Read on to find out about this busy guy who juggles professional MTB racing with team management duties.

CRANK: Could you tell us a bit about how this year’s ABSA Cape Epic went for you?

Erik Kleinhans: Unfortunately my team mate, Oliver Munnik, got really sick and we battled through the event, testing and building our friendship!

Pulling out became a reality, but Oliver showed some incredible courage and we finished, and that with a 16th position on the last day after he recovered.

(Side Note: Oliver unfortunately suffered a bad accident during a national cross-country race shortly after the 2010 Cape Epic. The good news is that he is making a solid recovery – we look forward to seeing you back Ollie!)

Erik during 2010 Absa Cape Epic. Courtesy Sven Martin

CRANK: What did you do on the Monday after the Epic?

EK: Dominated loads of coffee at Basic Bistro in Stellenbosch and enjoyed the view!

CRANK: You competed in the Giro del Capo as you have for several years. How did this go and do you feel that a lot of road racing is beneficial for MTB in general?

EK: I did plenty of road racing in the past and still love to line up on the road. The Giro del Capo was the last bit of training for the Epic and always tough with only one days rest between it, the Sani2C and the Pick ‘n Pay Cape Argus MTB Challenge.

Joining the “roadies” is great speed work and I do think it adds something to your mountain bike riding.

CRANK: You won the Amarider 100 miler in adverse conditions last year. What were your impressions of this event and will you be back this year?

EK: Probably my most satisfactory victory ever in such hectic conditions! Everyone who finished the 2009 100-miler must be proud. Meurant and Arina Botha always organise a great event so I will definitely be back to race on 22 May 2010.

Erik on his way to winning 2009 100 miler - Courtesy Oakpics

CRANK: You and Oliver were one of the few elite teams staying in the tents at this year’s Cape Epic. Do you feel that this was detrimental to your performance or, on the flip side, was it nice to be part of the “vibe” of the event?

EK: We are quite used to roughing it a bit, so it’s not that bad for us to stay in the tents, and we do like to be part of the “vibe”. But we did get fantastic support and accommodation from Oliver’s folks the last four days and I think it assisted with our recovery. It definitely helped a lot to get Ollie back on his legs and race ready after his illness.

CRANK: What was your daily routine like during the Cape Epic?

EK: We wake up at 04:50 as most participants get up at 05:00 then we always beat the queue to the porter-loos! (Hope I did not just give away our most valuable strategy…)

Breakfast directly after followed by getting dressed and a 20min warm-up before the start – and then SUFFER!!!!!

After the stage our Omnico mechanics, Russel and Werner, take our bikes and do their magic, Janine and Liné mend our tender legs, while we eat everything that we can lay our hands on.

Relax as much as possible in the afternoon and get into bed between 8pm and 9pm.

Erik racing Attakwas - Courtesy Torquepics

CRANK: How do you combine your team management role with riding? Have you ever had to work full time while competing as an elite rider?

EK: I was the stock controller and marketing coordinator at Omnico for two and a half years till the end of last year – it’s not easy working full time and trying to race competitively, but it is possible.

Now I work from home assisting Carinus Lemmer putting together a Cycling Academy in Stellenbosch and also managing our team activities – it is time consuming but I do have more time and at least I can do all my training in daylight!

CRANK: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

EK: We get paid to race our bikes, so for the rest of the year we will do everything from small local races to the big national races to get maximum exposure for our sponsors, Mr Price and GT Bicycles. Awesome!

CRANK: Do you have any interaction with the other pro’s?

EK: Living in such close proximity during the Epic you do get to see the other pro’s regularly, but mostly just for a short chat as everyone is on their own mission to get food and recovery. It is great though to be around the world’s best riders for the week.

CRANK: Any overseas aspirations?

EK: Yes, I would love pinning it abroad with the best marathon racers in the world, but before I would consider that I still need to elevate myself to a slightly higher level in our local National Marathon Series. Let’s hold thumbs.

