{"id":15259,"date":"2020-01-09T18:20:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T18:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2020\/01\/09\/strauss-amp-lill-combine-to-form-super-cape-epic-team-r8034\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T19:47:25","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T19:47:25","slug":"strauss-amp-lill-combine-to-form-super-cape-epic-team-r8034","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/strauss-amp-lill-combine-to-form-super-cape-epic-team-r8034\/","title":{"rendered":"Strauss & Lill Combine To Form Super Cape Epic Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not since Yolande Speedy, in 2013, has a South African woman stood upon the top step of the Absa Cape Epic podium. In recent years, Robyn de Groot, Mariske Strauss and Candice Lill have had shots at the title, though all three came up short. Local fans will, therefore, be thrilled to read that two of the three will combine as a local super team in 2020. Riding as Faces CST, Strauss and Lill are the first all-South African team with a realistic chance of victory in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-69969400-1578593693.jpeg\"<\/a>The ever-smiling Mariske Strauss will partner Candice Lill during the 2020 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Shaun Dwayne Senior.<\/span><\/p>\n

South African fans have lamented the fact that the country\u2019s two premier cross-country riders have never joined forces before. Organising their collaboration for the 2020 Absa Cape Epic was not entirely straightforward either. \u201cWhere there\u2019s a will there is always a way\u201d Strauss pointed out. \u201cRiding with Candice was part of my discussion when I joined Bart Brentjens\u2019s CST Sandd Bafang team<\/a>, so now it\u2019s just to put the picture together. I think it is beneficial for everyone and I\u2019m super excited to line up with her\u201d the former National Champion stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team name will be ‘Faces CST\u2019 and our separate sponsors will be represented elsewhere on the kit\u201d Lill elaborated. \u201cWhen Mariske joined CST Sandd Bafang for 2020, we found a way to make it work for both teams\/sponsors so that everyone is happy. We are in the process of designing the kit and it is looking really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-65381500-1578593724.jpeg\"<\/a>Candice Lill has proven her abilities time and again at the Absa Cape Epic and is looking forward to the 2020 Race. Photo by Shaun Roy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThough we have never raced together as a team, I feel we know each other\u2019s strengths and weaknesses on the bike more than anyone\u201d Lill added. \u201cWe would normally use this in a race situation to try and get the upper hand on one another. But now we have the opportunity to combine our strengths and I can\u2019t wait to leverage the power of that. Our first race together will be the Tankwa Trek; as part of the tune-up towards the Absa Cape Epic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is spot on\u201d Strauss agreed. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the reason why I approached Candice earlier last year. Besides being a force to be reckoned with, I feel we will be in tune with one another from the get-go. We will be doing some rides and races together to make sure that when the Absa Cape Epic comes along, we are smooth as butter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that we have the support of South African mountain biking fans and I can\u2019t wait to get out there and give it our best shot,\u201d Lill said, reflecting on the chances of overall victory. \u201cOf course, we would love it to be a success, but we do understand the unpredictable nature of racing the Absa Cape Epic. That\u2019s why we will shoot for the overall victory but will always make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in during the race. It would make me unbelievably proud if we did manage to pull off a win. Imagine!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we have a good shot, but of course, as Candice said, this is mountain bike racing and not just any mountain bike race, it\u2019s the Absa Cape Epic \u2013 The Race That Measures All\u201d Strauss continued. \u201cFrom personal experience, I can attest that anything can happen. When racing the Absa Cape Epic, you have to be able to adapt and roll with the punches. That said, I also do not think about what others think about, we have enough on our plate as is, so the pressure we both put on ourselves is enough without adding the expectation of home fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-44340700-1578593746.jpeg\"<\/a>Candice Lill is excited to partner Mariske Strauss at the 2020 Absa Cape Epic. Photo by Sam Clark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from the Absa Cape Epic, 2020 is a big year for Strauss and Lill. They, along with Cherie Redecker, are battling to score as many UCI points as possible, to qualify South Africa for at least two automatic slots for Tokyo 2020. The women\u2019s cross-country points are calculated separately to the men\u2019s and if they can earn enough points to maintain a ranking of seventh or higher, for the country, two riders will qualify for the Olympic mountain bike race. In December 2019, South Africa was in a position to qualify two riders, the United Kingdom was just seven points behind, while Germany was just eighteen points back in ninth.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to see both of us at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,\u201d Lill said. \u201cWe have both worked really hard (separately) to get SA women\u2019s XCO racing on the map at an international level. I am proud of what we have overcome to be ranked seventh in the world as a country. We have now joined forces to get as many points as possible in the early season races to ensure that we at least keep our seventh-place ranking. A major contributor to these points will be the Absa Cape Epic, as it is a UCI HC stage race, and hopefully, we can get a solid double hitter of points for South Africa there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not since Yolande Speedy, in 2013, has a South African woman stood upon the top step of the Absa Cape Epic podium. In recent years, Robyn de Groot, Mariske Strauss and Candice Lill have had shots at the title, though all three came up short. Local fans will, therefore, be thrilled to read that two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[319,24,180],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-15259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-candice-lill","tag-cape-epic","tag-mariske-strauss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15259","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=15259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15259"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=15259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}