{"id":17166,"date":"2017-01-30T09:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T09:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2017\/01\/30\/topeak-ergon-centurion-vaude-eyeing-top-step-of-absa-cape-epic-podium-r6066\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T07:15:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T07:15:22","slug":"topeak-ergon-centurion-vaude-eyeing-top-step-of-absa-cape-epic-podium-r6066","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/topeak-ergon-centurion-vaude-eyeing-top-step-of-absa-cape-epic-podium-r6066\/","title":{"rendered":"Topeak Ergon, Centurion Vaude eyeing top step of Absa Cape Epic podium"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Topeak Ergon and Centurion Vaude teams will forever be linked through an extraordinary act of sportsmanship at the 2014 Absa Cape Epic. In 2017, however, they will be major rivals for one of the biggest prizes in mountain biking: the Absa Cape Epic overall winner\u2019s yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-50448200-1485769935.jpg\"<\/a>Photo credit: Dom Barnardt. Cape Epic. Sportzpics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three years ago Centurion Vaude\u2019s Jochen Kaess and Markus Kaufmann, both German, were leading after two days but a broken frame put them out of contention. On Stage 3 Topeak Ergon\u2019s Kristian Hynek of the Czech Republic and Robert Mennen, also German, took the lead.<\/p>\n

But disaster struck for Hynek and Mennen on Stage 5 when the former simultaneously punctured both his front and back tyres. The Centurion Vaude pair stopped and fortunately Kaufmann\u2019s wheels and gearing were compatible with Hynek\u2019s bike: he took them off his bike and handed them over. \u201cThat was an amazing sporting gesture and I owe them big time,\u201d said Hynek after going on to take the overall win.<\/p>\n

It is unlikely that the debt will be repaid this year: both teams are among the race favourites.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-40648100-1485769937.jpg\"<\/a>Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker. Cape Epic. Sportzpics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaess and Kaufmann are back together but Mennen has since been replaced in the Topeak Ergon team by Austrian Alban Lakata, who has previously finished sixth, fifth, fourth, third and second in the Absa Cape Epic.<\/p>\n

Now, desperate for a win, Lakata says he faces \u201cprobably the most competitive field ever\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, the win is what we want, but this years edition has a brutal starter field and it will be very hard to achieve the victory,\u201d says the Austrian strongman. \u201cI see Bulls (Karl Platt and Urs Huber), Specialized (Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy), Scott (Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann) and Centurion Vaude as the main contenders for the title.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hynek is clearly deadly serious and declares himself \u201c100% focussed \u2026 this year I decided to focus my preparation fully on the Cape Epic and South African conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-26708200-1485769936.jpg\"<\/a>Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker. Cape Epic. Sportzpics.<\/span><\/p>\n

To this end he will spend nearly three months in Stellenbosch training with local Erik Kleinhans. He has also kicked off his racing season earlier than normal and last weekend finished second to Sauser at the Attakwas Extreme. This weekend he will do the national marathon series race in Grabouw and then the Tankwa Trek, by which time he will have been joined in South Africa by Lakata.<\/p>\n

Kaess and Kaufmann were among the favourites before disaster struck in 2014 and injuries have prevented them from riding together in the Cape Epic since then. \u201cAfter our bad luck in the last years our goal is to win the race,\u201d says Kaufmann. \u201cBut of course we would be also happy about the overall podium \u2026 a lot of really strong teams are taking part in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaess adds: \u201cThe challenge is harder every year and this year Susi (Sauser) is back in the business \u2026 plus Bulls and Topeak. The podium is our minimum goal but we are looking with one eye at the overall win.\u201d<\/p>\n

All four have been poring over the route and are anticipating a tough challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Hermanus a bit \u2013 we stayed there for three weeks two years ago,\u201d says Hynek. \u201cWe are planning to do some training in Hermanus and Greyton to get to know them and get used to the conditions. The stages will be very hard and challenging, as always.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-93494500-1485769936.jpg\"<\/a>Photo credit: Ewald Sadie. Cape Epic. Sportzpics.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, in another indication of their ambitions, both teams have excellent support. Lakata and Hynek will be able to depend on an experienced back up team in Kleinhans and the USA\u2019s Jeremiah Bishop. Centurion Vaude\u2019s support team of Austrians Daniel Geismayr and Hermann Pernsteiner finished ninth in 2016 and will provide powerful assistance.<\/p>\n

Lakata has started eight Cape Epics and finished seven, Hynek three and finished two, Kaufmann has finished the event four times and Kaess five times. What is it that keeps them coming back?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cape Epic is the biggest race in the world and must do for marathon racers like us,\u201d says Lakata. Hynek adds: \u201cThe race is special, the atmosphere is unique and the competition is very, very high. I have won it once, but I am 100% motivated to win it again with Alban.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Absa Cape Epic is one of my favourite race and the plan is to win this race once in my life,\u201d says Kaess. And Kaufmann: \u201cWe learned a lot in the Epics in the past and want to do a perfect race. When everything runs fine, everything is possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Topeak Ergon and Centurion Vaude teams will forever be linked through an extraordinary act of sportsmanship at the 2014 Absa Cape Epic. In 2017, however, they will be major rivals for one of the biggest prizes in mountain biking: the Absa Cape Epic overall winner\u2019s yellow jersey. Photo credit: Dom Barnardt. Cape Epic. Sportzpics. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,24,709,1810],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-17166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-cape-epic","tag-centurion-vaude","tag-topeak-ergon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17166","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=17166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17166"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=17166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}