Stage 6 is the shortest of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic and is bound to be targeted by cross country specialists. Between the start and finish at the Boschendal Wine Estate, Stellenbosch riders will traverse 69km of the local countryside, gaining an accumulated 2 100m of altitude in that time.
Not long after the start, and the rare opportunity to ride through the Simonsberg Conservancy, riders will get a stunning view back across the vineyards to Stellenbosch and False Bay, with Table Mountain in the distance.
But Stellenbosch is about great mountain biking and they can look forward to the Tunnel of Love trail through wattle trees, the Murati loop and the series of great singletrack sections that follow it, and then the renowned Skyfall singletrack descent. And a whole lot more too, once again including some testing climbs. The ride back to Boschendal treats riders to a passage through the Banhoek Conservancy and then some quite tricky singletrack.
There’s lots of up and down in there and several places where riders can attack. Among the women Sabine Spitz and Yana Belomoina (Sport for Good) appear to be getting stronger and might fancy their chances of a second stage win in two days.
A pattern has developed in the men’s race in terms of which Karl Platt and Urs Huber (Bulls) seem comfortably capable of staying with any breaks. They might, however, not bother chasing teams without any hope of closing the GC gap.
Karl Platt and Christoph Sauser win NTT Masters category in fine style
