{"id":187120,"date":"2018-07-03T17:49:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/?p=187120\/"},"modified":"2018-07-03T17:49:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:49:48","slug":"steps-to-the-top-cape-epic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/steps-to-the-top-cape-epic\/","title":{"rendered":"Steps to the Top \u2013 Cape Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e5ij1ydGJ2Y\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Part 1 \u2014 Nino<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Imagine for a second that you own an Olympic Gold Medal, a small collection of world championship jerseys, and that you\u2019ve just come off of the perfect season in which you won every single World Cup and another UCI Cross Country World Championship. You\u2019re a beast. You know it, your sponsors know it, your competitors know it \u2014 and even the fans that\u2019d love to see you lose know it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186981\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180317-058.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180317-058.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180317-058-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180317-058-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">You\u2019re a machine, wholly dedicated to winning mountain bike races. You spend most of your year in the northern hemisphere, but, like surfers chasing the endless summer, you head to the southern hemisphere, South Africa, to chase warmer weather in the off-season. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186989\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-591.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-591.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-591-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-591-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">You make the town of Stellenbosch your second home. You have a bike shop there. When the 2018 World Cup XC opener comes to Stellenbosch, it feels like it is your home race. And a racer worth even a fraction of their bike\u2019s retail price wants to perform well in front of the home crowd. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186992\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1579.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1579.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1579-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1579-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">You\u2019re a beast, a machine, a study in preparation \u2014 this has been evident since you first started cycling. But even you can make a mistake. And there, in front of your second-home crowd, you do. It\u2019s not what the forum experts will talk about immediately following your loss. Nope. It is something infinitely subtler than a slipped pedal or when you started your sprint, but the resulting loss \u2014 your first World Cup defeat in more than a year \u2014 is just as painful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186982\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-171.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-171.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-171-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-171-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">But you knew it would happen eventually, and so you lick your figurative wounds and get ready for the next race. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Just a few kilometers and a handful of days down the road from Stellenbosch, the start of the Absa Cape Epic awaits. You\u2019re the defending champion. Co-champion is perhaps more precise, since this is a stage race in which teams of two must start and finish together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186988\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-508.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-508.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-508-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-508-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Your co-defending champ partner is your Scott-SRAM teammate Matthias Stirnemann, who managed to get the better of you already this year in a race back home in Switzerland. Together, you\u2019re favorites for a repeat victory. But, already in the Prologue Time Trial, your teammate can\u2019t find the power to keep pace with you. You lose time. And while you know that something is amiss, you hold on to the hope that the eight-day length of the Cape Epic will swing the odds back to your favor. But it isn\u2019t going to happen this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Stirnemann is barely able to finish Stage 1. You push him, ghost white and barely able to stand, across the finish line as a gesture of solidarity \u2014 and he is taken to the hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186996\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-868.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-868.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-868-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-868-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Ultimately, it comes down to this one simple fact, one that is perhaps unimaginable to anyone but another world-class racer: You\u2019re not here for your health. You\u2019re here to win a bike race or pretty much die trying \u2014 and you can\u2019t do either now. And so you sling a leg over your bike and head home to prepare for the rest of the World Cup season. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Part 2 \u2014 Young Guns<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Imagine for a second that you are a competitor at the pinnacle of cross-country mountain bike racing, the UCI World Cup. You\u2019re young. You\u2019re not the kind of young that absolves you from any sort of real expectation, but rather the kind of young that has already proven things but still has big potential for years of bright competition future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186995\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC_life-180317-303.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC_life-180317-303.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC_life-180317-303-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC_life-180317-303-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">It\u2019s important to understand this part, because this kind of young possesses the knowledge to understand what the body is doing, the wisdom to know that pragmatism is not the same thing as laziness, but yet the blind faith that everything is going to go well despite signs to the contrary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-187001\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-690.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-690-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-690-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">If you\u2019re Scott\u2013SRAM Young Guns Michiel Van der Heyden and Andri Frischknecht you are that kind of young. And, going into the 2018 Cape Epic, you\u2019re riding pretty well. It\u2019s not the kind of \u2018well\u2019 that would\u2019ve made you race favorites, but rather the kind of \u2018well\u2019 that could\u2019ve delivered a stage win like you had in the 2017 event. And certainly you\u2019re riding well enough to help your defending champion teammates Schurter and Stirnemann.