Amputee Reuben Van Niekerk (29) from Centurion will partner with Dagmar Muhlbauer (37) from Ballito for this year’s Absa Cape Epic as team Driepoot Toyota.
Reuben Van Niekerk dismounts his bicycle to help fellow amputee and team-mate Dane Wilson with a technical problem during the prologue of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race on March 17, 2013. Photo: Greg Beadle / Cape Epic / SPORTZPICS
The legendary mountain bike stage race, in its eleventh year, will take place from March 23 to 30 and see riders complete 718 km of intense riding with 14 850m of climbing.
Van Niekerk, who is self-employed in the publishing industry, will be participating in his second Absa Cape Epic this year.
“I’ve had my eye on the Absa Cape Epic for a couple of years. I worked as a volunteer at the race in 2012 in order to secure a spot. Once I confirmed my entry, Toyota came on board with sponsorship and they have once again helped us in 2014.”
Muhlbauer, an emergency care practitioner, adds: “I was asked in January to ride with Reuben whose original partner could no longer ride the event due to other commitments.”
Van Niekerk and Muhlbauer unfortunately do not train together very often as they live in different provinces, but John Wakefield coaches them both.
“I had to change my team mate early this year as my original team mate, Dane Wilson, has been called up to do national duty at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Mexico. It was a natural decision to then ask Dagmar as we’ve raced together before, and we have the same coach.
“This makes it easy for us to match our training and for John to monitor that we’re both on the same page in terms of our fitness,” says Van Niekerk.
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