{"id":13691,"date":"2022-02-22T12:28:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T12:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2022\/02\/22\/bulls-charge-towards-absa-cape-epic-r8386\/"},"modified":"2023-03-20T08:52:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T06:52:23","slug":"bulls-charge-towards-absa-cape-epic-r8386","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/bulls-charge-towards-absa-cape-epic-r8386\/","title":{"rendered":"BULLS Charge Towards Absa Cape Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\tTeam BULLS made their first Absa Cape Epic appearance in 2007. Since then, they have been ever present, with Karl Platt flying the German bike brand\u2019s colours prominently in 14 editions. Along with riders like Stefan Sahm, Urs Huber, and Simon Stiebjahn the team has claimed four victories along with seven further podium places. In 2022 Platt will be racing in the NTT Masters competition, seeking to add more Absa Cape Epic titles to the five elite crowns he owns. The famous BULLS name will thus adorn the chests of Huber, Simon Schneller, Hansueli Stauffer and Alban Lakata in the elite men\u2019s race.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In 2022, Alban Lakata will race with Hansueli Stauffer. Image by Nick Muzik.jpeg\" class=\"ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed\" data-fileid=\"1696945\" data-ratio=\"66.67\" data-unique=\"wkzhoi82d\" style=\"height: auto;\" width=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1754577191_In2022AlbanLakatawillracewithHansueliStauffer.ImagebyNickMuzik.af8b8b6bddd43a5028a22b8680cd6a26-1.jpeg\" ><br \/>\n\t<em>In 2022, Alban Lakata will race with Hansueli Stauffer. Image by Nick Muzik<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSchneller teams up with the 2016 Absa Cape Epic winner, Huber, for the second time, in 2022. The pair have unfinished business as a partnership, given that Schneller fell ill ahead of Stage 4, while he and Huber were in second overall. \u201cSure, my illness was a shame, but I have mostly good memories from last year\u2019s Absa Cape Epic; with a stage victory and two more stage podiums\u201d he recalled. \u201cAt the end we also could celebrate the overall podium within the team. Plus, another stage win, so it was quite a good race for us as Team BULLS in total. But for sure, my dream to stand on the overall podium at the end is still there and I know it\u2019s not impossible. That was a big motivation during the cold winter months in Europe.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\n\t\u00a0<br \/>\n\t\u201cThe story for the team is the same as it was last year\u201d Huber somewhat enigmatically said of their goals for 2022. Before elaborating: \u201cWe will be fighting for stage wins, podiums on individual stages and for the general classification podium at the end of the Absa Cape Epic. But we come into the 2022 race happy knowing that the competition will be much stronger this year.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"BULLS claim first and second on Stage 1 of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Image by Nick Muzik.jpeg\" class=\"ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed\" data-fileid=\"1696944\" data-ratio=\"66.67\" data-unique=\"j8bg06u91\" style=\"height: auto;\" width=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1645827980_BULLSclaimfirstandsecondonStage1ofthe2021AbsaCapeEpic.ImagebyNickMuzik.bc69ebcab2c447db17f8633e37782201-1.jpeg\" ><br \/>\n\t<em>BULLS claim first and second on Stage 1 of the 2021 Absa Cape Epic. Image by Nick Muzik<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"article_body_aunit\" id=\"div-gpt-ad-1628069077697-0\" style=\"min-width: 300px; min-height: 250px;\">\n\t<script>\n    googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1628069077697-0'); });\n  <\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThe Absa Cape Epic is simply the most important stage race in mountain biking\u201d Huber praised. \u201cIt\u2019s set in a beautiful landscape and attracts the strongest competition. It also features the best coverage, which is very important for our sponsors.\u201d \u00a0<br \/>\n\t\u00a0<br \/>\n\tWhile Schneller and Huber have some disappointment to overcome, Lakata is arguably among the unluckiest riders in the race\u2019s history. The 3-time Marathon World Champion has finished on the second step of the Absa Cape Epic podium twice. At the age of 42 his chances of adding the illusive victory may be lower than his teammates, but that won\u2019t stop the Austrian from giving it his best shot. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Schneller leading Huber during the 2021 Absa Cape Epic Prologue on Table Mountain. Image by Sam Clark.jpeg\" class=\"ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed\" data-fileid=\"1696946\" data-ratio=\"66.67\" data-unique=\"s9mt65ajf\" style=\"height: auto;\" width=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1811722566_SchnellerleadingHuberduringthe2021AbsaCapeEpicPrologueonTableMountain.ImagebySamClark.eb57a62fd7fa36597fe50859e4ed13ef-1.jpeg\" ><br \/>\n\t<em>Schneller leading Huber during the 2021 Absa Cape Epic Prologue on Table Mountain. Image by Sam Clark<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cHonestly, at this stage I have no specific expectation for this year\u2019s Absa Cape Epic, but I\u2019m definitely looking forward to coming back to race in the elite category!\u201d Lakata exclaimed. \u201cIt\u00b4s been two years now since I last raced the Absa Cape Epic in elite. With Hansueli I also have a new partner for the race, so there are some unknown factors involved. We had a good time and some good results together at Andaluc\u00eda Bike Race last year, so I\u00b4m confident it will work out nicely for us at the Absa Cape Epic too. We will give our best, but right now I personally have no specific goal for the 2022 edition. It could be going for our own result, or in support of, Huber and Schneller, of Team BULLS 1\u2026 We\u00b4ll know after the first days.\u201d \u00a0<br \/>\n\t\u00a0<br \/>\n\t&#8220;It\u2019s an honour for me to ride the Absa Cape Epic with Alban\u201d Stauffer said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great athlete. I\u2019m looking forward to an interesting and an unforgettable race with him. As a new member of Team BULLS, I can benefit from the experience of my teammates. It\u2019s going to be a great race, with cool trails and a good team spirit. I\u2019m happy to take part in the most important stage race in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Team BULLS made their first Absa Cape Epic appearance in 2007. Since then, they have been ever present, with Karl Platt flying the German bike brand\u2019s colours prominently in 14 editions. Along with riders like Stefan Sahm, Urs Huber, and Simon Stiebjahn the team has claimed four victories along with seven further podium places. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24,87],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-13691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-cape-epic","tag-team-bulls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13691"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62165,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13691\/revisions\/62165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13691"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=13691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}