BATTLE GROUND
Will it be five in a row for Annika with her new partner? What lies in store for Ariane
this year? Can Amy and Sam beat the best? Here are the women’s teams to watch.
50
INVESTEC-SONGO-
SPECIALIZED
2019
280-2
ANNIKA
LANGVAD ANNA VAN DER
BREGGEN
BEST RESULT
1st (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018)
2016 XCO world champion BEST RESULT
Current Olympic and
world road champion
Age: 34
Epics completed: 4
Stage wins: 24
L
Age: 28
Epics completed: 0
Stage wins: 0
angvad has a perfect four-from-four record at the
Absa Cape Epic. Three of those four wins came
from a lethal partnership with Ariane Lüthi, but
last year’s pairing with new mountain biking star, Kate
Courtney, strongly suggests that Langvad is the common
denominator for success at the race, therefore Anna van
der Breggen is in good hands. As a fi ve-time marathon
world champion, Langvad is clearly well-suited to long
format racing, not to forget she’s also won six UCI World
Cups and ended 2018 ranked second overall. It’s a unique
kind of mentorship for Langvad. Van der Breggen is more
than able to match her power, but the Dutchwoman will
lean on her heavily for support and insight into the nuances
of racing off -road day after day.
The current Olympic and world road champion is an
Absa Cape Epic newbie, but no stranger to fl at bars –
when her road schedule allowed, she raced on the UCI
World Cup circuit in 2018, familiarising herself with
the demands of mountain biking. Despite her relative
inexperience, she has a signifi cant advantage in that her
“redline” is higher compared to that of her rivals (except
perhaps for Langvad herself). This “maximum capacity”
is commonly the point at which riders make errors, both
technical and in pacing. So as long as the pair stays
conservative throughout and only push hard where it
counts, there’s little to stop Langvad equalling Christoph
Sauser and Karl Platt’s record fi ve victories.
72 | MTB | The Untamed African MTB Race
5 MINUTES WITH ANNA
What made the Queen of
the Classics, an Olympic
gold medallist, world
road champ, multiple
Grand Tour, and champ
of numerous other races
decide to race the Cape
Epic this year? I enjoyed
the MTB races I did last
year, and next to that it’s
great preparation for my
road season. The idea of
riding Cape Epic came
from Annika. I met her
last year at the races and
saw what a talented and
experienced athlete she is.
When she asked me, it felt
like a big honour.
Annika has never lost the
Cape Epic and one more
win will equal the men’s
record – how does that
make you feel? Thank you
for pointing that out again
;) I know Annika is one of
the strongest women on
the bike, that’s why I told
her if she only has winning
as a goal in this year’s
Cape Epic then maybe I’m
not the right partner. I’m
riding my fi rst, and my goal
is to try to do as well as
possible. Annika knows my
MTB level and she likes this
extra challenge.
Apart from being one of
the greatest time trialists,
you are known to be a
great bike handler who
does extremely well in the
mountains. How does this
steep, technical African
course suit you? I don’t
know yet! I’ve only done
road cycling in SA. In every
MTB training session and
race I’ve learnt a lot about
bike handling, and it’s
tough, but I like it a lot.
With Annika I have a great
teacher for the technical
parts of the race and if it’s
about hot, fast racing, I
should be fi ne.
You’ve been racing in
Europe since you were
seven, have you raced in
hot, dry conditions much
in your career? Yes, in
Europe it is cold, rainy and
windy most of the time,
and so are the Spring
Classics, so it’s good for
training. As a road cyclist,
I have done lot of racing
in hot weather, like some
Giros, Qatar and training
camps in SA.
Being Dutch and so strong,
have you tried CX racing?
What MTB races have you
done? I usually do some
CX every winter because
it’s fun racing and good
interval training, especially
when it’s cold. My fi rst MTB
race was the Costa Blanca
in Spain, together with
Margot Moschetti from Bart
Brentjens’ team. Last year I
raced the Cyprus Sunshine
Cup, Val di Sole world cup
and the Dutch National
Championship.
ANNA ON TRAINING
“I usually do some CX every winter
because it’s fun racing and good
interval training, especially when
it’s cold”