Björn packed his bike and traveled to South Africa to compete in the 19th edition of the Absa Cape Epic. The 8-day mountain bike marathon is the largest MTB stage race in the world and has become one of the most iconic challenges in the sport. Björn and his teammate Hans-Jürgen are already in South Africa preparing for the big challenge which starts this Sunday, 19th March.
Contents
The Race
The Absa Cape Epic is one of the toughest races on the MTB calendar. In just 8 days, teams of 2 riders must traverse 648km of dusty, hot terrain featuring 16,475m of climbing. Live coverage ensures that fans around the world can keep up with all the action happening in South Africa. After the prologue on Sunday, the riders will be challenged as early as stage 1 with 2550 meters of climbing over 98 kilometers. Next up is stage 2, the longest of the race with distance of 116km and 1850m of ascent. Stage 3 has the most elevation gain of the event with 2600m of climbing over 108km. An overview of the race and the stages can be found below.
The Team
Björn Glasner is a former UCI cyclist and a key member of the Bike-Discount team. His CV includes appearances at the German Road Championships and the Tour of Thailand. His many victories include the Rhineland-Palatinate Tour in 2004. At his side is Hans-Jürgen, this year a veteran in the Cape Epic, after his participation in 2022. For Björn, it will be his first foray into mountain biking and straight into one of the toughest tracks in the sport.
The Bike
For Björn’s Wilier URTA SLR we selected some of the best components in our assortment to ensure performance, weight optimization and reliability.
The Shimano XTR M9100 12 Speed was Björns groupset of choice. DT Swiss is covering the wheelset with the XRC 1200 Spline®, and the suspension with the F 232 One fork and the R 232 One Shock. Also from DT Swiss is the D 232 One dropper post. To keep his performance at perfect glance Björn is using the Garmin Rally™ XC200 dual side powermeter. All data collected is being sent to his Garmin Edge 1040 Solar computer. SQ Lab will cover the comfort with the 612 Ergowave R Carbon Saddle and the 711 R Grips. For the tyres, Björn chose the Racing Ray/Racing Ralph combination from Schwalbe.
Garmin inReach® Messenger
Perfect for the wilderness: With Garmin inReach® Messenger, Björn stays connected with friends and family, even in the more remote or signal-free parts of the Cape Epic race. They can see exactly where he is and how far he has travelled. And if things get really rough, Björn can even use Garmin inReach® to send an interactive SOS to a rescue centre. You can track Björn’s current location HERE.
Check all about each component at Bike-discount.de
GIVE-AWAY
In collaboration with Northwave, we are giving away 3 x Rebel 3 Epic Series worth € 209.99 (RRP) each! The Rebel 3 Epic Series was developed to celebrate Northwave’s partnership with the race and to bring a trusted companion to the market that you can always rely on. Just the thing to tackle the trails and tough race days of the Epic Series. The special thing about our competition: Altogether there are 3 pairs of Rebel 3 Epic shoes up for grabs.
You can enter by posting a raffle-related comment under the raffle post from 20.03.2023 on the Facebook/Instagram page of H&S Bike-Discount GmbH.
Each winner wins a pair. Type in the conditions of participation HERE.