There’s barely three weeks to go to one of the biggest stage races on the calendar – the 2013 ABSA Cape Epic. So it’s time for a preview of the race.
The race kicks off on 17 March, and runs for eight days, taking in some of the most beautiful areas of South Africa’s Western Cape. In total it covers 698km with 15 650m of climbing. This year the race passes through some familiar territory for regulars at the race, such as Saronsberg wine estate and the traditional finish at Lourensford. But there are new towns as well, such as the heart of the Cape winelands, Stellenbosch.
The route in full:
Prologue – Meerendal Wine Estate (23km, 700m climbing)
Stage 1 – Citrusdal to Citrusdal (103km, 2 500m climbing)
Stage 2 – Citrusdal to Saronsberg Wine Estate, Tulbagh (145km, 2 350m climbing)
Stage 4 – Saronsberg Wine Estate, Tulbagh to Wellington (106km, 1 900m climbing)
Stage 5 – Wellington to Wellington (75km, 1 800m climbing)
Stage 6 – Wellington to Stellenbosch (100km, 2 950m climbing)
Stage 7 – Stellenbosch to Lourensford Wine Estate (54km, 1 500m climbing)
For the third year running, a team from Subaru-MarathonMTB.com will be competing and reporting from the race. Here Mike and Will give their perspectives on this year’s race.
Mike’s view
Racing the ABSA Cape Epic is like no other mountain biking experience. Everyone is in top shape, no one is there just for training. The amount of preparation that every competitor puts in is astounding, and the effort that the race organisers and volunteers put into the event is rarely seen elsewhere. And it is hard – every day is just astonishingly draining. Drawing the appropriate will power to start again each day is such a huge challenge.
Having done many other mountain bike stage races, I know what to expect as the time goes on. And to a point, they are a pretty low stress affair now. Going into Transalp last year with Naomi Hansen was a great experience. For the most part it was a low stress adventure. Even doing the Crocodile Trophy again in 2012 seemed like ticking a box. But the Cape Epic is different. It is bigger, and more demanding physically and mentally, and with greater risk due to quite technical terrain at times.
It is easy to be drawn into comparisons between the Cape Epic and other well known mountain bike stage races. But with the Cape Epic drawing a field like no other (as noted by Will below), and the heavy media presence and race support – it is just a race that must be experienced to be believed.
I am a firm believer in setting event goals, and for this, the 3rd outing at the Cape Epic with Will Hayter, it will be to finish together as fast as possible while remaining friends. And that should be a similar goal for all amateur teams out there.
Will’s view
The race – for me, one of the appeals of this race is that more than any other it offers amateurs like me the chance to race alongside some of the real greats in the sport. I say “alongside” rather than “against”, because clearly once the gun goes, or at least once the first climb starts, those guys are off in their own race and the rest of us mere mortals have to settle down and return to the reality of our own event. But at least for a few kilometres, we can keep that exalted company. And this year, the year after an Olympiad, that company is even more exalted than ever.
One thing that will touch every aspect of the race this year I think will be the absence of Burry Stander, last year’s winner who was tragically killed in early 2013 while on a training ride near his home town. Burry was one of South Africa’s greatest athletes, and particularly beloved in this race as the only South African winner of the elite race. Enough column inches have been written about how sad his loss is; all I know is that he was an amazing rider and seemed like a thoroughly nice bloke – two things which don’t always go together, so it’s great when they do.
It would be hard to find a more worthy replacement though for Burry in the race this year though, with Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy taking his place and teaming up with Christoph Sauser. Kulhavy’s addition means that the field includes the three fastest men on the planet – all three from the Olympic podium, Kulhavy, Nino Schurter and Marco Fontana.
And that’s before we even get onto mentioning past and current world champions like Jose Hermida and Ralph Naf, or marathon stalwarts like Karl Platt, Urs Huber or Alban Lakata. If ever there was a deep field, this is it.
The route – as ever, it’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that at ‘only’ 15,000m+ of climbing, the ABSA Cape Epic presents fewer vertical metres than the Transalp, for example. But take this view at your peril – the Epic’s terrain is so much tougher, with more rocks, more sand, and shorter, often sharper climbs, that it doesn’t take pure vertical metres to create a really tough race. I only have to cast my mind back to the stage in 2012 which ended with 30k into a vicious head / cross-wind over exposed farm roads to know that it’s the conditions that can make the race really tough.
As for goals for team Subaru-MarathonMTB.com, I’m just keen to finish as a team this year! Third time lucky, after my broken collarbone in 2011 and Mike’s injured knee in 2012. Hopefully we can ride conservatively in the early stages in particular when it’s easy to get over-excited, and then pull through in the latter parts of the race. With such a strong field, it’s hard to know what’s a reasonable target in terms of placings, but we’ll be hoping to do ourselves credit.
Will Hayter of Subaru-MarathonMTB.com during stage 1 of the 2012 Absa Cape Epic
Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Riders endure the slippery roads during stage 5 of the 2012 Absa Cape Epic
Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander of Team 36ONE-SONGO-SPECIALIZED increase their lead during stage 1 of the 2012 Absa Cape Epic
Photo by Greg Beadle/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Big scenery at the ABSA Cape Epic (c) Sportograf
At the registration area, the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town (c) Sportograf
Rocks – plenty of rocks (c) Sportograf