Hermida wanted to win a stage in this Cape Epic. The Multivan-Merida rider travelled to this stage race as a preparation for the coming World Cups, but with the motivation of succeeding in one of the stages. Jose joked about that possibility before leaving to South Africa: “we have agreed with Rudi that the best thing is to win the first stage. We take the pressure off, we wear the leaders jerseys…”. However, the race evolved in a different way as foreseen by Hermida. The first stages were not as good as wished, but the good feeling came to the Spanish-Dutch duo in the second half of the race.

In yesterday’s stage, Jose and Rudi could be third, being on the podium for the first time in this 2010 edition. This was a clear advice that the Multivan-Merida riders were feeling stronger as days went by. “I am happy of how things have evolved. We have got faster stage after stage and this victory is a great gift after so many hours of competition. Rudi has been a great partner and he has raced at a very high level. I have to thank him for having the capacity to suffer so much when the race demanded it”, explains the rider from Puigcerdà.

In what comes to the last stage, Jose summarizes the race this way: “We have raced bravely right from the beginning and we have made the selection in the first kilometers. In the first climb, we have pushed hard and we have eliminated our competitors one by one. Rudi and I were alone in front after 20 kms and we still had to face 40kms more. We have flown in this last part of the stage and nobody could close the gap we had opened. The race could not end in a better way”.