{"id":18868,"date":"2016-01-14T10:55:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2016\/01\/14\/periklis-and-tiago-bring-new-flavour-to-the-absa-cape-epic-r3978\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:48:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T08:48:14","slug":"periklis-and-tiago-bring-new-flavour-to-the-absa-cape-epic-r3978","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/periklis-and-tiago-bring-new-flavour-to-the-absa-cape-epic-r3978\/","title":{"rendered":"Periklis and Tiago bring new flavour to the Absa Cape Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Absa Cape Epic enters the post-Christoph Sauser era a number of new challengers from around the world are putting up their hands.<\/p>\n

One of those with the pedigree to challenge the favourites in 2016 will be Greece\u2019s Periklis Ilias, a former Marathon World Champion and Olympian. The 29-year-old will be partnered with another Epic newbie who also has great credentials \u2013 27-year-old Tiago Ferreira, the reigning Portuguese marathon champion.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-62173800-1452768927.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In June last year Ilias finished fourth in the Marathon World Championships, which he had won in 2012. He also has several Greek cross country championships to his name.<\/p>\n

But this week Ilias was not getting carried away with his chances in the 2016 Absa Cape Epic: \u201cThe priority on our list is to finish the race safely. Then it is a stage win and to podium in the overall general classification,\u201d Ilias said. \u201cBut our weakness is that in March we are going to be riding our first Cape Epic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferreira was also mindful of the fact that experience is key to Cape Epic success: \u201cIt being our first participation in the race, we will be hoping for a victory in a stage or a place on the overall podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

They both expressed great confidence in their teammate.<\/p>\n

\n\"ccs-62657-0-85431600-1452768926.jpg\"<\/a>Periklis Ilias.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Ilias said \u201cTiago is a top marathon rider, but is also a very cool and no-stress guy \u2026 this is one of the most important things in this sport\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ferreira added that \u201cPeri is an excellent athlete. He is very strong mentally, physically and technically \u2026 a complete athlete\u201d.<\/p>\n

They will be riding for Team Dolomiti Superbike and, although not familiar with the Western Cape countryside, have been studying the route from afar.<\/p>\n

Ilias said the ground conditions where he trained in Greece seemed similar to that of the Western Cape. \u201cThe route has everything: many climbs, technical parts, cool downhills and amazing views\u2026 .\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks very tough and technical,\u201d Ferreira said. \u201cBut I believe these are characteristics which my partner and I can adapt to. We know it will be a very tough race but we will fight until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both said they had to adjust their training schedule to take on a stage race of the magnitude of the Absa Cape Epic but were confident they would be in good shape come March 13\u2019s prologue on Table Mountain.<\/p>\n

They will be riding Protek full-suspension 29ers.<\/p>\n

Last week the Absa Cape Epic announced that top Italian riders Damiano Ferraro and Samuel Porro Selle (San Marco-Trek) would be also be on the start line in March. 2016 will be the first year since 2005 in which Sauser \u2013 who won the 2015 edition with Jaroslav Kulhavy before retiring \u2013 will not be competing as a professional.<\/p>\n

Another rider who will be adding to the cosmopolitan character of the Epic will be Sweden\u2019s Calle Friberg, who has notched up several national titles and many years as a top cross country rider on the World Cup circuit.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-33980300-1452768927.jpg\"<\/a>Adriaan Louw will be riding the 2016 Absa Cape Epic with Sweden\u2019s Calle Friberg.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 34-year-old Swede will be riding with local talent Adriaan Louw in Team Contego SWIFT Carbon and it will be his second go at the Absa Cape Epic: In 2006 he had to pull out with a torn hamstring after three stages but that was \u201ccool and a learning experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

Louw, 24-years-old and seemingly destined to be one of the future starts of mountain biking in South Africa, was unequivocal about their hopes for the race: \u201cIn 2016 our main ambition is to go trophy hunting for a stage win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friberg has been training in Stellenbosch since early December and is familiar with Western Cape conditions. He expects the Cape Epic to be \u201ca hard race for sure \u2026 I\u2019ve heard it\u2019s a bit shorter and more intense this year, so maybe the gaps will be smaller and make for a tighter race\u201d.<\/p>\n

Louw is delighted to be partnering a rider with such experience and says it has raised his motivation levels: \u201cCalle is an experienced athlete with a hunger for racing, and he truly enjoys riding mountain bikes, which suits our team values and racing strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe\u2019ve been training together a fair amount to make sure that our Eight Days of Courage go smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Louw is already a big fan of the Epic: \u201cI enjoy the dynamic of a multi-day race and I generally get better as the days go by. And there is no bigger platform to perform on than the Epic \u2013 it’s the worlds greatest mountain bike race.\u201d<\/p>\n

He will be riding a \u201ccustom-painted Team Contego SWIFT Carbon Evil Twin, a bike I helped develop over the past two years\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Absa Cape Epic enters the post-Christoph Sauser era a number of new challengers from around the world are putting up their hands. One of those with the pedigree to challenge the favourites in 2016 will be Greece\u2019s Periklis Ilias, a former Marathon World Champion and Olympian. The 29-year-old will be partnered with another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,2185,3140,24,3046,3045],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-18868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-adriaan-louw","tag-calle-friberg","tag-cape-epic","tag-periklis-ilias","tag-tiago-ferreira"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18868","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=18868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18868"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=18868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}