Erik at the Cape Pioneer - Courtesy Oakpics

XC racing - Courtesy Darren Goddard

Sani2C - Courtesy Line Griffiths

Kevin Evans and Alban Lakata

Kevin and  Alban were involved in a battle for survival over the last two days of the Absa Cape Epic, but they are not disheartened by their third-place finish.

“We were thoroughly tested, but we came out of the Epic as the best of friends. I always maintain that the Epic is a true test for any friendship. If you and your partner are still talking to one another after eight days of hard racing and severe suffering, it indicates a lasting friendship.

“Naturally we would have liked to do better than third overall, but I am quite happy with the way things turned out. All in all we had a good Epic. We won a stage and had 2^nd and 3^rd placings in stages.  In addition, we were one of only two teams to have worn the Epic’s coveted yellow jersey.

Kevin and Alban start stage 5

“Ours is surely a relationship on which we can build for the future. I would love to do another tour with Alban, perhaps the Trans-Alps.”

According to Evans their problems started during the last three days when they were racing in the Oakdale area.

“Alban battled to breath properly. We are not sure why. According to Alban the same thing happened to him the previous time he raced in the Oakdale area. Perhaps there is something in the air to which he is allergic or perhaps it is a sports-induced asthma.

“All I know is that it is very difficult to be competitive when you cannot breath properly because that means that your muscles don’t get enough oxygen.

“Our worst day was definitely the 7^th stage when we lost about 13 minutes to the Flückiger brothers, Lukas and Mathias. It was really important for us to defend our 3^rd position, because it would have been a waste of all our efforts if we had finished 4^th.”

The third stage was also one filled with drama for Evans and Lakata.

Evans takes up the story.

“We had four punctures between the two of us. As luck would have it, both of us punctured our back tyres during the last five kilometers, basically at the same time.  At that time we were only two minutes behind the leaders.  Even though David George and his team-mate helped us out with ‘CO2 bombs’, luck was still not on our side. Within minutes our wheels were flat again. I decided to keep on riding with my flat tyre while Alban decided to take off his tyre and ride on the rim.

“For the last two kilometers we had to ride on tar and it was probably the heat of the tar that caused Alban’s carbon rim to explode.

“The moment that happened Alban said: ‘This is it.  It is race over.’

“I immediately responded: ‘It is not race over yet. Get off your bike and run.’

“And Alban started to run.  If he did not do that, we certainly would have lost our 3^rd position overall.”

Evans also appreciated the time, early on during a stage, when Lakata punctured and Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN-Energade) stopped and gave his wheel to Evans to ensure that they did not lose too much time.

“I think all of us can learn much from the German’s Bulls. They enter two teams every year with just one goal and that is to win the Epic. It does not matter which team wins, as long as it is a Bulls team.

“Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, the overall winners, had only two serious problems during the whole Epic.  Both times the other Bulls team was there to help them out to prevent them from losing too much time.”

Now the big question is whether Kevin Evans and Burry Stander (Specialized/Mr Price) would ever ride the Epic together to ensure that an all-South African team wins the Epic.

If one looks at the Epic’s results, Evans and Stander are the only two riders who were really able to take on the international riders.

“I would love to ride with Burry because I think we would have a realistic chance of winning, but we ride for different sponsors with conflicting interests.

“For that to happen we would have to sit down with the sponsors and see if we can reach a working agreement.”

Paul Cordes and Yolandé Speedy

Cordes and Speedy had an amazing eight days of racing. They only had one puncture between the two of them and one serious health scare when Cordes dehydrated during the 1^st stage. Of the eight stages they won five and they were in the top-twenty overall up until the 7^th stage.

According to Cordes, the only reason why they lost their top-twenty placing was that they decided rather to play it safe over the last two days of racing.

“It is stupid to take unnecessary risks when you are winning,” Cordes said. In the end they finished 22^nd overall, which is not bad considering that more than half of the teams that started the Epic did not finish.

“The first stage was our worst. Yolandé and I started off strongly. It did not take us long to open a five minute lead on the Swiss team, Bärti Bucher and Esther Süss.

