Ariane Lüthi, the reigning Swiss Marathon Champion, will be partnering with Canyon for her 2020 racing season and beyond. The Stellenbosch based rider and five-time Absa Cape Epic winner is going to tackle this gruelling race in March for the tenth time, with a partner yet to be announced. Being an integral part of the growth of the Spur Schools MTB League, Ariane is adored by hundreds of school children from all over South Africa. Canyon could not be more excited to be associated with this admired athlete, whom has shown both great integrity and professionalism throughout her racing career.
Equally excited, Ariane says “It was a tremendous success for me to get the support of leading bike brand, Canyon. The Canyon Lux is my dream bike, really. Having ridden the Lux on the Stellenbosch trails, it became evident as to why this bike has been ridden to multiple World Cup and World Championship honours this past season. The geometry makes climbing incredibly comfortable and efficient, while the rear suspension and dropper post gives a lot of confidence on the descents. A seemingly simple, but all the more important feature of the Lux, is that I can fit two big bottles into the frame. In the heat, this will serve as a huge advantage at the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek and this year’s Absa Cape Epic.” The 36- year old Swiss superstar, who has a masters degree in Sport Science, ads: “I love Canyon’s very own approach to engineering bikes. It fits perfectly with my Swiss flair for functionality and precision.”
Erik Kleinhans, Market Manager of Canyon South Africa, is looking forward to being associated with Lüthi once more: “It has been five years since Ariane and I worked together, where we had a very high success rate on the XCM racing scene. Since then Ariane continued her positive career path with a few Cape Epic, Swiss National and many more titles. Being a well-known personality in the MTB fraternity, a spokesperson for women’s cycling and the Spur MTB School’s League, I’m convinced she will be a great asset to Canyon.”
In March, Lüthi will once again target a podium spot at the Absa Cape Epic. In preparation for the world’s premier mountain bike stage race, she will participate in the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, taking place in the Western Cape within a week’s time. Lüthi will make her 2020 season debut alongside 21-year old German rider, Lia Schievers. The 2018 European Marathon Championships bronze medallist has made the continental and Swiss national marathon titles her primary goals for June. Thereafter she will shift her focus to the World Marathon Championships taking place in Turkey at the end of September. Lüthi’s final race of the season will be FNB Wines2Whales, in South Africa, in late October.
Lüthi will ride the Canyon Lux CF SLX 9.0:
