Yyyy Posted March 25, 2022 Share 32 minutes ago, Shebeen said: the whole thing of the Epic being the "Tour de France" of mountain biking has taken a bit of a slide since most of the XC big names stopped riding it. they will need to find the new niche in marathon/epic series with a few list A riders. Nino does it because he seems to have it on his calendar in blackmarker. Who is the next highest ranked XCO rider in the field? https://www.uci.org/discipline/mountain-bike/4LArSj7CKcytMrGEDtKwkb?tab=rankings&discipline=MTB foster in #15, marotte in #16. uh mean a bunch of privateers who pooled their cash last month, got their dad to get some leave from the carpentry shop he runs(i made that up) and are on the podium is an amazing story. it really is, but it also shows how the depth has fallen from the field. to understand the whole TDF of MTB we need to understand see how does the Cape Epic stack up against other MTB Marathon stage races Do these other races attract bigger names? More UCI points? Media coverage? Prestige? financial rewards etc. I think the sport of Marathon MTB is still very small or less prestigious at a pro level (but big for amateurs) and thus way behind XCO. Marathon MTB at a pro level needs to be boosted in prestige before it will attract bigger names in the sport. Edit: This edition may have very little XCO rider participation but the field does have some high level marathon specialist which is what the Epic is supposed to attract Edited March 25, 2022 by YaseenEnos babse, Milkman, Zebra and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipV Posted March 25, 2022 Share 17 minutes ago, Trashy said: I have absolutely no doubt that were I riding I would relish the break. I was just under the impression I was watching a mountain bike race and not a road or gravel tour... You know that overweight guy on the side of a rugby field screaming at the pros that you are under the impression that you came to watch a rugby match and not a soccer match? Don't be that guy. There is no other way of getting across those mountains other than going around the dam and up Franschoek pass. But don't stress, they'll be dropping into the Berg River and Banhoek trails as well. Milkman, HOEKVLAG, swingTOpeddle and 6 others 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted March 25, 2022 Share 47 minutes ago, babse said: hahaha trust me if you paid and riding you would so grateful for some tar roads respite on day6 never a truer word spoken TheoG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Wakefield Posted March 25, 2022 Share 1 hour ago, Shebeen said: the whole thing of the Epic being the "Tour de France" of mountain biking has taken a bit of a slide since most of the XC big names stopped riding it. they will need to find the new niche in marathon/epic series with a few list A riders. Nino does it because he seems to have it on his calendar in blackmarker. Who is the next highest ranked XCO rider in the field? https://www.uci.org/discipline/mountain-bike/4LArSj7CKcytMrGEDtKwkb?tab=rankings&discipline=MTB foster in #15, marotte in #16. uh mean a bunch of privateers who pooled their cash last month, got their dad to get some leave from the carpentry shop he runs(i made that up) and are on the podium is an amazing story. it really is, but it also shows how the depth has fallen from the field. It’s a marathon event that has xc points so they did it to get points to start higher up come wc’s. So now their marathon teams entering as they should. to say the field is not deep is not correct. It’s plenty deep and when you compare data from the last 5 years, this years event is ******* hard and fast. Data doesn’t lie and the level has progressed. Yyyy, DieselnDust, ChrisF and 6 others 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman Posted March 25, 2022 Share What a breakaway by Imbuko(Type) Dev !! Lets hope the legs hold . Would be awesome for the Saffas to take a stage win . Fred van Vlaanderen, Scary Rider and DJuice 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgarblount Posted March 25, 2022 Share Chicken skin moment there! Well done Pieter and Marco!! Milkman, Fred van Vlaanderen, DJuice and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babse Posted March 25, 2022 Share Absolutely brilliant win for Imbuko Giant!!! Fred van Vlaanderen, Milkman, DJuice and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbr Posted March 25, 2022 Share 2 minutes ago, babse said: Absolutely brilliant win for Imbuko Giant!!! Yes very impressed ! Next time I'm getting pushed off the trails by one of them I'll say thank you sir 🤣 Sid the Sloth, DJuice, babse and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babse Posted March 25, 2022 Share 2 minutes ago, Jbr said: Yes very impressed ! Next time I'm getting pushed off the trails by one of them I'll say thank you sir 🤣 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babse Posted March 25, 2022 Share Having spoken to 1 of their team members about a week ago, Imbuko TypeDev had a goal of stage win(s) and top5 overall.... Boom!!! ChrisF, Sid the Sloth, Yyyy and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie88 Posted March 25, 2022 Share I have been living under a rock so excuse my ignorance but sad to see Hatherly not taking part this year. I hope it was something planned and not a case of injury or like last year, a teammate having a last minute Op? Sid the Sloth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJDT Posted March 25, 2022 Share The Ladies race is also getting interesting...Faces Rola looking good. Sid the Sloth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid the Sloth Posted March 25, 2022 Share 31 minutes ago, Cookie88 said: I have been living under a rock so excuse my ignorance but sad to see Hatherly not taking part this year. I hope it was something planned and not a case of injury or like last year, a teammate having a last minute Op? He is racing in Brazil at the first World Cup and has been training for that as far as I know. Cookie88 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amac Posted March 25, 2022 Share 21 minutes ago, Sid the Sloth said: He is racing in Brazil at the first World Cup and has been training for that as far as I know. He was going to race with Simon Andreasen, who got ill. Sid the Sloth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie88 Posted March 25, 2022 Share 4 minutes ago, amac said: He was going to race with Simon Andreasen, who got ill. He got ill again?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amac Posted March 25, 2022 Share 10 minutes ago, Cookie88 said: He got ill again?! Last year had an appendectomy. This year got sick a week or two beforehand. peetwindhoek and Cookie88 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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