![\"ccs-62657-0-34129600-1521140180.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-34129600-1521140180.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Nino Schurter speaking at a press conference ahead of the Absa Cape Epic. Photo credit: Greg Beadle.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe Epic World Cup was an awesome event and the racing against Sam (Gaze) was a great battle. I\u2019m glad he\u2019s not racing the Absa Cape Epic on Sunday,\u201d laughed Schurter. He went on to pertinently point out his intentions and ambitions for the race: \u201cWe (Scott-Sram) have prepared for every stage this year and we showed last year we can do it. I\u2019m looking forward to every stage and Matthias and I have a good team spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canyon Topeak\u2019s Alban Lakata has raced the Absa Cape Epic eight times and while the overall victory has always eluded him, he feels this year might very well be the one. \u201cI think I\u2019ve prepared well but this year I\u2019ve done some things a little differently than the past. I think we can get to the top step of the podium. We\u2019re in top shape,\u201d said Lakata. As a genuine marathon racer and reigning XCM World Champion Lakata is well versed in the type of racing and conditions teams will confront over the next eight days \u2013 particularly the first four back-to-back 100+km stages. He finished up with a bold warning statement for his rivals: \u201cThe marathon racers are going to show the cross-country riders how to race the Absa Cape Epic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid the heated banter however, team BULLS appear to be flying under the radar. Five-time Men\u2019s category champion, Karl Platt, is feeling positive ahead of the Untamed African MTB race following a few months of uncertainty caused by a broken hip he sustained during training in November last year. Having turned 40-years-old yesterday the affable German joked that maybe he and Urs Huber should race in the Dimension Data Masters category come Sunday. On a serious note, he assured his rivals that he\u2019s back to his best and ready to give 2018 a serious go.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a great time at home with my family and have fully recovered,\u201d said Platt. \u201cI started training in January and feel I\u2019m in a good way \u2013 I had a good Cape Town Cycle Tour and put in some efforts to test the legs. I\u2019m ready.\u201d The BULLS have entered three teams proving the team\u2019s long-term outlook on developing the next wave of stars. \u201cWe have a young team here (BULLS 3) and they need to learn a lot from these big races. This year we have another role for our second team (BULLS 2) and Simon Stiebjahn and Tim Boehme can go free and do whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n The Absa African Men\u2019s special jersey \u2013 a race within the race \u2013 will once again add another dynamic to men\u2019s field with several teams vying for the win. While PYGA Euro Steel\u2019s Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes have bigger fish to fry this year \u2013 namely the overall podium, their support team of Phillimon Sebona and Julian Jessop will have a genuine shot at securing red. \u201cIt was a great experience racing with Julian at Tankwa Trek and the team has invested a lot in us and we feel we can compete at this level,\u201d said Sebona. \u201cThe Absa African special jersey gives us a big opportunity which is what we\u2019ve been targeting. It will help us improve our skills and we can go for it.\u201d Sebona and Jessop\u2019s biggest threats \u2013 besides their senior teammates \u2013 will come from NAD MTB\u2019s Nico Bell and Matt Beers and the Silverback-Volvo partnership of Jaco Pelser and Shaun-Nick Bester.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s going to wear the yellow jersey on Stage 1 in Robertson on Monday 19 March? Well, it\u2019s too tight to call at this point. The Prologue course certainly favours the cross-country specialists such as Cannondale Factory Racing, Investec Songo Specialized and Scott-Sram but the BULLS duo of Platt and Huber as well as the PYGA Euro Steel combination of Buys and Beukes may very well pose an outside threat come Sunday, not to mention Alban Lakata and Kristian Hynek who are racing with only one goal in mind \u2013 winning. One thing is for sure: this is going to be one of the closely fought Prologues in recent history.<\/p>\n This year supporting the winning riders goes beyond personal pride, there is also a chance to win an entry into the 2019 race in the Absa Cape Epic Fantasy League<\/a>. Check out our guide on the riders to watch in each category below and start choosing the riders to support you in your bid to win a 2019 Absa Cape Epic entry<\/a> courtesy of Columbia Sportswear.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Absa Cape Epic Men\u2019s category is gearing up for a veritable clash of the titans as world champions, national champions and Olympic medalists prepare to go head-to-head on Table Mountain this Sunday. This year\u2019s Absa Cape Epic has one of the most competitive men\u2019s fields ever assembled with a host of world-class mountain bikers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-16108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-cape-epic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16108","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=16108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16108"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=16108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>Alban Lakata. Photo credit: Greg Beadle. Absa Cape Epic. Sportzpics.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Team Bulls. Photo credit: Ewald Sadie. Absa Cape Epic. Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Phillimon Sebona. Photo credit: Greg Beadle.<\/span><\/p>\nWin an Absa Cape Epic team entry:<\/h2>\n