Cape to Cape: Johnston and Sheppard consolidate lead

Brendan "Trekky" Johnston and Samara Sheppard picked up where they left off on stage 1, taking hard fought wins at Leeuwin Estate on stage 2. In the evening, Johnston also won the men's Fat Tyre Crit, while Peta Mullens shook up the women's category.

Brendan "Trekky" Johnston crosses the line at Leeuwin Estate, WA (Flow Mountain Bike/Cape to Cape) Source: Flow Mountain Bike/Cape to Cape

The leaders set a hard and fast pace from the gun, motivated by the beautiful weather and singletrack. 

"It was a crazy stage today," Johnston said. "it had everything: super fast downhills with the sand and the trees, and the same with the uphills it was good to make the moves today and consolidate the lead a bit.

Road WorldTour debutant Chris Hamilton (Sunweb) returns to his MTB roots at Cape to Cape (Flow Mountain Bike) Source: Flow Mountain Bike/Cape to Cape

"Anything can happen in this race."

Sheppard sounded like she was on holiday, not etching out a hard fought win.

Samara Sheppard out on course on stage 2 of the 2017 Cape to Cape (Flow Mountain Bike) Source: Flow Mountain Bike/Cape to Cape

"Super happy," the New Zealander said. "It was just really fun to get to know some of the competitors out there and enjoy it."

"Weather's perfect, the trails are lovely and the sand section was a lot easier this year but still kept you on your toes."

In the evening's Fat Crit in town, Cam Ivory and Johnston pushed each other from the start before Johnston again proved his dominance with the win. Peta Mullens was the favourite for victory in the women's crit, but Sheppard took the fight to her until the last lap.

Peta Mullens celebrates her win in the Fat Crit at Cape to Cape (Flow Mountain Bike) Source: Flow Mountain Bike/Cape to Cape

Check out Flow Mountain Bike's full gallery from Stage 2 here.