March 25, 2007 – Top riders in the men’s classification of the 2007 Absa Cape Epic completed the second stage today, with the stage winners, Roel Paulissen (Belgium) and Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) of team Cannondale-Vredestein1 coming in at 12.00pm, with a winning stage time of four hours and fifty eight minutes. This victory was particularly satisfying for the team, after coming in second yesterday, with just 0.5 seconds separating them from the winners.

Starting today’s route at 7:00am in Uniondale, the riders covered a gruelling 132 kilometres of open roads, steep climbs and loose descents, with a total of 2 245 metres worth of climbing. 35 kilometres of today’s stage led riders through the exquisite Kamanassie Reserve, where lagging spirits from the heat and tough climb, were lifted by unmatched sights of Western Cape fynbos and game. Many of the international riders were treated to their first glimpses of buffalo, rhino and elephant, as they sped through the Buffelsdrif Game Reserve.

Paulissen said of today’s stage: “It was really tough. It was so warm, especially in the long technical climb and you lose so much body liquid, because you ride slowly, you are sweating so much and you don’t drink enough, because you have to keep your focus on the route all the time. For the last 30 kilometres I was dying, as I had dehydrated a little bit. I never expected that it was such a long way to the finish line from the bottom of the downhill. The last fifty kilometres of gravel road were so difficult, especially with the wind coming from the side. But Jakob was very strong today. He really pulled me through to the finish. We attacked in the long climb and Christoph and Hannes joined us. The plan was to hit the bottom together and to ride with them into the finish as they were a few minutes behind us yesterday. But then my chain broke. We were able to repair it quite quickly, but a little bit later Christoph had a flat. In the last tech zone he even had to change his wheel and then we said now we have to go, because the other guys will be coming soon. So we had to leave them behind and were on our own in the long flat stretch where we were pushing it for almost two hours.”

Tomorrow, top riders will again be challenged to another gruelling 128 kilometres compounded by a 2425 metre climb as the race moves from Oudtshoorn to Ladismith in the third stage of this year’s Absa Cape Epic.


Stage 2
Men’s Classification Stage Winners

1. Roel Paulissen (Belgium) and Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) of team Cannondale
-Vredestein 1 with a time of 4:58.24,6
2. Karl Platt (Germany) and Stefan Sahm (Germany) of Team Bulls with a time of
5:01.35,3
3. Bart Brentjens (Netherlands) and Rudi van Houts (Netherlands) of team Dolphin
Mountainbike with a time of 5:02.33,6
4. Ralph Naef (Switzerland) and Jose Hermida (Spain) of team Multivan Merida Biking
with a time of 5:11.46,3
5. Alban Lakata (Austria) and Roman Peter (Switzerland) of team Trek Volkswagen
Racing with a time of 5:12.48,8