One thing you don’t get to see when you are riding in the field at the Absa Cape Epic is the top men and women finishing, which can be very exciting. This year sounds like it has been particularly fascinating with different teams winning and great racing in the Women’s category..

As I have mentioned before, the closer racing in the Women’s category – where three different teams have won stages – is particularly pleasing to us, but we are also very happy to see a whole host of new names at the front. Several of the riders in the men’s top 10 are new and many are youngsters who will no doubt feature in this race for years to come.

Tonight we are staying at Boschendal for the first time since it was a race village in 2006. It was a good feeling to ride in under the oak trees and we are looking forward to our two nights here. My family have come out and it is special to have them here.

My partner Jakes Jakobsen and I had another good day and I think the cooler temperatures played a part in that. Just two more days to go now and we’ll be aiming to ride sensibly and keep the rubber side down. Good luck to all my fellow riders.