The 2015 Absa Cape Epic will start a week earlier than scheduled after negotiations with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
The Epic will now take place from March 15 to 22. As originally scheduled, it would have clashed with the opening UCI cross-country World Cup event, in the Oceania region.
In order to accommodate the Epic and to give the top professionals an opportunity to recover from the South African event, the UCI has also adjusted its calendar – shifting the World Cup event back by a week to April 4.
UCI Off-Road manager Peter Van den Abeele said his organisation structured its international calendar to take into account other key events. “Of course the UCI World Cup is important, but we have other important events on the calendar that need to be well integrated in order to make it balanced for the riders, teams and national federations,” he added.
Epic founder Kevin Vermaak said: “It’s great news and we are very grateful. The Epic was the first ever mountain bike stage race to be granted UCI hors catégorie (beyond categorisation) status and we have had excellent co-operation with them over the years.”
* Absa Cape Epic Early Bird entries will open on March 31 at 3pm (GMT plus 2). The lottery entry system will open after the Early Bird entries are sold out and closes on May 30. The lottery draw will take place shortly afterwards.
To view more information on the Absa Cape Epic event, click here.
