Geismayr, Rohrbach victorious on Epic Queen Stage
Despite winning the Queen Stage on Thursday 21 March, Centurion Vaude’s Daniel Geismayr and Nicola Rohrbach still find themselves in fourth place on the general classification – five minutes behind Canyon Topeak. Nicola Rohrbach and Daniel Geismayr of Centurion Vaude celebrate winning stage 4 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from […]
Epic Bike Check: Bart Brentjens’s American Eagle Atlanta
Bart Brentjens was the first men’s Olympic gold medal winner in mountain biking back in 1996. At the time he was racing on an American Eagle and is now reunited with the brand. The modern carbon frame is named the Atlanta 2.0 after the host city of the 1996 Olympics. Bart loves the Cape Epic […]
Pinner’s Paincave: No Heroics, Got The Job Done
Photo credit: Gary Perkin. Stage 3 was one of those days where you just had to get it done. 122km is not to be messed with. There were no heroics from us today. It was a case of focusing on keeping things consistent. This sounds simple, but it’s often harder than one thinks. Especially when […]
Mechanicals dent Sim, Boelt hopes of victory in Grand Masters
Team Robert Daniel came within a few seconds of losing their virtual lead in the Grand Masters category but fought back. Grand Masters race leaders Robert Sim and Udo Boelts (Team Robert Daniel) suffered some serious mechanical issues and lost time on Stage 3 from Robertson to Worcester, but desperately hung on to the lead […]
Epic Bike Check: Oli Munnik’s Santa Cruz Blur CC
Oli Munnik has been riding the all-new Santa Cruz Blur from the start of this year’s Absa Cape Epic. He went to great lengths to keep the bike under wraps, organising a 5AM appointment with his local bike mechanic and taping up every reference to the brand and model name (which it turns out there […]
Songo women keep their perfect Epic record intact
Langvad and Courtney extend their lead to over 12 minutes with their fourth win in as many days. The Investec Songo Specialized team kept their unbeaten record intact in the Women’s category by claiming win number four on the longest stage of the Absa Cape Epic on Wednesday. Kate Courtney and Annika Langvad from team […]
Canyon Topeak stamp their authority on Stage 3
A breakaway at the start of Stage 3 turned the Men’s category and general classification on its head as the race moved to Worcester. Stage 3’s transition from Robertson to Worcester might be the longest stage of this year’s race but with just 1800m of ascent spread over 122km, it is also the flattest. Ideal […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Unwrapping the Radness
Unveiling the Blur’s decals after today’s Stage. Photo credit: Gary Perkin. Today was a great day. It not only marked another solid effort by Team MCL on Stage 2, but also the culmination of months’ worth of preparation that came together with this morning’s global unveiling of Santa Cruz’s all-new XC / Marathon machine, the […]
Third win consolidates Langvad’s, Courtney’s Cape Epic lead
Once again Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney stamped their authority on the Women’s category of the Absa Cape Epic when they collected their third win in three days over the 106km out-and-back Stage 2 from Robertson on Tuesday. Annika Langvad and Kate Courtney of team Investec Songo Specialized during stage 2 of the 2018 Absa […]
More drama, same result for Cannondale
The battle between the marathon racers and cross-country specialists continued into Stage 2, on a tougher course with more climbing and even gnarlier terrain. Cannondale Factory Racing pairing, Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini taking stage 2 honors during stage 2 of the 2018 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Arabella Wine Estate […]
Epic Bike Check: Joaquim Rodriguez’s Merida Ninety-Six
Joaquim Rodríguez had a successful career racing on the road with stage and classification wins in the Grand Tours. He is now a member of the Bahrain-Merida staff and an ambassador for the team. He is riding his second Absa Cape Epic with teammate José Hermida. Joaquim Rodríguez is riding Merida’s Ninety-Six carbon marathon race […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Danger! Gevaar! Ingozi! on Stage 1
#LightBro. Photo: Gary Perkin. Stage 1 got off to a roaring start… pan flat and on good, albeit loose surfaces. As A Batch hurtled down narrow vineyard roads, bar to bar, riders jostled for position. Every single one of the 80 odd riders wanted to be towards the front. Those who know the Epic will […]