Paul and Yolandé start stage 5

“Our problems started when we arrived at one of the water stations and could not identify our bottles. The bottles were there, but we made the mistake of not marking them correctly so they could not be found.

“Because I was worried about losing too much time, I said to Yolandé ‘Lets ride to the next water station’. I reckoned that we could take this chance because we still had one bottle to share between the two of us.

“When we got to the next water station, I tasted the water and it had a very funny taste. I did not want to take the risk of picking up a stomach bug, so we continued racing without taking any water with us. It turned out to be a huge mistake. I totally dehydrated and ended up ‘blowing’ completely, which led to us losing about eight minutes.

“But the funny thing was that neither Yolandé nor I was really despondent about the way things turned out. Actually it served as an extra motivation. We realized that we could beat the Swiss team if we kept our cool. So from the next stage we started chipping away at their lead.

“The 4^th stage was the deciding moment. We were involved in quite a battle with the Swiss. Then, during the last 40 kilometres, Yolandé and I decided to really put down the hammer and we never looked back during the rest of the Epic. We managed to ride away from them and to open a useful gap.”

Cordes is full of praise for the role the MTN-Energade mechanics played in their victory.

“The guys really put in long and hard hours to ensure that our bikes were in tiptop condition every day. That is the reason why we had no mechanical problems apart from the one puncture.”

After winning the last stage, Speedy said: “This is the first time that I’ve won the final stage and it’s fantastic to win overall. I had goose bumps while coming in.  It was great to see the crowds and enjoy their support.”

Team RSAWEB and Crank presents a series of daily highlights videos from the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic. This is Stage 8: Oak Valley – Lourensford.

Jose Hermida and Rudi Van Houts (Multivan Merida 2) claim the win for the final stage in a fast paced race from Oak Valley to Lourensford. Following in second place were Emil Lindgren and Fabian Giger of team Rabobank-Giant Off Road. Christoph Sauser and Burry Stander of team Songo-Specialized by DCM came in third.

Despite the best efforts of the chasing teams, Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm maintain their 11 minute lead in the final stage, to win their 3rd Cape Epic as a team.

Team RSAWEB riders Nic and Simon finished 22nd in stage 8, and placed a very respectable 25th overall (out of 600 teams) – a personal best for both brothers. Team RSAWEB 2 and 3 riders Rob Gilmour, Mark Slingsby, Richard Tasker and Jeremy Shaw all finished strong on the final stage, bringing to a close a successful 2010 ABSA Cape Epic mission for the team. Congrats to all our team riders!

Special thanks to our team sponsors, Biogen, Specialized and Rudy Project.

This is Stage 3 – Ceres to Ceres. Team RSAWEB and Crank presents a series of daily highlights videos from the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic.

Local hero Burry Stander (South Africa) & Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) riding for team Songo-Specialized by DCM won stage 3, much to the delight of the Ceres supporters. Lukas Flückiger & Mathias Flückiger from team Trek world racing followed in second place, boosting their position to 6th place overall. Karl Platt & Stefan Sahm from team Bulls 1 stole the leaders jersey from Kevin Evans and Stephan Sahm with their 3rd place on podium for this sage. With only 10 minutes between the top four teams, its still anyone’s race.

P.S Video includes some great race footage of our Pro Team riders Nic and Simon Lamond, who are currently sitting in 27th place overall.

Kevin Evans (South Africa) & Alban Lakata (Austria) from team MTN Qhubeka Topeak Ergon) cross the finish line first in a time of 4:35.52,3. Frustrated by wheel issues, Burry Stander (South Africa) and Christoph Sauser (Netherlands) from team Songo-Specialized by DCM follow in second place almost five minutes behind. Emil Lindgren (Sweden) and Fabian Giger (Switzerland) beat 2009 wining team, Bulls (Karl Platt & Stefan Sahm), to take the 3rd spot on the podium. An exciting start to the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic!