{"id":20554,"date":"2015-02-04T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2015\/02\/04\/kaess-kaufmann-due-some-good-karma-at-cape-epic-r1997\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T11:19:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T11:19:31","slug":"kaess-kaufmann-due-some-good-karma-at-cape-epic-r1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/kaess-kaufmann-due-some-good-karma-at-cape-epic-r1997\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaess, Kaufmann due some good karma at Cape Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the 2014 Absa Cape Epic four times winner Karl Platt of Germany told journalists that they should keep an eye on his countrymen Markus Kaufmann and Jochen Kaess as potential race winners. If they did not take him seriously at the time they were certainly doing so after Stage 1, when the Team Centurion Vaude pair won convincingly to pull on the race leaders\u2019 yellow Zebra jerseys. The next day, however, disaster struck when they lost nearly two hours after a chainstay broke on Kaufmann\u2019s bike.<\/p>\n

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The pair were to make headlines again by donating their wheels on course to eventual winners Robert Mennen and Kristian Hynek (Topeak Ergon) when the latter got punctures on two stages. German Mennen and Czech Hynek would almost certainly have lost their lead and the race without those acts of sportsmanship. All of which might suggest that Kaufmann and Kaess, who eventually finished 10th, are due some good karma. Might they get it in 2015? \u201cAfter our bad luck last year we have only one goal, we want to finish the race on the podium,\u201d said Kaufmann.<\/p>\n

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He and Kaess both tipped the Specialized pairing of four times winner Christoph Sauser and Marathon World Champion Jaroslav Kulhavy, Platt and Urs Huber (Bulls) and Hynek and Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon) as among the favourites. But the Absa Cape Epic is a team event and Kaess is confident that their partnership will give them an edge: \u201cThe combination of Markus and I is nearly perfect. I think it makes us one of the strongest teams.\u201d Kaufmann said his strengths were uphills and endurance. \u201cMy partners strengths are everything \u2026 he has no weakness!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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