![\"ccs-62657-0-13751600-1484318088.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-13751600-1484318088.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGermany\u2019s Adelheid Morath will support L\u00fcthi\u2019s attempt to become the only female rider to win four titles. Morath replaces Denmark\u2019s Annika Langvad, who has won the past three editions with L\u00fcthi. The 32-year-old Morath is predominantly a XCO racer, but did compete in the 2016 Cape Epic, partnering Great Britain\u2019s Sally Bigham to third overall.<\/p>\n
Morath, a former German XCO champion and two-time Olympian, also won the 2015 Swiss Epic with Bigham, beating Langvad and L\u00fcthi into second place in the process. In replacing Langvad, who is the current XCO World Champion, Morath finds herself in a position of high pressure, but L\u00fcthi believes she\u2019ll be up for the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Annika said that she wanted to focus on her studies this year and would have to miss the 2017 Cape Epic, I made a long list and asked a lot of athletes, including current and former Olympic and World Champions. What struck me about Adelheid was her commitment,\u201d explained L\u00fcthi.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdelheid isn\u2019t as well-known as some of the other women I spoke to, but her motivation and commitment really stood out and that is what helped me decide. She is also a great rider. I have raced against her. I have beaten her and lost to her. She is an excellent climber and is regular top 10 finisher at XCO World Cups, which confirms her pedigree,\u201d added L\u00fcthi.<\/p>\n
Morath will arrive in South Africa early in February in order to compete at the Momentum Tankwa Trek, a tough three-day stage race, widely considered the perfect Cape Epic preparation event. She will remain in South Africa until after the completion of the Cape Epic, a period of seven weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that Adelheid is prepared to be here for that long means that she is fully committed to our objective of winning the Cape Epic. We each have our strengths as riders, but the most important thing is for us to learn how we are going to combine our strengths. During the Tankwa Trek and the weeks after that, we will focus on that,\u201d explained L\u00fcthi, the current Swiss marathon champion.<\/p>\n With two previous wins in the Mixed category (with Erik Kleinhans) and three women\u2019s titles, L\u00fcthi is the most successful female racer in the history of the Cape Epic. She is also one of the most experienced female stage racers in the world and concedes that changing her Cape Epic teammate is going to bring a fresh challenge, but one that she\u2019s relishing.<\/p>\n \u201cLook Annika is a freak! She is special on a different level. She is so solid as a rider and teammate. There are few like her. Adelheid is a different rider, a different person, but teamwork and commitment are usually the key factors for stage race success.<\/p>\n \u201cI have raced with many different teammates in stage races over the years and I feel that I\u2019m adaptable. It requires a mutual understanding of each other\u2019s strengths and weaknesses and a shared objective. Obviously the pressure is high on me to win again. I can\u2019t know until I get to the start what my condition will be exactly, but I\u2019m determined that the time leading up the race will be used wisely to ensure that Adelheid and I are as matched as possible. It\u2019s a new challenge, which I am looking forward to,\u201d added L\u00fcthi.<\/p>\n \u201cI am very happy to get the chance to race with Ariane. I am very motivated to be a good teammate. I will give everything I have for this race because we are aiming to win and that is the highest possible goal you can have. I am super thankful to Ariane and Team Spur for showing confidence in me for this big challenge,\u201d said Morath.<\/p>\n For Morath, participation in the 2016 Cape Epic was a late decision and she wasn\u2019t appropriately prepared. But she\u2019s determined to change that this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI was humbled by this event last year. My focus was the XCO season, which required a different kind of preparation. I think the Cape Epic was the hardest race I\u2019ve ever done. But I knew that after finishing in third that I wanted to return with better preparation one day.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m doing a lot more endurance training now. I live in Freiburg in the south of Germany where the winters are long. Normally I would be doing XC-skiing for training in January and February, but this year I\u2019m going to Gran Canaria to train on the road bike and then I head to South Africa in early February,\u201d explained Morath.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will race the Tankwa Trek from 10-12 February. At that race we will see how compatible we are in race conditions. After that we have a few weeks to work on things we can improve. It\u2019s super important that we get to know each other because in the Cape Epic you must be able to support your partner and make your partner feel stronger than she is. We are both strong riders, but we must become strong teammates,\u201d added Morath.<\/p>\n L\u00fcthi and Morath will be competing on Specialized Epic full-suspension 29er bikes. Morath is a Specialized ambassador in 2017, which makes the equipment match-up simpler. Another existing match-up is language. L\u00fcthi, who is Swiss, can speak German.<\/p>\n To follow their progress up to and during the 2017 Cape Epic, follow @Team_Spur<\/a> on twitter, sign up for the Team Spur email newsletter on the Team Spur Facebook page and visit www.teamspur.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a thorough search, three-time Absa Cape Epic winner, Ariane L\u00fcthi, has announced her new teammate to join her on Team Spur for the 2017 edition of the world\u2019s most prestigious mountain bike stage race. Germany\u2019s Adelheid Morath will support L\u00fcthi\u2019s attempt to become the only female rider to win four titles. Morath replaces Denmark\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,767,304,24],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-17225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-adelheid-morath","tag-ariane-luthi","tag-cape-epic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17225","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=17225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17225"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=17225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>The overall womens podium of [L] Sabine Spitz and Yana Belomoina of Team Sport for Good, [C] Annika Langvad and Ariane Kleinhans of Team Spur Specialized and [R] Sally Bingham and Adel Morath of Team Topeak Ergon during the final stage (stage 7) of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from Boschendal in Stellenbosch to Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville. Photo: Nick Muzik\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n