14
BIG
UP
TO THE LAST LION,
KROSS
2019
280-2
FIRST TIMER AND
REFORMED ROADIE
Age: 34
Epics completed: 1
Stage wins: 0
BEST RESULT
25th (2011)
2 x XCO Spanish champion
ONDŘEJ
CINK
Age: 28
Epics completed: 0
BEST RESULT
2015 XCO Czech
champion
I
t’s clear that Cink is a classy rider – after a top 10
overall on the UCI World Cup circuit and a podium
spot at the Andorra leg in 2016, he transferred his
high-output engine and mastery of the bicycle to the road,
earning him a berth on the Bahrain-Merida team’s Tour de
France squad only six months after his tarmac debut. The
Czech has since returned to his fi rst love, fortunately for
mountain biking fans – and for Mantecón Gutiérrez, who’ll
have his work cut out for him.
It’s the two-time Spanish XCO champ’s second Absa
Cape Epic – his fi rst was eight years ago, riding with
Olympic bronze medallist Carlos Coloma Nicolas. After a
disastrous Prologue, the pair focused on individual stages,
coming up with a podium spot on Stage 4. But like many
others, it’s likely they’ll aim for a high GC placing, not just to
get their name in lights at the biggest mountain bike stage
race in the world, but also to earn UCI points on their road
to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Check out the
women’s teams
to watch on p72
54 | MTB | The Untamed African MTB Race
CRAIG BEECH Last Lion
As a successful businessman you
have limited time and could probably
choose to do anything with your
time out, yet you have chosen to
participate in every single Cape Epic
to date. Why? The Epic still remains
the event by which to measure one’s
ability and fi tness. It takes a certain
amount of discipline and sacrifi ce each year to work in
a fi tness plan in order to be prepared, but I have always
said that if there is one race and event I’d like to do in
this country, it is the Cape Epic. It helps that our work
quietens down over the December break. This aff ords me
the time to get back onto the bike and trails, clock in the
hours, and lead into closing off the fi rst quarter of the
year with a sense of achievement. I fi nd this easier than
trying to fi t in races throughout the year while juggling
a work-travel schedule that fl uctuates signifi cantly. My
involvement with the Epic has been twofold – I initially
approached Kevin Vermaak to off er support in providing
mapping and 3D animations of the race and route, dating
back to the early, pre-Google Earth days. My wife and I
still support the mapping, which in itself has off ered an
additional commitment to keep pushing the mapping
support and associated tech for the event.
MIKE HORN First Timer
You have circumnavigated the
globe countless times and in doing
so climbed the highest summits,
swum the longest river and crossed
the coldest poles. Is Epic your fi nal
and greatest physical and mental
challenge? Jokes aside, are you
just here to spend quality time with
your brother in the country you grew up in, or are you
going to make him suff er as you prepare for the last
leg of Pole2Pole? Ha Ha! I am aware of the challenges
that the Epic has in store, as it’s not known as the
toughest mountain bike stage race on the planet for
nothing. My brother and I are a good team, working
alongside each other for over 20 years, facing a lot of
adventure challenges. To be able to share this challenge
in our country of origin is going to be great fun. Taking
some time off to suff er together before the last leg of
the Pole2Pole expedition is a bonus.
How much mountain biking do you typically do and
what are the most remote and extreme trails you’ve
EPIC/SPORTZPICS
SERGIO
MANTECÓN
GUTIÉRREZ