The 2017 Absa Cape Epic, known as the World's toughest Mountain bike stage race, will see a thrilling finale after Olympic champion Nino Schurter and teammate Matthias Stirnemann of SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing claimed their first stage win on Friday and moved into the first position. "It was not our initial goal to get the Yellow Jersey, but now we have it- and we'll give everything to keep it", Nino Schurter says.

Thanks to another strong ride and with the help of their team mates Andri Frischknecht and Michiel van der Heijden, Schurter and Stirnemann moved into the overall race lead after the Stage 5. After 84km and 2100m of climbing, the four Cross-Country specialists arrived all together in the Oak Valley- an excellent back-to-back victory for the SCOTT teams. Third went to Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy who had dropped back to nearly two minutes behind Schurter and Stirnemann and still had a 1.20 min distance after 15 km before the finish. The two two came into the finish with only 17 seconds behind the stage winners, now 50 seconds off the front in the overall race.

"Today we rode on many singletracks in an incredible landscape. Thanks to yesterday's rain, we had some really good traction on the sandy trails. We rode mainly through burned mountainous area, which was pretty spectacular", Team Manager Thomas Frischknecht says. 

Accompagnied by the SCOTT-SRAM Young Guns Andri Frischknecht and Michiel van der Heijden, Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann dominated the 5th stage of the Cape Epic. Check out the stunning landscape and the single track paradise the racers rode trough. 

"The stage win feels great, especially after the start I had," said Stirnemann. "In the beginning I was really struggling for rhythm. It took me quite a while to get started, but I think after the first climb of the day I started feeling much better. It was fast again from the start. In fact the whole stage was hard going..." Nino Schurter: "It's absolutely amazing to win the stage. On the first big climb of the day I noticed that Sauser was struggling; that's when we decided to go for it. Both the SCOTT teams were feeling good, so it's great that we have now taken two stages for the team."

After moving into yellow, Schurter expects an exciting finish to the Absa Cape Epic. "The yellow zebra jersey is obviously a bonus," he said. "The cross-country guys have really been doing well at the Absa Cape Epic this year; we're happy to continue the form. Tomorrow will be the longest stage and everything can happen. We of course want to keep the yellow jersey."

In the Mixed category, Jenny Rissveds and Thomas Frischknecht enjoyed a huge victory on the stage and only a major disaster looks able to prevent them from taking that title when the race finishes at Val de Vie on Sunday. Grant Usher and Amy Beth McDougall are second with a 42-minute gap to SCOTT-SRAM Nextlevel.

Stage 6 of the 2017 Absa Cape Epic is billed as the Queen Stage - the toughest of all seven. It features the daunting Groenlandberg climb and a number of vicious up and downs - perhaps a day for the marathon experts to exert some control. 

Photos: Jochen Haar, Michal Cerveny, Greg Beadle, Nick Muzik