Swiss mountain bike champion Urs Huber (27) will team up with Karl Platt as the Bulls team for the first time at this year’s Absa Cape Epic. The demanding race, now in its tenth year, will kick off with a prologue at Meerendal Wine Estate on Sunday, 17 March and end eight days later (Sunday, 24 March) at its long-established Lourensford Wine Estate finish.
Huber won the bronze medal in the Mountain Bike World Marathon Championships in Italy (2008), the European Championships in Germany (2008) and the Swiss Championships (2009). He is also a three times winner of the iXS Swiss Bike Classic (2007-2009) and a two times winner of the Crocodile Trophy in Australia (2009 & 2010). He finished third in the Marathon World Championships as well as European Championships in 2011, and was the Marathon Swiss Champion and Transalp winner in the same year. This will be his 4th Absa Cape Epic.
Urs Huber of Stokli Pro during stage 1 of the 2012 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race held from Robertson Primary School in Robertson, South Africa on the 26 March 2012.
Photo by Nick Muzik/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS
Weighing in at 70kg and standing 1,84m tall, Huber started mountain biking in 2001 and turned professional in 2007. He enjoys participating in the Absa Cape Epic “because it’s one of the biggest races for a mountain biker to win. Karl is a four-time winner of the Epic, so he knows everything about the race and how to win it. I’m sure that I can profit a lot by riding with him. Of course our goal is to win some stages and an overall podium finish, but it won’t be easy. There’s never an easy stage in the Epic. We’ll give our best and see what happens.”
With regards to training, Huber comments that they have been training together quite a lot since the beginning of the year. “It’s important as this will be our first Epic as a team. I really hope that we have no bad days during the race and race well as a team. We’ll give it our all every day.”
Huber’s highlight of the Absa Cape Epic, was finishing in second place in stage 1 in 2011. “But I couldn’t complete the race as I broke my arm. My hardest Cape Epic was my first one in 2009. I didn’t know before just how tough a race can be. Once you reach the finish line, you feel tired, happy and relieved. The race can be summed up in one word – indescribable!”
He reckons his biggest achievement was his two wins at the Grand Raid – a race over 120 km with 5 000 meters of climbing. He enjoys spending time with his girlfriend and working in his apple plantation. His ambition for 2013 is to win the Absa Cape Epic.
Adventure enthusiasts not participating in the Absa Cape Epic are invited to enter the Liqui Fruit Cape TimesVineyard Races, which consist of the Vineyard Ride and Vineyard Run. The races promise participants breathtaking scenery and spectacular terrain. The Vineyard Run offers a fun run (6km) and a trail run (15km) and the Vineyard Ride offers a 26km and 51km race. Interested riders can register online at www.vineyard-races.co.za. Closing date for entries is 1 March or when entries sell out.
Visit www.cape-epic.com for more details and to see where the riders are online during the race.
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