Schurter's revenge at the Absa Cape Epic 2019

The Absa Cape Epic champion 2017 and reigning world champion and Olympic champion in the discipline XCO, Nico Schurter, will return to the race in 2019 with the aim of regaining the title that he had to give up in 2018. He will be supported by his new partner Andri Frischknecht and the supporting team DSV / SCOTT-SRAM of European champion Lars Forster and Gert Heyns.

Schurter's title defense was over before the 2018 race actually began. Matthias Stirnemann, with whom Schurter won the Absa Cape Epic in 2017, started the 2018 race with an illness. Although the pair finished fourth in the prologue, one second faster than eventual winners Jaroslav Kulhavý and Howard Grotts, their race ended halfway through the opening marathon. By the end of the stage, they had lost over twenty minutes to their rivals in the overall standings. Schurter's dream of being the first rider to defend the Absa Cape Epic crown since Christoph Sauser in 2012/2013 was over.

In 2019, he will join Swiss Epic champion Andri Frischknecht for the sixth Absa Cape Epic. Despite winning virtually every major title in the sport, his motivation still burns. "I love racing, I love challenging myself. This hunger to race at my best level is not less than the years before ", explained the seven-time XCO world champion.

Both he and Frischknecht are pragmatic about the lessons they can take from the 2018 race, when Frischknecht crashed during the third stage. "The lesson was that an Absa Cape Epic can go in all directions. For better and for worse, " Schurter reflected. "Illness, mechanical problems and injuries they can not avoid 100%, they can only try to limit the risk," explained the Swiss star.

"It was crap (to fail in 2018), but anything can happen in the Absa Cape Epic," Frischknecht added to echo Schurter's sentiments. However, the 24-year-old quickly shifted his focus to this year's race, saying, "For me, it's a dream come true to race the Cape Epic with my mentor Nino Schurter. I'm giving 110% and I see it as a great opportunity to show what I'm capable of."

Forster and Heyns will help Schurter and Frischknecht regain the SCOTT-SRAM title. The pair will ride in DSV / SCOTT-SRAM colors, as the South African marathon champion's sponsors are also represented in the team's jerseys. It's the debut of Forster's Absa Cape Epic, but in Heyns he has one of South Africa's most talented riders to help bridge the gap between experiences. "I've heard a lot of great stories about the Absa Cape Epic," Forster said. "I'm super excited to finally be on the start line of the most prestigious stage race in the world"   

Fortunately, the European XCO champion's expectation for the race is not just to expect to suffer. "I'm looking forward to riding through beautiful landscapes and shredding some nice trails, too," he smiled. With Heyns at his side, he should be able to find such moments, especially on the technical descents alongside all the suffering.  

"I am a much more complete racer than I was in 2014 when we won the final stage of Absa African Jersey and finished in sixth place. I've matured a lot as a rider over the last few years and I can't wait to compete in this prestigious event again," Heyns explained. "Although the competition has definitely increased each year, I'm confident that a podium finish is not impossible if everything falls into place. However, our main goal for the race is to support Nino [Schurter] and Andri [Frischknecht] in their attempt to win. It's been a few years since I last competed at the Absa Cape Epic 2016. It was a year full of drama. I had to withdraw from the race due to illness while leading the Absa African Jersey classification. In the last few years, I didn't have a teammate to participate in the event with. Therefore, I chose rather to study at this time ", said the DSV rider.

The partnership between SCOTT-SRAM and DSV is a special collaboration arranged for the 2019 Absa Cape Epic by two former top cyclists: Thomas Frischknecht - mountain bike legend and owner of SCOTT-SRAM, and Malcolm Lange of Lange Sports - multiple South African road and track cycling champion and owner of DSV Pro Cycling. Heyns explained, "A few months ago we received a call from Thomas Frischknecht, the manager of the SCOTT-SRAM team, asking me if I would be interested in teaming up with Lars Forster at the Absa Cape Epic. There is no doubt that Lars is a fantastic athlete and definitely a rider who will prove himself at the end of the race. I feel very privileged to have been given this opportunity and I'm very grateful for how cooperative everyone has been to make this collaboration between SCOTT-SRAM and DSV happen."