Mountain Biking in South Africa

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Top International Riders Preparing for 2007 Absa Cape Epic with the Giro del Capo

Four of the world’s top mountain bike riders, Silvio Bundi, Thomas Zahnd, Sandro Spaeth and Gion Manetsch will be competing in this year’s Giro del Capo in preparation for the 2007 Absa Cape Epic. Silvio Bundi, the 2006 Absa Cape Epic defending champion will be teaming with fellow Swiss riders Zahnd, Spaeth and Manetsch, as well as two South African riders, Dawid Griesel and Anton Wynand, to make up the six-member Outriders team for the Giro del Capo. 

Ending only twelve days before the 2007 Absa Cape Epic is due to begin, the Giro del Capo, a multi-day road cycling race which takes place in the Cape Town and Boland regions, begins on 6 March and ends on 11 March. As part of the Union Cycliste Internationale’s African calendar, every year the Giro del Capo attracts nearly 200 local and international cyclists. 

After completing the six-day Giro del Capo, the four Swiss riders will have a brief rest period before travelling to Knysna for the start of the Absa Cape Epic, the world’s largest full-service, mountain bike stage race. Covering 886 kilometres and with a total climb of 15 045 metres, 1 086 riders, in teams of two, will compete in this eight-day race, which ends on Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West. Bundi will be partnering with Manetsch while Zahnd will be partnering with Spaeth for this year’s race. 

According to Hannele Steyn-Kotze, one of South Africa’s top female mountain bike riders and two-time Absa Cape Epic entrant, if a rider is fit and on form, a fast, hard race like the Giro del Capo may be extremely beneficial to riders that are also entering the Absa Cape Epic. “These riders are fit and have finely tuned rest programmes that allow for adequate recovery before the next race. This is what cycling on an international level is all about – going from race to race and putting in top performances every week,” concurs Cape Town-based biokineticist Iain McGregor. 

The Outriders team registered for this year’s Giro del Capo will be sponsored by the Outriders Cycling Club, a Western Cape-based organisation that aims to increase awareness of and participation in mountain biking by organising regular rides and events, clinics, training sessions, access to track cycling and member support. With the member-base of Outriders ranging from professionals to enthusiasts, the club also identifies, sponsors and assists emerging local mountain biking talent.   

Having worked with Zahnd and Spaeth at the 2006 Absa Cape Epic as their massage therapist and biokineticist, Outriders member, Iain McGregor, formed the Giro del Capo Outriders team to create an opportunity for local talent to ride alongside some of the top international riders. “Thomas and Sandro expressed an interest to me to ride the Giro del Capo as preparation for the Absa Cape Epic. They suggested that Silvio and Gion join, and we then chose two very talented South African riders, who have excelled in the local cycling league, to complete the team. This project is an effort to inform and inspire local riders, by allowing them to train and ride with international riders and develop a fuller understanding of cycling on an international level,” explains McGregor. 

These four international riders will be racing alongside more of the world’s top riders, including Christoph Sauser, Bart Brentjens, Greg Minnaar and Thomas Frischknecht, in the 2007 Absa Cape Epic. This race affords local riders yet another opportunity to compete alongside international mountain biking super stars, with two thirds of the entries for the Absa Cape Epic solely available to local riders.