Perhaps the most dramatic increase in quality across all the Absa Cape Epic categories this year has come in the women’s event.
This year it will include the most decorated mountain biker on the planet, multiple world champion and Olympic gold medallist Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå of Norway.
The decision to give women equal prize money to the men helped galvanise the category, but there are also an increasing number of female athletes who regard the Absa Cape Epic as the main focus of their season.
In 2015 there are several world-class teams that have their sights on the top step of the podium. The pre-race favourites will be 2014 winners Ariane Kleinhans of Switzerland and Annika Langvad of Denmark (RECM Specialized), a superb pair of athletes who have combined into a formidable racing machine. Kleinhans has emerged as a marathon specialist while Langvad seems to be able to switch effortlessly from marathons to the shorter cross country discipline.
“I really want to win this race. We are really strong and well-prepared,” said Kleinhans. “We have the same mindset … we want to win this race.”
“I’m also very stoked to see so many good ladies here this year, especially Gunn Rita,” Kleinhans added.
Langvad was unequivocal about their ambition for 2015: “Of course we will try to go for another victory. That being said, this year’s field for the women is phenomenally strong. I expect it to be quite a different race to last year and I’m super excited to get going.”
“It’s a crazy race. It’s gruelling … but just as much as you suffer you enjoy the race,” she said.
They will face two other former women’s category winners in Esther Suss, also Swiss, and Briton Sally Bigham.
Veteran Suss has handpicked Belgian Alice Pirard to join her in Team Meerendal/Wheeler this year and is a fierce competitor. Pirard is a marathon specialist and only 26-years-old: they will make for a strong combination in spite of the fact that the younger rider has not done the Absa Cape Epic before.
“It’s a really strong field this year,” said Suss. “We will do our best. We’ll take it stage-by-stage and see how it goes.”
“Iron Sally” was scheduled to be riding with a Cape Epic newbie in Slovenian Blaža Klemenčič (Sellaronda Hero), but the latter has pulled out after picking up a knee injury. She was replaced only a week ago by Austrian Christina Kollmann, a 27-year-old with a record of good results in marathons over the past two years. Bigham is an established marathon specialist and will still be hoping to win the women’s category for the third time.
“I am so grateful to Christina, who has been really brave to take on the challenge (at late notice,” said Bigham. “This is her second Epic … she does have some foresight about what to expect”.
The wildcard in the field will be Dahle Flesjå, who has entered the Absa Cape Epic for the first time. She will be partnered by Switzerland’s Kathrin Stirnemann (World Bicycle Relief), also making her Cape Epic debut.
Dahle Flesjå has been determined to play down her chances and insists she will be riding to gain experience at the Absa Cape Epic. She does have limited stage racing experience, but is a hugely talented rider and Stirnemann is the reigning Cross Country Eliminator World Champion: they may surprise one or two of the other teams.
“I think it is such a hard race and such a different type of race to what we normally do,” said Dahle Flesjå. “For us it’s a little bit of an adventure and we’ll see in the end how we end up after eight days.”
“‘Survive and enjoy’ is the motto for Kathrin and I,” said Dahle Flesjå. “We are approaching it as a great adventure … and, of course, as experience for next year’s participation in the Absa Cape Epic.”
A South African with podium ambitions this year will be current national marathon champion Robyn de Groot, who is riding with Sweden’s Jennie Stenerhag. De Groot has had a storied career as a road cyclist and is proving to be as adept on her mountain bike. Stenerhag lives in South Africa and is a formidable marathon racer.
South Africans will be backing this combination, but will also have a fondness for Kleinhans, who is married to South African professional mountain biker Erik and lives in Stellenbosch.
*This year’s race takes place from 15 to 22 March and will once again take 1 200 riders through some of the Western Cape’s most unspoilt territory. The race kicks off with the Prologue in Table Mountain National Park, starting from the University of Cape Town, and finishes eight days later at Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville.
Meerendal will host the finish of the race and the Grand Finale celebrations for the first time. The Grand Finale will kick off with live entertainment, a farmer’s market, great food and wine and unmatched scenery. Vantage points will be accessible to the general public. Entrance is free.