Karl Platt and Alban Lakata team up for Cape Epic
Germany’s Karl Platt has started every Absa Cape Epic since its inception in 2004 and won five times – a record of victories he shares with Swiss legend Christoph Sauser. Austrian powerhouse Alban Lakata has twice finished second – including in 2018 – and also bagged third, fourth, fifth and sixth over his 10 years […]
Alban Lakata back for his ninth Cape Epic search of the elusive win
Hope springs eternal for Alban Lakata as he heads into his ninth Absa Cape Epic, desperately seeking the win that has proved elusive for one of mountain biking’s true stars. Photo credit: Nick Muzik. Absa Cape Epic. Sportzpics. Lakata, the three-time Marathon World Champion, will once again team up with Kristian Hynek as Canyon Topeak, […]
Bad luck again thrwarts Lakata’s hunt for elusive Absa Cape Epic
Alban “The Albanator” Lakata cut a lonely figure as he completed Stage 4 of the Absa Cape Epic on Thursday – yet another quest to win a coveted Epic title doomed. His Topeak Ergon Racing teammate, the Czech Republic’s Kristian Hynek, crashed about 5km before the finish of Wednesday’s stage. Hynek started the stage on […]
Bike Check: Alban Lakata’s Canyon Lux CF
Team Topeak Ergon’s top team featured Alban Lakata, who has completed the Cape Epic an impressive 7 times (finishing as an individual rider on one occasion), and last year’s winner Kristian Hynek. This year the pair rode Canyon’s Lux CF marathon race bike. To my eyes, Lakata’s bike is looks pretty good. The first detail […]
Sun, sand and rough conditions for Absa Cape Epic riders
A transition stage on the Absa Cape Epic – from one race village host town to another – is sometimes regarded as being easier, but Wednesday’s 128km Stage 3 from Elgin Valley to Worcester was “very rough and really sandy”, according to race leader Christoph Sauser. Christoph Sauser of Investec Songo Specialized during stage 3. […]
Czech strongman sails through the wind
Strong and cold winds turned Tuesday’s Stage 2 of the Absa Cape Epic into an exceptionally tough one and all the talk afterwards was of how Czech strongman Jaroslav Kulhavy powered through it. Jaroslav Kulhavy has time for some fun during stage 2 of the 2015 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike. // Photo by Nick […]
Thrilling Absa Cape Epic on the cards
The 2015 Absa Cape Epic will mark the end of his professional career in the race of a man who has inked his name indelibly into its folklore: four times winner Christoph Sauser. But the Swiss master, who also boasts marathon and cross country world championships, is not planning to ease gently into post-professional life […]
Big names line up for Aramex songo.info Champions Race
Current World Champions, former World Champions, Olympic medalists and national champions will line up for the 2015 Aramex songo.info Champions Race on Wednesday in Kayamandi. his year will be the fourth Champions Race. With all the riders already in town for the Absa Cape Epic, they also signed up for this exciting race. The first […]
Hynek back with The Albanator
Much-decorated Austrian mountain biker Alban Lakata has finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 10th in his six Absa Cape Epics. In 2013 he finished, but as an Outcast after his partner Robert Mennen famously broke a collarbone after hitting a duiker (small antelope) on a descent. His 2015 partner Kristian Hynek of the Czech Republic […]
Mennen’s epic Epic journey
Germany’s Robert Mennen seems destined to have an interesting relationship with the Absa Cape Epic. In 2013 he was forced out of the race when he hit what he described as “a peeg” as he descended on singletrack during Stage 1 near Citrusdal. The pig, it turned out, was a duiker (small antelope) and in […]
Lakata, Suss claim hard-fought Ashburton Investments series opener titles
Former world champions Alban Lakata of Austria and Esther Suss of Switzerland had to fight hard right up to the finish line to claim the men and women’s crowns respectively at the opening round of the Ashburton Investments National Mountain Bike Series at Meerendal Wines near Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday. Austria’s Alban Lakata […]
Lakata aims to go one better at 2014 MTB Marathon Worlds
Current world number three Alban Lakata is a vastly experienced campaigner on South African soil and the Austrian star is firmly focused on making the coveted rainbow striped world champion’s jersey his own when he heads to Pietermaritzburg for the UCI MTB Marathon World Championships on Sunday 29 June. Image credit: Gamplan Media With one […]