Cape Epic Stage 4: Beers, Blevins win men's time trial, Looser, Le Court star in women's category

Matt Beers and Christopher Blevins, riding for the Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne team, won the Stage 4 time trial of the Cape Epic on Thursday.

It was their fourth stage victory in five days and the result pushed them up to third in the men's general classification.

The duo now sit five minutes behind race leaders Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing).

Leaders Schurter and Frischknecht will however be concerned by the progress made by Lukas Baum and Georg Egger (ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company).

The defending champions had a superb day on the bike, finishing second on the 47km time trial stage.

In doing so, they managed to eat away at the overall lead of Schurter and Frischknecht. With three tough stages to come, Baum and Egger are just a minute and 11 seconds off top spot.

"I felt amazing," Blevins said. "I don't know why, but today was just one of those days when I felt great. The wind made it tricky, but I had a lot of fun out there. I hope the legs I had today stick around for the next three days because that's where this race will be won. We're happy with these stage wins, but we definitely want that yellow jersey."

Beers added that Blevins was the man who worked hardest on Thursday.

"We went out really hard but I realised very quickly that I wasn't feeling so great. Chris was amazing though. He just pushed on and got me through it. That's where teamwork is essential at the Cape Epic."

Schurter and Frischknecht were also chuffed with their efforts.

"Our goal was always to go out at a good pace and not work too hard on the stage," said Schurter. "We are still in the lead and I think we didn't leave as much out there today as some of the other riders. We have three days of good racing to come and we're