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In the CM.com Women’s category, Vera Looser and Kim le Court (Efficient Infiniti Insure) claimed back-to-back stage victories, winning Stage 5 two-and-a-half minutes ahead of Amy Wakefield and Candice Lill (e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo). Le Court and Looser also jumped into second place overall in the CM.com women’s race.
Wakefield and Lill remain in the orange leader jerseys after Stage 5. They hold a lead of 14 minutes over Looser and Le Court. Sofia Gomez Villafane and Katerina Nash (NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized) dropped to third overall and are almost 30 minutes off the lead.
The 2023 Absa Cape Epic field went to bed after Stage 4 in stormy weather and woke to grey skies, heavy rain and the prospect of a long, wet day in the saddle. In the Men’s race, the riders battled intense downpours and a drenched course for the first 30km.
In the CM.com Women’s category, Vera Looser and Kim le Court must have been reading from the same playbook as Baum and Egger. The Stage 4 winners also made their move on a climb, attacking on the Groenlandberg climb and cruising past Wakefield and Lill in the process.
Earlier on the stage, Looser was accidentally knocked over by another rider and fell into a puddle, the collision damaging a shoe. It was duct tape to the rescue again at the 2023 Absa Cape Epic, though this instance was slightly less dramatic than Wakefield’s tape moment. Looser was able to race back quickly to her partner Le Court and from there they rode steadily to the front.
“We thought this morning that today could be another good day for us,” said Le Court. “But then we had a really bad start and we were actually last going up the Tierkop climb. At that point we decided to do our own race and not worry about anything - then we just started catching everyone.”
Looser said she was cramping at the start but eventually recovered. “I was really struggling with my leg. I just tried to stay calm and collected because I knew that would count in our favour towards the end. We got really strong as the ride went on and now I think we can target that orange jersey with two days to go!”
For the CM.com Women’s category leaders, it was another tough day for Wakefield. “I can’t lie,” she said, “I am counting down the days until the finish! That was another dark day for me. There are two days to go and I am hanging in. I need to thank my partner again for helping me so much today. Vera and Kim rode really well. I think tomorrow they will attack again and it will cause some exciting racing.”
Tune in to Stage 6 of the Absa Cape Epic live broadcast from 08:30 on Saturday 25 March on the Absa Cape Epic Facebook page or the Epic Series YouTube channel.
2023 Absa Cape Epic Stage 5 Results:
CM.com Women’s category:
1. Efficient Infiniti Insure: Kim le Court, Vera Looser – 05:23:46.5
2. e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield, Candice Lill – 05:26:23 (+00:02:36.5)
3. NinetyOne-songo-Specialized: Sofia Gomez Villafane, Katerina Nash – 05:42:47.2 (+00:19:00.7)
2023 Absa Cape Epic General Classification After Stage 5:
CM.com Women’s category:
1. e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield, Candice Lill – 24:24:32.4
2. Efficient Infiniti Insure: Kim le Court, Vera Looser – 24:38:25.8 (+00:13:53.3)
3. NinetyOne-songo-Specialized: Sofia Gomez Villafane, Katerina Nash – 24:52:48 (+00:28:15.5)
View the full Stage 5 results here.
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