The ABSA Cape Epic is arguably the most important race for cross-country and marathon focused mountain bikers, behind the Olympics and World Championships respectively. One of the challenges for many elite women is finding a team mate to race with. Often, a trade team will have just one elite woman on their team, and sponsorship clashes can prevent partnerships with other riders. But sometimes, there are ideal matches, like Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad, who are both Specialized athletes.
In 2015, Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon Racing Team) will be pairing up with Slovenian rider Blaža Klemenčič to compete in the UCI Women’s category at the ABSA Cape Epic. The duo will be representing the Sellaronda Hero marathon, as they cover the eight stages with 739km of racing and 16,000m of climbing. This can be the best option for elite women – finding a non-conflicting sponsor to race for.
“We support an athlete who is closely linked to the Südtirol Sellaronda Hero” says President Gerhard Vanzi. “This not only because she has already won here, but especially because her values and relentless dedication embodies the spirit of the HERO more than any other female athlete.”
The Cape Epic is an iconic and challenging race that takes in the best of the MTB trails in South Africa. Every year it has become more and more challenging and now the women’s category is as competitive as ever, not least because the prize money for the women’s category is equal to that of the men’s – this is a big step to support professional women’s cycling. Having won the women’s race two times before (2011, 2012) Sally is keen to return with Blaža to fight for another title.
Although this will be Blaža’s debut at the Cape Epic, Sally is “excited” to be teaming up with a world class MTB rider. “Together with Blaža’s speed, skills and professionalism as well as my extensive experience in stage races I believe that we will make an exceptionally strong team and we’ll fight hard each and every day to win!”
Bigham is no stranger to success at the Cape Epic. Photo: Karin Schermbrucker/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
On the other hand Blaža felt a little scared after getting Sally’s idea. She planned to do the Cape Epic – but not in 2015! “My my first thoughts were – we go to win! Sally’s offer was a big honour as I have a lot of respect for her – she’s a top MTB athlete but also a nice lady after the races”.
Sally is “honoured to be representing Sellaronda Hero. I love the region and the race, which will in fact be the location for the 2015 World Marathon Championships! It’s great to be able to raise awareness of the Dolomites as a location for mountain biking and hopefully we’ll encourage more amateur riders to come along and race with the professionals on 27th June 2015!” And Blaža adds: “Riding for Sellaronda Hero is just another moment of honour and pride!”
For Sally “the Cape Epic is key to my preparation for the World Championships in Selva Val Gardena (Italy) so it’s really cool to be able to support Sellaronda Hero”.
