After six spectacular stages, one prologue and 530 km’s in the saddle, Team First Ascent Riders, Luke Evans and Richard Simpson finished in 7th place overall at this years Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek, presented by Biogen.
In this blog article they share with us their event highlights, the highs, the lows and their experience of this years event.
Prologue: 13th on Stage and 13th on GC
The prologue was an 11km burn around the cliff path of Mossel Bay and the area surrounding the beachfront. We rode as hard as we could in places that were relatively risk free and more cautiously in places where problems could have arisen. We were happy with our performance, given that these short stages suited us the least.
Stage 1: 10th on Stage and 10th on GC
Stage 1 was a 100km loop around the surrounding game farms and district roads of Mossel Bay with 1600m of climbing. The wind made this stage a lot harder than everyone expected, and Rich struggled with cramps the last 40km resulting in the day becoming more about surviving than anything else. We managed to dig deep and contain our losses to the teams who we were benchmarking ourselves against. Despite our issues out on course we managed to even move up on GC, so for a bad day we were happy with the final result.
Stage 2: 8th on Stage 9th on GC
Stage 2 saw us go from Mossel Bay to George, it was 115km with 2200m of climbing. This day was arguably our best day, we held onto the leaders for longer than expected and then formed a good group with two other teams, managing to keep the gap to the leaders of the race pegged to 6 mins, until the final water point and 90km.
Coming into the last 10km we managed to get a small gap on Yanick Lincon and Ben Malt Swanepoel and take some time back on them on the GC, as well as extend our gap to the teams behind us by some margin. We were really happy with the day as we rolled the dice a bit and raced quite far out of our comfort zones, yet managed to somehow hold it together enough to not blow up short of the line.
Stage 3: 10th on Stage 9th on GC
Stage 3 was a 31km time trail on the trails of George. Both of us had taken confidence from the previous days results and were hoping for another good stage placing, aiming to take more time back on the teams around us on the GC. At the end of the day we both couldn’t have ridden any better and sadly lost time on the teams around us. It made us realize that everyone around us was in extremely good form as well and that the next 3 days were going to be very tough.
Stage 4: 9th on Stage 8th on GC
Stage 4 was 115km with 2200m of climbing that took us over Montagu pass and then through an area called Kaptiens Kloof, finally finishing through a stretch that has never been used before in the Cape Pioneer.
We rode Montagu pass to perfection and came over the top only 30sec off the front 6 teams. On the descent we caught them and for the next 30km we comfortably sat in the front bunch. As we entered Kaptiens Kloof the race split up on the first climb, however we managed to ride ourselves back to the leaders and in doing so we managed to create a gap on the teams around us on the GC.
The climbs that followed were relentless and the last two hours of the day were some of the hardest 2 hours either of us have spent on a bike. We ended up riding large chunks of the day on our own. We just missed the split coming out of the last waterpoint which cost us a shot at 6th on the day. Despite this, the relentless pace we set throughout the day enabled us to move up again on GC and further our gap on the teams behind us.
Stage 5: 9th on Stage 7th on GC
Stage 5 was 95km with 2600m of climbing that finished on top of the Swartberg pass. This day will always be remembered for the weather and the fact that it was -1 degrees on the top of the pass. We were both feeling tender from the day before and decided to ride with a conservative approach, to ensure we had enough gas on the final climb, as an explosion there would result in huge losses. We rode the day according to our plan, although this meant we were isolated from the leaders for the last 50km, it allowed us to ride the last climb really strongly and close in hugely on the teams ahead of us, who blew up on the rain swept slopes of the Swartberg Pass.
Stage 6: 10th on Stage 7th on GC
The final day saw us cover a distance of 65km around the Chandelier Game Reserve. As we had 10 minutes lead on the team behind us on the GC, there was a big gap to the team ahead of us, we decided to ride within ourselves on the descents to try and minimize the risk of any mechanicals occurring. It turned out that the day was a lot harder than we had anticipated and we both ended up having to work very hard on the climbs to keep the gaps down to a reasonable time. We managed to hold it up and wrap up the race safely in 7th Overall.
We were both stoked with the result, as well as how we rode throughout the week and would like to thank First Ascent for their assistance in making this possible and for giving us the incredible opportunity to ride the Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek, presented by Biogen
