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<\/a>Preen and Smith (58-1 and 58-2) deep in the dust during stage 2 racing. Photo by Michael Chiaretta\/Cape Epic\nWomen\u2019s Race: Haley and Hayley move up, Courtney pushes leaders<\/p>\n
Marathon world champion Kate Courtney and teammate Gret Seiwald started stage two intent on putting pressure on race leaders Candice Lill and Alessandra Keller of Thomus Maxon Sabi Sabi. It was Rosa van Doorn and Vera Looser (Buff-BH Efficient Infiniti) that ended up in trouble. Van Doorn punctured after the first climb and struggled to fix the puncture. The duo pushed on only to find out the Buff men\u2019s team had taken the spare wheel van Doorn had at the first tech zone. Should be an interesting dinner in the Buff-BH team lodging tonight.<\/p>\n
Buff-BH\u2019s bad luck benefited Haley Smith and Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Huncomb), who move up to fourth overall. The Hayley\u2019s are now less than a minute behind a podium position, Symbtech.net\u2019s Margot Moschetti and Claudia Peretti.<\/p>\n
Courtney and Seiwald\u2019s efforts to unseat Keller and Lill ended up with the opposite effect. The duo were dropped with less than 10km to go and forced to settle for second.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we had established a gap, we pushed pretty hard to the finish,\u2019 Keller said. \u201cWe wanted to put in as much time as we could.\u201d<\/p>\n After struggling with flat tires on the first full day of racing, Sam Gaze and Luca Schwarzbauer were intent on avenging their bad luck. The two started attacking in the latter stages of the day\u2019s racing, repeatedly putting in big digs to whittle down the front group.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fun level was high but the suffer level was even higher,\u201d a delighted Schwarzbauer said. \u201cWhen you go on an all-out attack and it doesn\u2019t work it is the most terrible thing. We attacked like that two times, and luckily the second one worked. The finish today was like a short track race because it was all about positioning and we could use our abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time the Kiwi\/German group entered the finish chute, only race leader\u2019s Toyota Specialized and the Wilier-Vittoria duo were still in contact. Gaze and Schwarzbauer take the win. A stage win is a start but, with such serious firepower between them, the Canyon team is clearly intent on more.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are still five days left and this is the Cape Epic,\u201d said Gaze. \u201cWe had some bad luck yesterday but maybe we will benefit somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>Keller and Lill hold onto their leader\u2019s jersey for another day. Photo by Michael Chiaretta\/Cape Epic<\/p>\n<\/a>The men\u2019s stage two podium. Photo by Michael Chiaretta\/Cape Epic
\nMen\u2019s Race: Gaze and Schwarzbauer avenge stage one mechanicals<\/p>\n