![\"ccs-62657-0-39667900-1552292871.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-39667900-1552292871.jpg\")
<\/a>Jaroslav Kulhav\u00fd. Photo credit: Greg Beadle\/ Cape Epic:\/ SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\nThe shuffling of cards within the Specialized deck has resulted in a team, popular with South African mountain biking fans, forming. NAD Pro\u2019s Matthew Beers has filled Gaze\u2019s slot alongside Alan Hatherly and the pair will now race under the banner of the Specialized Foundation-NAD. The CTCT MTB Challenge, on the 2ndof March, provided Beers and Hatherly with the final proof their sponsors needed to convince them that the young friends were on equally impressive form.<\/p>\n
Lill Lines Up The Wins<\/h2>\n
Candice Lill also used the CTCT MTB Challenge as a final confidence builder ahead of the Absa Cape Epic. The Summit Fin rider overcame Mariske Strauss and the defending champion, Stenerhag to claim a hard-fought win. The result comes on the back of victory for Lill in the Imbuko Big Five MTB Challenge on the 23rdof February.<\/p>\n On the same weekend as the Imbuko Big Five MTB Challenge took place in Wellington the first UCI HC (Hors Classe\/Beyond Classification) mountain biking event of the season, the Cyprus Sunshine Cup was on the go on the Mediterranean island.<\/p>\n The attention in Cyprus was on Anna van der Breggen\u2019s performance, where she was second \u2013 by just 1 minute \u2013 to her teammate Annika Langvad. A 1-minute time gap may not appear that small, after four stages, but ominously for the Investec-Songo-Specialized pairing\u2019s rivals in the Absa Cape Epic the gap between first and third was a massive 7 minutes and 30 seconds.. In securing first and second they defeated Sina Frei, Lisa Pasteiner, Linda Indergand, Anne Terpstra, Barbara Benko, Isla Short and Yana Belomoina.<\/p>\n The highest placed of the Absa Cape Epic racing men was Ond\u0159ej Cink, in eighth, who is set to start for Kross Racing alongside Sergio Mantec\u00f3n Guti\u00e9rrez on the 17thof March.<\/p>\n Back in South Africa the Knysna Bull, made personal by Constantia, saw highly competitive men\u2019s and women\u2019s fields racing for a, winner-takes-all, R100 000 prize. In the women\u2019s race, dormakaba\u2019s Samantha Sanders defeated Stenerhag and her partner Amy McDougall. Sanders looks to be in the form of her career, but the concern for the dormakaba team will be the lingering effects of McDougall\u2019s chest infection. Sabine Spitz, who it was confirmed on the 1stof March will be racing with fellow German Nadine Rieder at the Absa Cape Epic, was fifth after major punctures on Stages 2 and 3. The 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist had led the race after the Prologue and Stage 1, so she will be hoping that her bad luck is now out of the way ahead of the main goal of her season.<\/p>\n The men\u2019s race at the Knysna Bull, made personal by Constantia, was won by Beers; just 17 seconds ahead of Hatherly. The result proved that the pair are exceptionally equally matched right now and adds credence to the thought that they could be a dark horse team for the Absa Cape Epic title if anything should befall their designated leaders, Kulhav\u00fd and Gaze. In third after a Prologue and three marathon stages was HB Kruger, who will be lining up alongside Frans Claes for Pro Devonbosch Qhubeka in the Absa Cape Epic. Kruger won two stages, but a crash on Stage 1 cost him vital time, which effectively scuppered his chances of overall victory. The trio of South Africans saw off the challenge of international star Nicola Rohrbach at the Knysna Bull, made personal by Constantia.<\/p>\n The final major race on the exceptionally busy weekend of the 23rdof February was the 2019 Sabie Classic. The Lowveld ultra-marathon forms part of the UCI XCM series and as such attracted international riders like Yannick Lincoln and Antonin Marecaille along with a strong South African field. Matthys Beukes continued his one day race winning streak, which started with the Momentum Health Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, in January. Beukes held off PYGA Euro Steel teammate Philip Buys to take the win, while NAD Pro MTB\u2019s Nico Bell rounded out the podium.