{"id":17137,"date":"2017-02-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2017\/02\/06\/mtb-and-road-racing-legends-team-up-for-absa-cape-epic-r6098\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T07:13:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T07:13:55","slug":"mtb-and-road-racing-legends-team-up-for-absa-cape-epic-r6098","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/mtb-and-road-racing-legends-team-up-for-absa-cape-epic-r6098\/","title":{"rendered":"MTB and road racing legends team up for Absa Cape Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"

If somebody were trying to track down Jos\u00e9 Hermida in the Absa Cape Epic race village they would simply have to follow the laughter. And the chatter.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-58780-0-73640400-1486374111.jpg\"<\/a> Photo credit: Nick Muzik | Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016 Hermida retired from a distinguished 20-year cross country career that earned him a world championship title, an Olympic silver medal and many victories along the way. But he will be remembered as much for his lively personality and joie de vivre as for his success in the saddle.<\/p>\n

He is working as a brand ambassador for Merida bikes but is keeping his hand in on the bike: the colourful Spaniard will be back for his eighth Absa Cape Epic in 2017 with another of cycling\u2019s great characters and recent retiree, former road professional Joaquim \u201cPurito\u201d Rodr\u00edguez (Merida Factory Racing).<\/p>\n

What are their objectives for the Absa Cape Epic: \u201cJajajaja \u2026 its gonna be a challenge to get both at same point of focus \u2013 as you know we are both Spanish and talk a lot, but for sure if we make things good we can make some big days and surprise everybody,\u201d Hermida laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have another high profile team in the event in George Hincapie and Cadel Evans. It will be my job to attack Cadel, while Purito will concentrate on keeping George under control,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s nickname in the professional peloton was Purito, Spanish for \u201clittle cigar\u201d. According to his Wikipedia profile he was given the nickname in an early season training camp during his first year as a professional with ONCE\u2013Eroski. \u201cWhen some of his teammates stepped up the pace on a small climb, he passed them making a hand gesture appearing to be smoking a cigar, suggesting he was climbing without much effort. The gesture was not welcomed by his teammates, who made him smoke a real cigar as a hazing ritual (initiation) later in the evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-58780-0-53133600-1486374110.jpg\"<\/a>Photo credit: Gary Perkin | Sportzpics<\/span><\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez went on to notch up fourteen stage victories in Grand Tours and second place overall in the Giro d\u2019Italia and the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. He came home third overall in the 2013 Tour de France. He led in the UCI world rankings in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and also won classics such as the Fl\u00e8che Wallonne.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to perform at the highest possible level, and our recent physical shape should put us in a very competitive position,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez says. \u201cBut above all we want to have fun and enjoy this new adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am looking forward to getting involved in one of the biggest mountain bike events in the world,\u201d he adds. \u201cI am highly motivated and appreciated the opportunity to team up and to learn from Jos\u00e9, one of the top mountain bike racers in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he still enjoyed racing, Hermida says: \u201cYes a lot! Still a lot \u2026 I have always enjoyed racing, fighting with friends. This is something you don\u2019t lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Purito since long time ago,\u201d Hermida adds. \u201cActually I took the risk of turning pro on the road at same time as him back in 2001. We both took different ways in our careers, both having fun and achieving our goals. It is funny that now we meet each other again in a MTB competition. We are both ready to face this challenge \u2026 its gonna be fun for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what keeps him coming back to the Untamed African MTB Race? \u201cThe race, the friends. The Absa Cape Epic has always treated me super good, making me feel like I\u2019m at home and having fun riding. At the same time we also had some great glory days. For me the Cape Epic is the Tour de France of MTB, and it is here where you feel the real MTB spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If somebody were trying to track down Jos\u00e9 Hermida in the Absa Cape Epic race village they would simply have to follow the laughter. And the chatter. Photo credit: Nick Muzik | Sportzpics In 2016 Hermida retired from a distinguished 20-year cross country career that earned him a world championship title, an Olympic silver medal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,24,1780],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-17137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-cape-epic","tag-jose-hermida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17137","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=17137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17137"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=17137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}