PEOPLE | RIDERS WE LIKE
our from four Cape
Epic wins! A fifth win
this year would put
you equal with Karl
Platt and Christoph
Sauser who took 12 years
each to do that. Does that
matter to and motivate you?
I am quite proud to have this
four from four record already.
Every time I line up for a new
Cape Epic I always have the
goal of going for the win in that
specific race, and putting my
energy in to making it happen.
I really like the challenge of
working towards that goal with
my race partner and I like the
challenge of creating good
teamwork, which is absolutely
key to being successful at the
Cape Epic, not to mention
even making it through the
race. This year I’m racing with
a new partner again – Anna
van der Breggen. The challenge
will be to establish good
teamwork. I’m not worried
though. I already know Anna
quite well and feel that we
have somewhat of the same
mentality. So I’m really looking
forward to getting going.
68 | MTB | woman we love
You have been able to win
marathon, stage races and
World Cup XCOs – do you
have a specific training and
arcing schedule to make that
possible or do you simply
adapt your tempo for each?
I put in a lot of work and training
hours during the off season
to create a solid base for my
race season. Once I have that
foundation, I then train more
specifically leading up to the
different types of races. For
the Cape Epic, I always put
in a lot of hours on the bike,
making sure I am ready for the
challenge ahead. You are not
going to be successful at the
Cape Epic unless you come
prepared. I do periodise my
training, but in all honesty,
it’s probably a lot less “rocket
science” than most people
think. I often hear people talking
about being a “specialist” and
preparing specifically for XCO or
marathon. When it comes down
to it, a good rider can perform
in all arenas. I’ve been good in
both marathon and XCO, doing
the exact same type of training.
Last year’s Epic World Cup and
Cape Epic is a testament to
that. As the saying goes: “No
pain, no gain.” It doesn’t seem
important which kind of pain
you inflict but rather that you
inflict an adequate amount.
You had another incredibly
successful season across
all disciplines last year,
underlining your status as
the world’s best mountain
biker. Your consistency
is amazing, but you have
battled with your high
standards on a couple of
big occasions, like the XCO
world champs and 2012
Olympics, where you were
favourite and motivated but
ended up not competing.
What did you make of those?
Any lessons that others,
especially us amateurs, can
learn from perhaps?
It’s true that having won
so many races across all
disciplines is a challenge, in
the way that I set my standards
very high. Being amongst the
favourites every time I stand
on a start line is a pressure
that I definitely feel. I succeed
sometimes, and other times
I don’t. I always try and tell
myself that if I won every single
race that I did, the wins would
not be so special to me. So, in
a way, it’s important to have
those races where things don’t
go your way. Only then, the
wins remain special and that
makes me strive for the next
one. It may again surprise many,
but my success itself has been
something I’ve had to learn to
handle. I was never “brought
up” as an athlete. I did my first
race when I was 24 years old. It
has been a process to handle
the attention as a favourite. And
one that is ongoing. Luckily, I
have some good people around
me. That’s probably the best
advice I can give – build yourself
a good crew of people as no one
can do it alone.
Having won everything
and proved yourself at
every distance, is it records
and an Olympic gold in
Tokyo 2020 keeping you
motivated, or do you just
love racing bikes?
Rationally, I know that winning
EPIC/SPORTZPICS
danish mountain biking superstar, annika langvad, is a fan
favourite at the cape epic, not only because she’s aiming for
her fi th consecutive win ut also ecause she s the ost
success ul epic rider ever. the our ti e arathon world cha p
and co world cha p is also a ualified dentist and is undenia ly
cool, calm and collected. a trifecta for success it seems.