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186991\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1516.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1516.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1516-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180321-1516-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Mountain bike racing is most often a solo endeavor. Yeah, you\u2019re around other racers and teammates, and there are fans and photographers and TV coverage, but you\u2019re mostly alone. Not here. This is a stage race not all that different than those on the road. And, in a stage race, success of one teammate always adds a few watts of power to the rest. Unfortunately, bad luck and illness do the same thing in reverse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186994\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-377.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-377.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-377-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180318-377-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">If you\u2019re Andri, that means that the knee pain you have been doing your best to ignore for the good of the endeavor is now amplified with every pedal stroke. And that stage win \u2014 as nice as it looks on one\u2019s palmares \u2014 seems impossible. And when you\u2019re World Cup young and promising, an also-ran finish that potentially costs an entire season just isn\u2019t worth the risk. So you pull off your race numbers and look toward the future. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Part 3 \u2014 Frischi<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Imagine for a second that you own an Olympic Silver Medal, some rainbow jerseys, and a working vineyard whose rows of grapes are marked with your World Cup victories. You were one of the most popular riders of the golden age of cross-country mountain bike racing, one of your home country\u2019s most celebrated cyclists, and you run a team that is arguably the most prolific in the history of the sport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186997\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1172.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1172.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1172-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1172-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">You\u2019ve come to test your mettle once again in the South African heat and on its unforgiving terrain even though you don\u2019t have to. You have quite literally nothing to prove. Sure, you\u2019re a past champion at this event, and fans still cheer when the announcer calls your name at the start, but the fact that you\u2019re here has nothing to do with where your name appears on the results list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-186998\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1273.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1273.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1273-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180320-1273-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">You started in the sport all those years ago because you thought it was cool. And you feel the same today. The normal mountain biker might think that all of those events of the past fade \u2014 but they don\u2019t. The final lap of a World Cup race won 20-or-more years ago is just as vivid in the memory banks of Thomas Frischknecht as last year\u2019s World Championship is for Nino Schurter. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">You have nothing to prove. But that feeling of accomplishment, of prevailing over angry terrain no matter what, and racing toward a finish line&#8230; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">It\u2019s pretty special. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>About the Cape Epic:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">2108 marked the 15th edition of the event<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Prologue Time Trial plus seven stages over eight days (March 18-25, Cape Town-Wellington, South Africa)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Total distance: 658 kilometers (409 miles)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Total climbing: 13,530 meters (44,390 feet)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Overall time for the Men\u2019s Champions: 25 hours, 29 minutes, 48.9 seconds<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Overall time for the Women\u2019s Champions: 29 hours, 57 minutes, 6.5 seconds<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Overall time for the Scott\u2013SRAM Old Dudes Thomas Frischknecht and Urs Gerig: 30 hours, 10 minutes, 6.4 seconds[\/I]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Video by: Mind Spark Cinema<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Photos by: Adrian Marcoux<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Words by: Joe Parkin<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sram.com\"><span class=\"s2\">sram.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/scott-sram.com\"><span class=\"s2\">scott-sram.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part 1 \u2014 Nino Imagine for a second that you own an Olympic Gold Medal, a small collection of world championship jerseys, and that you\u2019ve just come off of the perfect season in which you won every single World Cup and another UCI Cross Country World Championship. You\u2019re a beast. You know it, your sponsors know it, your competitors know it \u2014 and even the fans that\u2019d love to see you lose know it. You\u2019re a machine, wholly dedicated to winning mountain bike races. You spend most of your year in the northern hemisphere, but, like surfers chasing the endless<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170425,"featured_media":186990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.3 (Yoast SEO v19.7.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Steps to the Top \u2013 Cape Epic | MTB-MAG.COM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/steps-to-the-top-cape-epic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steps to the Top \u2013 Cape Epic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Part 1 \u2014 Nino Imagine for a second that you own an Olympic Gold Medal, a small collection of world championship jerseys, and that you\u2019ve just come off of the perfect season in which you won every single World Cup and another UCI Cross Country World Championship. You\u2019re a beast. You know it, your sponsors know it, your competitors know it \u2014 and even the fans that\u2019d love to see you lose know it. You\u2019re a machine, wholly dedicated to winning mountain bike races. You spend most of your year in the northern hemisphere, but, like surfers chasing the endless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/en\/steps-to-the-top-cape-epic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MTB-MAG.COM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mtbmagcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-03T15:49:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mtb-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AM_CAPE-EPIC-180319-700.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1066\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Collins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mtbmagcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mtbmagcom\" \/>\n<meta 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