.

In the women’s race the Rocky Mountain team of Pia Sundstedt (Fin) and Alison Sydor (Can) rebounded from yesterday’s flat tire episode during the prologue to win today’s Stage 1 and take over the overall lead.

Results

Women

1. Rocky Mountain (Pia Sundstedt (Fin), Alison Sydor (Can) 5.44.07
2. Dolphin-Trek MTB Racing (Fabienne Heinzmann (Swi), Katrin Schwing (Ger) 10.13
3. Trek/VW WSD (Susan Haywood (USA), Jennifer Smith (NZl) 19.48
4. Absa Ladies (Erica Green (RSA), Hanlie Booyens (RSA) 25.17
5. Scott Contessa (Jane Seggie (RSA), Ischen Stopforth (RSA) 25.55

Men

1. Songo.Info (Christoph Sauser (Sui), Burry Stander (Rsa) 4.39.35
2. Bulls (Karl Platt (Ger), Stefan Sahm (Ger) 0.31
3. Etto Hoydahl 3 (Martin Bratland (Nor), Kristian Torgersen (Nor) 4.46
4. Etto Hoydahl 1 (Jo Nordskar (Nor), Anders Hovdenes (Nor) 5.08
5. Alb-Gold Mountainbike (Hannes Genze (Ger), Jochen Kaess (Ger) 6.03
6. Cannondale Vredestein (Roel Paulissen (Bel), Jakob Fuglsang (Den) 9.40
7. Full-Dynamix Rsm (Fredrik Kessiakoff (SWE), Massimo Debertolis (Ita) 12.24
8. Dolphin (Bart Brentjens (Ned), Alban Lakata (Aut) 16.19
9. Etto Hoydahl 2 (Rune Hoydahl (Nor), Ola Kjoren (Nor) 22.09
10. MTN Energade 2 (Mannie Heymans (Nam), Melt Swanepoel (Rsa) 24.14 5

Overall

Women

1. Rocky Mountain (Pia Sundstedt (Fin), Alison Sydor (Can) 6.27.37
2. Dolphin-Trek MTB Racing (Fabienne Heinzmann (Swi), Katrin Schwing (Ger) 11.28
3. Trek/VW WSD (Susan Haywood (USA), Jennifer Smith (NZl) 19.09
4. Absa Ladies (Erica Green (RSA), Hanlie Booyens (RSA) 25.29
5. Scott Contessa (Jane Seggie (RSA), Ischen Stopforth (RSA) 28.15

Men

1. Songo.Info (Christoph Sauser (Sui), Burry Stander (RSa) 5.12.05
2. Bulls (Karl Platt (Ger), Stefan Sahm (Ger) 0.23
3. Etto Hoydahl 3 (Martin Bratland (Nor), Kristian Torgersen (Nor) 6.13
4. Etto Hoydahl 1 (Jo Nordskar (Nor), Anders Hovdenes (Nor) 7.04
5. Alb-Gold Mountainbike (Hannes Genze (Ger), Jochen Kaess (Ger) 7.17
6. Cannondale Vredestein (Roel Paulissen (Bel), Jakob Fuglsang (Den) 9.12
7. Full-Dynamix Rsm (Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe), Massimo Debertolis (Ita) 13.41
8. Dolphin (Bart Brentjens (Ned), Alban Lakata (Aut) 16.36
9. Etto Hoydahl 2 (Rune Hoydahl (Nor), Ola Kjoren (Nor) 24.29
10. MTN Energade 2 (Mannie Heymans (Nam), Melt Swanepoel (RSa) 25.36

For full results in all categories, please visit www.cape-epic.com which is constantly being updated.