Intro:

German Robert Mennen and his Czech team-mate Kristian Hynek won the 2014 Cape Epic comfortably.

Home riders Matthys Beukes and Gert Heyns clinched the seventh and final stage in Somerset West, South Africa.

Script:

The 2014 Cape Epic mountain bike race came to a close on Sunday.

Stage seven spanned 69 kilometres and included 1800 metres of climbing.

Robert Mennen and Kristian Hynek set off from Elgin's Oak Valley Wine Estate with a lead of more than ten minutes in the General Classification.

Four-time winner Christoph Sauser of Switzerland and his Czech partner Frantisek Rabon were in second place.

Around 45 kilometres into the final stage a group of four riders, none of whom were in contention for the race title, broke away.

World cross-country champion Nino Schurter and team-mate Philip Buys had the best pace, with their back-up team of Matthys Beukes and Gert Heyns close behind.

The quartet were never caught.

As they approached the finish line at Lourensford Wine Estate, Schurter and Buys slowed a little, allowing South Africans Beukes and Heyns to take the stage victory.

As expected, overall honours went to Mennen and Hynek, as the German-Czech pair completed the race in 30 hours, 31 minutes 59.2 seconds.

Sauser and Rabon were a distant second, with Germans Tim Boehme and Simon Stiebjahn claiming third.

The women's title was claimed by the Swiss-Danish partnership of Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad.

They took the final stage in 3 hours 32 minutes and 59 seconds for an overall time of 34:54:53.7, well clear of Esther Suss and Sally Bigham.