This article is written by Chris Whitfield.
Karl Platt. Photo: Supplied
Great sport is defined by its rivalries – the more intense and sustained they are the more compelling the contest – and two of the world’s leading mountain bikers have turned the 10 editions of the Absa Cape Epic into their personal battleground.
Both are moving towards the twilight of their competitive years and this month both have an extra motivation to win the world’s foremost mountain bike stage race again: to become its first five-time winner.
German Karl Platt won the first Epic in 2004, when it was raced between Knysna and Cape Town, with Namibia’s Mannie Heymans. He did it again in 2007, 2009 and 2010 with countryman Stefan Sahm.
Christoph Sauser won with fellow Swiss Silvio Bundi in 2006, with Burry Stander in 2011 and 2012 before the South African died in an accident while training, and with Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy in 2013.
In person Platt is affable, charming and laughs easily, while Sauser appears reserved, considered and thoughtful. The German says he is “addicted to fast cars”, while Sauser lists reading and following the news among his off-the-bike activities.
Then they get on their bicycles, where their approach to racing suggests different aspects to their personalities. Platt’s Epic wins have generally been built on patience and attrition, while Swiss Sauser acknowledges that his races have been “pretty much all or nothing” – winning or DNF (did not finish) thanks to crashes, illness or “some drama”.
Christoph Sauser. Photo: Supplied
Sauser’s pedigree is unquestionable. Besides his Epic wins, he is a former Cross Country World champion, Olympic medallist and goes into the race this year as the reigning Marathon World Champion (raced over longer distances, and a title he’ll defend in Pietermaritzbug in June).
But the Epic is raced in teams of two, and this year he will be riding with a partner who has relatively little mountain biking experience: Team Meerendal Songo Specialized will consist of Sauser and František Rabon, a former road racing professional who has switched to mountain biking relatively recently.
Sauser is confident though that Rabon has the “reliability, toughness and strength” he looks for in a partner. He is also an experienced stage racer – he has competed in the Giro d’Italia and European classics – and has what his fellow pros call a big engine: “In intervals I don’t have a chance against him,” says Sauser.
Team Bulls’ Platt is riding with fellow German Urs Huber – the same partnership finished second last year – and both have been showing excellent form in recent races.
