RACING UNDERWAY AT CAPE TO CAPE 2021

Riders from across Western Australia have descended on the South-West with racing underway at the Cape to Cape Mountain Bike Stage Race.

More than 1,000 riders have tackled the opening stage of the four-day event, with stage one featuring 39km of fast and furious racing beginning and ending at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.

Following plenty of recent rain in the region the riders faced blustery but clear conditions to kick off Cape to Cape, with the event returning for the first time since 2019.

The first pair to cross the finish line at Cape Leeuwin was Jon Gregg and Nathan Jones of Russell Brooks Building, almost two minutes clear of second placed Blue Derby Pods Ride Team, with Rainbow Pedal Pops a minute further behind in third.

“It was really good out there, perfect conditions, nice and cool and the trails were nice and bedded in,” said Jon Gregg. “The climbs were a little bit tricky, I’d be surprised if anyone made it up without getting off at some stage. I think the best part was cresting the final climb and then knowing that it was all downhill to the finish.

“We pushed ahead on the second last climb going up to the Telstra Tower, we had about three or four pairs with us and we gradually wore everyone down so that’s where we managed to get away,” he said. “All of the stages are quite a bit different, this one had all of the climbing, the other ones don’t have all the climbing, much more single track so some of guys are really good on the single track so we’ll have to watch out for them and try not to let them get away.”

Matthew Shepherd was the first solo rider across the line, more than five minutes clear of second placed Michael Denton with Martin Hurley in third.

“The course is in really good nick, there’s been lots of rain over the winter so even though some parts were washed away the dirt was pretty hard packed so it made for pretty fast and furious racing,” said Shepherd. “A couple of those climbs really hurt so it’s always good when you’re hanging over the handlebars in a lot of pain, that’s always the fun part.

“There was a lot of steep climbs today which is always good,” he said. “There were a couple of stages up Heartbreak Hill where we all had to walk but we spent a lot of time riding, a lot of time walking and lot of time in pain.
“There’s a bit more single track in the coming days so that will be good, different course conditions, hopefully the sun stays out and the racing stays fast and it should be fun,” said Shepherd.

Friday’s stage two sees the event move north to Margaret River, with the 51km stage featuring plenty of single track sections, along with a start and finish line at Colonial Brewery.

The penultimate stage of Cape to Cape takes riders to the iconic trails of Middle Earth, with the 59km stage again based out of Colonial Brewery, while the final stage of the 2021 Cape to Cape will see riders head to Cape Naturaliste, with a 34km blast taking in the best the region has to offer, before crossing the finish line at Wise Winery.

Stage 1 Pairs: Open Men Pairs
1. Russell Brooks Building – 01:36:32
2. Blue Derby Pods Ride Team – 01:38:28
3. Rainbow Pedal Pops – 01:39:24

Stage 1 Pairs: Open Women Pairs
1. Weenie G and Z-dawg – 02:00:06
2. Cheeky Chicks – 02:01:56
3. Colonial Brewing Girls – 02:19:24

Stage 1 Pairs: Masters Men
1. An Irishman and a Kiwi walk into a bar – 01:42:02
2. WA Sportsmed – 01:45:03
3. Colonial Brewing Frothies – 01:50:38

Stage 1 Pairs: Mixed
1. Tassie Turbo Chooks – 01:51:31
2. MAD Wolfpack – 02:04:38
3. FCR Mixed Up – 02:17:48

Stage 1 Pairs: Grand Masters Men
1. Maddog Davros – 01:54:58
2. Thirsty Buggers – 01:57:05
3. DoBo – 02:13:09

Stage 1 Pairs: Great Grand Masters Men
1. Bridgetown Elders – 02:45:52
2. Eyeswise Optical – 02:49:52

Stage 1 Solo: Open Men Solo
1. Matthew Shepherd – 01:36:33
2. Michael Denton – 01:41:45
3. Martin Hurley – 01:48:06

Stage 1 Solo: Open Women Solo
1. Lucy Hill – 01:59:47
2. Mikayla Smith – 02:06:57
3. Jo Salamaga – 02:19:24

Stage 1 Solo: Masters Men
1. Tobias Strunk – 01:41:58
2. Alistair Nixon – 01:44:32
3. Luke Goard – 01:44:58

Stage 1 Solo: Masters Women
1. Kelly Weller – 02:12:45
2. Diane Chisholm – 02:30:24
3. Megan Stalker – 02:37:54

Stage 1 Solo: Grand Masters Men
1. Steve Crago – 01:48:39
2. Lance Portman – 01:51:15
3. Brendan McQuillan – 01:51:15

Stage 1 Solo: Gran Masters Women
1. Karyn Aldrich – 02:23:02
2. Lynn Patrick – 02:35:49
3. Janyce Crawford – 02:42:05

Stage 1 Solo: Great Grand Masters Men
1. Joseph Grasso – 01:51:01
2. John Allison – 01:51:15
3. Jason Mazur – 01:56:18

Stage 1 Solo: Great Grand Masters Men
1. Dianne James – 02:43:39
2. Cathy Murrell – 02:58:05
3. Virginia Westwood – 03:18:13