Newly formed Swiss/South African duo Nino Schurter (27) and Philip Buys (24) will tackle this year’s Absa Cape Epic, which takes place from March 23 to 30, for the first time as team Scott-Odlo Racing.
The dramatic new route of the event, now in its 11th year, will be as challenging as previous years.
The race, the biggest of its kind in the world, will offer both local and international mountain biking enthusiasts the opportunity to participate in an eight day mountain bike race of 718km up approximately 14 850m of climbing, with the final stage again finishing at Lourensford Wine Estate.
Schurter has won the World Cup overall three times and has eleven World Cup wins to his name. He is a two time Olympic medallist, and also a silver medallist at the 2011 Cross-country World Championships and the Under 23 World Champion twice.
He is also four-times Cross-country European Champion and six times Swiss Champion.
Buys, on the other hand, is the current African Cross-country Champion, the 2013 South African Cross-country Champion and has four Absa Cape Epics under his belt.
Says Schurter “We’re racing together for the first time and I’m really looking forward to it. Philip is a great guy and a great talent. His experiences on stage races in the South African heat and my experiences in cross-country races will make us super strong. Our goal is to win the race. You always need a little bit of luck to successfully complete the Absa Cape Epic.”
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