Category: Racing

Important Rule Changes for 2007

There are several very important changes in the rules that will be applied at the 2007 event. The Absa Cape Epic is the only 2-person team stage race on the UCI mountain bike calendar and has a unique set of race rules. The latest release of the rules incorporates feedback from the UCI and South African Commissaires at the 2006 race and measures to address some critical safety concerns of the organisers.

New Classification for Masters Category (announced in June 2006)

The youngest rider must be 40 years or older on the day of the start of the race to be classified as a Masters team (i.e. both riders must be 40 years or older).

Towing is Illegal

The use of towropes or bungee cords to tow your team partner will not be allowed and will result in disqualification. Every year numerous accidents have been reported that are related to riders towing each other and in order to prevent these accidents and a potential more serious incident, this practice is now banned. Holding on to your team partner’s jersey pocket or hydration pack is legal and should be the preferred method to receive assistance from your team partner. The banning of towing will also mean that the results in the Mixed category are more a measure of the performance of the weaker partner in the team rather than the stronger.

Neutral Technical Support Zones en Route

Technical support is allowed at designated technical support zones at each of the 3 water points on each stage – i.e. outside technical help is allowed within these designated technical zones. This service mirrors the Shimano Tech Zones first introduced at the UCI World Cup Cross Country (XCO) races in 2005. At every water point Shimano will provide neutral technical support to all riders should they require it. Where water points are accessible to the public, private technical support is allowed within the demarcated technical support zones. Not all the water points are accessible to the public and hence at these water points, where private technical supporters cannot access, riders can only make use of the Shimano neutral tech support should they require outside service. Every day at least 1 water point is accessible to the public and hence every day there is at least 1 technical support zone accessible for private technical support. No support other than from a fellow rider is allowed outside these technical zones!

The Blue Bike Number Board for Non-Finishers still in the Race

Any rider that does not finish a stage or does not reach the finish line by the cut-off time (stages 1 – 7: 17h00 and stage 8: 15h30) will have their bike number board replaced with a blue bike number board. These riders may continue riding the race, but will not be classified as official finishers even if they continue to ride the entire race. On the last stage, these riders will not pass the main finish line at Lourensford reserved for official Absa Cape Epic finishers and will be diverted to a separate finish line that is shared with the Vigne à Vigne riders at Lourensford. If a blue-board rider does not finish a second stage, then he or she will have their bike number board removed and may not continue riding the race.

Some existing rules will be more strictly applied than in previous years. These rules are highlighted below.

Cut-off Times will be Strictly Adhered

It is the organisers hope that all riders are fit enough to complete each and every stage within the cut-off time. In the past, when severe weather conditions or other mitigating factors were experienced, the cut-off time was on occasion extended. This caused confusion amongst riders and an unfair treatment of riders in mid-field that successfully reached the finish line within original cut-off time at great effort. The cut-off time for stages 1 – 7 will be strictly 17h00 and for stage 8 it will be 15h30.

If a rider does not finish a stage within the cut-off time, he or she may continue to ride but will not be classified as an official finisher. A second stage DNF (did not finish) will result in disqualification and the rider may not continue riding.

Singletrack Magazine, the UK based publication with a truly international readership and one of the world’s biggest and most popular mountain biking websites have agreed a deal with the rothar.com team for the Cape Epic. It’s great news and we’re both looking forward to working with the Singletrack team from Todmorden in the build up to, during the race and after the event.

We’ve been asked recently about our fundraising efforts. We’re a standard entry into the Cape Epic raise rather than one of the Charity Entries, but as Tyrrell and I both see completing the event as a big challenge, we thought we’d give set ourselves an added incentive – raising funds for a good cause (much of the information below comes from the CF Trust website).

What is CF?

CF stands for Cystic Fibrosis and is the UK’s most common life-threatening, inherited disease. It affects more than 7,500 babies, children and young adults. Symptoms can include poor weight gain, troublesome coughs, repeated chest infections and salty sweat. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects a number of organs in the body (especially the lungs and pancreas) by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus.

At present there is no cure for CF, but the faulty gene has been identified and doctors and scientists are working to find ways of repairing or replacing it. One of the main objectives of the CF Trust is to fund this work. People with CF are living longer than ever before. Until the 1930s, the life expectancy of a baby with CF was only a few months. Today the average life expectancy for someone with CF is around 31 years.

Where will the money go?

Every year, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust is committed to spending at least £5 million. This money funds medical research, clinical support and family care. All clinical and research projects are scrutinised by an international panel of leading doctors and scientists. This ensures that every pound is distributed to areas of most need and potential scientific impact. Learn more…

It’s official – the 2007 Absa Cape Epic presented by adidas will finish at Lourensford Wine Estate for the first time! The final day of the Absa Cape Epic from Kleinmond to Lourensford will feature some challenging new trails that were previously inaccessible. The exciting new finish venue also means that the Cape Times Vigne à Vigne, the 1-day race that coincides with the last day of the Absa Cape Epic, has its entirely own route that will start and finish on Lourensford Wine Estate.

Kind Regards
Kevin Vermaak
Director – Cape Epic

The staff magazine at work has recently carried a little bit of publicity about our efforts. It’s good to get some coverage. Hopefully we’ll get some more sponsorship off the back of the article!

…If we don’t get the food and nutrition right. Tyrrell is on the case. He’s thinking along the lines of more or less our base training i.e. work daily commute and extended weekend training and then following a plan close to that of the Cape Epic training program starting early December.

I think we are going to have to catch a beer over the weekend sometime soon and work out more or less the winter program that we could send to the professional coaching guys for advice. Oh and we need to get Tyrrell sorted with a winter bike so we can get those pedals grinding again.

The route details, stage towns and our brand new finish location for 2007 will be revealed at our first-ever annual Charity Gala on Tuesday 24th October in Johannesburg. One of the prizes to be auctioned on the night will be a training ride for you and your friends with Christoph Sauser (multiple 2006 World Cup winner, twice overall World Cup champion and 2006 Absa Cape Epic winner) with a 2 night spa getaway at Spier hotel. We’ll also be introducing and offering a prize in our new all-girls ‘boot-camp’ programme for wives and girlfriends at next year’s Epic (details of this programme will be available on our website after the Charity Gala). All the guests will get a short DVD of next year’s route taken from our experiences while riding the trial ride of the route in September. We look forward to seeing all of you that have bought tickets at the Gala next week.

Kind Regards
Kevin Vermaak
Director – Cape Epic

Hi there. Tyrrell here. The new route has been announced. As I thought they have gone inland via Oudshoorn where I did my Army training. Looks very interesting & think it is going to be very hot during the days and very cold at nights, but it’s piss compared to good old UK, lol.

Have a look http://capeepic.igroup.co.za/info/routeinfo.php

I will go through it better later and follow the course better.

Tyrrell posting some thoughts. I was looking through the Cape Epic sites to get more info on the race and maybe some training tips. I stumbled over this one which looked pretty good.

http://www.live2ride.co.za/teamsubaru/