![\"2019](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/370884419_2019AbsaCapeEpicChampionsSCOTT-SRAMMTB-RacingarereturningtotheAbsaCapeEpicin2022_PhotobyShaunRoy.80722fa32b27d500240ca95a9a831d3b-1.jpg\")
\n\t2019 Absa Cape Epic Champions SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing are returning to the Absa Cape Epic in 2022. Photo by Shaun Roy.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMy heart was bleeding while watching the 2021 Absa Cape Epic,\u201d explained Schurter. \u201cI wanted to be there, racing, and giving it my all, but I had nothing left in my tank after the longest season of my career. World Cups, the Olympics, Marathon and XCO Worlds all took their toll.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSchurter and Forster are eager to return to Africa to show why they were winners in 2019; to support their endeavours, they\u2019re armed with new race weapons and a backup team that\u2019s sure to race to a top five finish.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWith the World Cup circuit expanding, my focus remains on XCO, except when it comes to my favourite marathon stage race.\u201d said Schurter. \u201cThe new Scott Spark is made for the Absa Cape Epic. It is incredibly comfortable and amazingly fast. The extra travel, no compromise on weight or stiffness and the additional water bottles all ensures we\u2019ll be up to the challenge when the going gets tough. Our second team, Andri [Frischknecht] and Juri [Ragnoli] are also brilliant riders; I hope we don\u2019t need to rely on them for any technical assistance, but it\u2019s a huge confidence boost knowing we have two world-class riders to work with.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\t \n\tForster added, \u201cBased on the great experiences of 2019, I am looking forward to racing this year\u2019s event. It\u2019s the perfect way to start a season and with three weeks spent in South Africa ahead of the race, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be well acclimatised to the conditions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe have a plan for the race, but I am not going to elaborate too much right now,\u201d smiled Forster. \u201cAll I\u2019ll say is that we\u2019ll have an eye on the overall and the rest will be written during the race.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tScott-SRAM MTB Racing\u2019s second team sees Andri Frischknecht, who has two Absa Cape Epic finishes and two stage wins to his name, partner with Italy\u2019s Juri Ragnoli.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\t\u201cJuri is a full-time marathon racer, and we really want to secure some stage wins and finish high in the overall to secure valuable UCI points,\u201d Frischknecht explained. \u201cWe\u2019ll have a solid team plan for all of us before the race begins and, as we saw last time, a support team is important; if that\u2019s the role we\u2019re playing, we\u2019ll focus fully on the job.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhile Frischknecht has an idea of what\u2019s to come thanks to his experience during the Absa Cape Epic\u2019s last venture into Greyton and surrounds in 2017, Ragnoli does not have that luxury but is thrilled about the racing to come.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019ve had aspirations of racing the Absa Cape Epic for years, but it was never a goal for my team, but that has changed thanks to SCOTT-SRAM, and I am very excited,\u201d explained Ragnoli ahead of his Absa Cape Epic debut. \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant to see how Nino and Frischi [Thomas] encourage us to enjoy our time on the bike and have fun because fast is fun and fun is fast; I\u2019m ready for the Absa Cape Epic!\u201d<\/p>\n \t The 2019 Absa Cape Epic was a heated eight days in Africa where Scott-SRAM MTB-Racing and Cannondale Factory Racing attacked each other day in and day out. Blows were exchanged and heads were butted, but ultimately it was Nino Schurter and Lars Forster, from Switzerland, who claimed the coveted title of Absa Cape Epic champions. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5305],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-13777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-null"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13777","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=13777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62177,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13777\/revisions\/62177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13777"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=13777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lars](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1167096981_LarsForsteriseagertoreturntotheracebasedonhis2019experiences_PhotobyNickMuzik.1c52359e131beb211cb22b414c2d5fe5-1.jpg\")
\n\tLars Forster is eager to return to the race based on his 2019 experiences. Photo by Nick Muzik<\/em>\n<\/p>\n![\"Andri](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1510254147_AndriFrischknechtwillracewithJuriRagnoliatthe2022AbsaCapeEpic_PhotobyGregBeadle.9ed0284a6ea69d11fd8e086e05119069-1.jpg\")
\n\tAndri Frischknecht will race with Juri Ragnoli at the 2022 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Greg Beadle<\/em>\n<\/p>\n![\"Nino](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/943177883_NinoSchurterandLarsForsterwillbeaimingtoclaimthenewAbsaCapeEpicleaderjerseysearlyon_PhotobyNickMuzik.04f84b20bf8a70457aeca8f3321a2c66-1.jpg\")
\n\tNino Schurter and Lars Forster will be aiming to claim the new Absa Cape Epic leader jerseys early on. Photo by Nick Muzik<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"