THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Cape Epic features top elites; Subaru-Gary Fisher returns; Blenkinsop Joins Yeti-Fox
Following its trend of attracting the world’s top cross-country racers, this year’s Absa Cape Epic stage race in South Africa will boast a deepened roster of elite male and female riders, including four teams from North America.
The nine-day stage race kicks off March 28 in the port city of Knysna and finishes, 950 kilometers later, on Sunday, April 8, at the Lourensford wine estate just outside of Cape Town. Like other multi-day mountain bike stage races, the Absa Cape Epic features competition between two-person teams. The top teams in the elite men’s general classification earn valuable UCI points for cross country.
Stefan Sahm and Karl Platt of the Bulls team will return to defend their elite men’s title.
Last year the Germans engaged in an eight-day battle with the Cannondale-Vredestein squad of Dane Jakob Fuglsang and Roel Paulissen of Belgium. Paulissen and Fuglsang — the reigning U23 cross-country world champion — also will return.
Swiss Christoph Sauser, the 2006 Cape Epic champ and reigning marathon world champion, will ride alongside South African U23 rider Burry Stander of the GT team. In 2007 Sauser proved too strong for teammate Italian Johanes Palhuber and rode with South African road rider David George after the Italian pulled out.
George, who in 2007 hinted he might transition from road to mountain bike racing, will also return with countryman Kevin Evans of the MTN Energade team. The sponsor is supporting two squads, with Namibian Manny Heymans and South Africa’s Ben Melt Swanepoel riding as well. The European squads of Team Dolphin (Bart Brentjens/ Alban Lakata), Full-Dynamix-SRM (Fredrik Kessiakoff/Massimo Debertolis) Team Italy (Mauro Bettin/Tony Longo) and The Rocky Mountain/Cube pairing of Germans Carsten Bresser and former Telekom star Udo Bölts, should up the speed of the men’s race. Also looking to be an animator is Norwegian great Rune Hoydahl, who will race with countryman Kristian Torgersen.
For the North Americans, the Trek-Volkswagen team will send the elite men’s team of Jeremiah Bishop and Chris Eatough and the women’s squad of Susan Haywood and X-terra triathlete Jennifer Smith. Bishop and Haywood — each Olympic hopefuls — are hoping the nine-day race will boost their fitness for the upcoming European World Cups. Eatough, winner of the 2007 BC Bike Race, is aiming to add to his list of impressive wins, which includes six 24-hour solo world titles.
Coloradans Greg Krause and Josiah Middaugh also will make the journey to South Africa. The two race professionally as X-terra triathletes, and in 2007 Middaugh claimed the overall victory in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge (a competition involving kayaking, mountain-bike and road racing) at the Teva Mountain Games.
Canadian great Alison Sydor and marathon specialist Pia Sundstedt of Finland are favorites in the women’s race.
The 2008 Absa Cape Epic is sold out at 1,200 riders. The race will include 180,000 meters of total climbing. For more information visit www.cape-epic.com.
Subaru-Gary Fisher returns for 2008
Subaru motor company has decided to continue its title sponsorship of the Subaru-Gary Fisher professional mountain-bike team for 2008. The team will return with its core group of North American and international riders. Heading up the squad for the third straight year are Americans Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Willow Koerber. The two are favorites to represent the United States at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Also returning are Olympic hopefuls Heather Irmiger and Sam Schultz, endurance specialist Nat Ross and international riders Jenny Copnall (Great Britain), Ken Onodera (Japan), Asa Erlandsson (Sweden) and Dror Pekatch (Israel).
Blenkinsop Joins Yeti-Fox
New Zealand’s downhill wunderkind Sam Blenkinsop will race the 2008 UCI World Cup downhill series for the Yeti-Fox professional mountain-bike racing team. Blenkinsop, the junior silver medal winner at the 2006 UCI world mountain bike championships in Rotorua, New Zealand, finished an amazing ninth place in the elite world championships in 2007.
The Golden, Colorado-based Yeti-Fox team will hit the World Cup and select North American events. The international team includes Australian Jared Graves, Kiwis Blenkinsop and Justin Leov and Coloradan Ross Milan. The domestic Yeti-Fox team will consist of Rich Houseman, TJ Sharp, Rudy Unrau and Chris Boice.
NorCal High School League to host TOC fundraiser
The NorCal High School Mountain Bike League will host a fundraising dinner after stage one of the Tour of California at Risibisi restaurant in Petaluma, California. The League, the oldest high school league for competitive mountain-bike racing, began in 2001 with four registered high school teams. For 2008, the league boasts 40 high school teams in and around Northern California and Nevada.
The league also recently published its 2008 rulebook, which can be viewed at www.norcalmtb.org/race/rules.htm.