<\/p>\n The NAD Pro team announced just days before Grotts\u2019 withdrawal that due to health reasons Wessel Botha, who helped Beers to the 2018 FNB Wines2Whales title, would be stepping into Bell\u2019s spot in the team\u2019s Absa Cape Epic line-up. With Beers moving out to join Hatherly, Botha now needs a teammate. Bell is said to be optimistic of being able to race with the youngster, if his heath allows it. While the fourth member of the NAD Pro squad and former South African XCM Champion, Gawie Combrinck, is also an option to partner Botha.<\/p>\n Earlier in February, two UCI S1 rated stage races took place in quick succession. In Spain the Mediterranean Epic, by GAES, was raced between the 14thand the 17thof the month. While in South Africa the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, took place from the 7thto the 10th. The Mediterranean Epic, by GAES, was won by MMR Factory Racing\u2019s David Valero Serrano. After four stages only 12 seconds separated Serrano and Trek Selle San Marco 2\u2019s Fabian Rabensteiner. BUFF SCOTT\u2019s Francesc Guerra Carretero was third, while Damiano Ferraro \u2013 of Trek Sele San Marco 1 \u2013 was fourth. Guerra Carretero\u2019s Absa Cape Epic partner Enrique Morcillo Vergara was eighth, making the BUFF SCOTT paring the highest placed combination of riders preparing for the Untamed African Mountain Bike Race.<\/p>\n At the premier field of mountain biking talent assembled thus far in the 2019 season gathered in the Koue Bokkeveld region of South Africa for the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen. On the start line were Manuel Fumic, Henrique Avancini, Karl Platt, Alban Lakata, Urs Huber, Simon Stiebjahn, Tristan de Lange and Simon Andreassen; along with others like Buys, Beukes, Hatherly, Gaze, Beers, Bell, Combrinck, Botha, Joubert, Carsetens, Geismayr, K\u00e4ess and Dorn. The key point which emerged over the four days of racing was that Avancini in particular is flying and that Cannondale Factory Racing in general are going to be very hard to beat at the Absa Cape Epic. The Brazilian was a class apart while his partner Fumic never succumbed to the pressure the formidable collection of rivals tried to exert upon him.<\/p>\n The other Absa Cape Epic riders who emerged from the gruelling Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, with form credit in the bank \u2013 despite the results not reflecting their performance levels were Huber and Stiebjahn. After struggling in the forty degree heat on the opening stage, which started at 15:00, the pair gave Avancini and Fumic their biggest battle of the race. They could in fact have come close to winning the race, had they not taken a wrong turn \u2013 while in the lead on the Queen Stage. Their Bulls teammates, Lakata and Platt, did more to disguise their form ahead of the Absa Cape Epic at the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen. Both are wily campaigners however and could be saving themselves for a big performance in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<\/a>Candice Lill. Photo credit: Ewald Sadie\/ Cape Epic\/ Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Mariske Strauss. Photo credit: Ewald Sadie\/ Cape Epic\/ Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\nAVDB Passes the Cyprus Test<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Annika Langvad. Photo credit: Ewald Sadie\/ Cape Epic\/ Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\nSanders & Beers 100K Richer<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Samantha Sanders. Photo credit: Andrew McFadden.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Sabine Spitz. Photo credit: Ewald Sadie\/ Cape Epic\/ Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Daniel Geismayr. Photo credit: Nick Muzik\/ Cape Epic\/ SPORTZPICS.<\/span><\/p>\nGood Sabie Sensations<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Matt Beers. Photo credit: Nick Muzik\/ Cape Epic\/ SPORTZPICS.<\/span><\/p>\nUCI S1 Action in the Med<\/h2>\n
Cannondale Pass the Tankwa Test<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Henrique Avancini and Manuel Fumic. Photo credit: Nick Muzik\/ Cape Epic\/ SPORTZPICS.<\/span><\/p>\n