Thomas Frischknecht must be one of the most “hands-on” team managers in international cycling.

When I approached the Scott-SwissPower team manager in the Grabouw camper village, he had just finished the arduous sixth stage of the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic Epic in a top 20 position and was immediately setting up a groundsheet outside his camper van along with team mechanic, getting ready for Swiss cross-country stars Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel.

Thomas needs no introduction in the world of MTB. A multiple world champion in both MTB and cyclo-cross, he is certainly “giving back” to the sport by managing the Scott-Swiss Power team as well as having a large influence in developing African riders through the Project Rwanda cycling organisation.

CRANK chatted to him about his involvement with Project Rwanda, the Scott-Swiss Power team as well as his thoughts on the Cape Epic MTB race.

CRANK: Thomas, could you explain your involvement with the Project Rwanda team?

Thomas Frischknecht: Well, I am a member of the board of Team Rwanda, which is the promotional tool of the whole project. Tom Ritchey is the founder the project with Jonathan Boyer (first American to ride the the Tour de France) being in charge of the racing team. He is based permanently in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Jonathan Boyer during the 2007 Epic

CRANK: How often do you visit Rwanda and what is your specific function in the project?

TF: I’ve actually only been to Rwanda once, last November.

My job is more to give training advice to the riders as well as getting Rwandan riders into European races -this whole procedure is quite complicated, especially for a small country like Rwanda.

CRANK: Adrien Niyonshuti of Rwanda is now riding for the MTN team here in South Africa – how did this come about?

TF: This happened through Tom’s (Ritchey) connection to Doug Ryder of the MTN team. He’s very happy there; sort of “living the dream” so to say. Living with team, traveling internationally and receiving the support of a professional team is certainly a dream come true for him.

CRANK: How many times have you participated in the Cape Epic?

TF: This is my third time – I had a break last year and rode the 2007 and 2008 editions.

CRANK: What is your approach to riding the Epic? Are you here to race seriously or more for fun?

TF: Mainly for fun and also to raise some awareness to the whole Rwanda project (Thomas rode the Epic in the Team Rwanda kit).

I was actually supposed to ride with Tom (Ritchey) but he had to cancel at the last minute. So I came out with my best friend and top masters rider, Urs Gerig. Unfortunately he had an accident on Stage 2 forcing him to withdraw from the race, so now I’m riding alone.

CRANK: Are you still a full time rider?

TF: No. I quit racing in 2008 and haven’t put a “number-plate” on my bike since then.

CRANK: Do you still train a fair amount?

TF: I no longer train – I just ride my bike a lot. Riding my bike and training are two different things. I trained for over 20 years so now I ride for fun, which is almost daily in the summer months in Europe.

Coming here for the Epic was difficult because of the bad winter we’ve had in Europe – it was still snowing the day that we left for the Epic. And with my new job as manager of the Scott-Swiss Power team, the winter months are really busy with planning and preparation for the new season. Once the season starts, I find that I have more time to myself as things settle down so even though I am at all the races I have a little bit more time to ride my bike.

Since September, my three longest rides were of 3-4 hours while the rest has been short rides of 1-2 hours with cross-country skiing as alternative training. It is really difficult to be competitive in a race like the Epic with this sort of training.

CRANK: Can marathon riders make a decent living focusing exclusively on marathon and stage races year round?

TF: The BULLS can, but it is very limited. They (the BULLS) focus specifically for this race and the TransAlp and a few others while a lot of the other Euro pros use this as preparation for the World Cup cross-country season. So the marathon riders do not feature at the top end of the results in the World Cup because they are often recovering from a race like this.

Thomas relaxing after stage 6 of this years Epic

CRANK: How do you compare the Cape Epic to the TransAlps?

TF: I have completed the TransAlps only once. The Cape Epic has a higher quality field with the competition being much fiercer, whereas the TransAlp doesn’t have quite as “stacked” a field.

In other ways they are pretty similar being multi-day events following a course unknown to the majority of the riders. I would say the toughness is very similar.

In terms of organisation, the Cape Epic is a step ahead with this “moving village” concept versus the TransAlps, which has many structures in place. For example, there is no race village – the riders all stay in guest houses or hostels

CRANK: How often do you visit South Africa?

TF: I first came here in 2007 for winter base training in Stellenbosch. I like the country although I can’t say I know it too well – when I’ve been here it has been purely cycling orientated, so I haven’t been to the game parks or things like that.

CRANK: Being a team manager, how much interaction do you have with your riders?

TF: I have a lot of contact. Florian (Vogel) lives less than 1 kilometer away from me in Switzerland, so we ride together often. Although I have to say that I just hang in with him when the going gets tough – I just let them get on with their workout.

CRANK: You must be one of the few “riding” team managers here – what time do you wake in the morning during the Epic?

TF: I have to be up at 5am, which gives me two hours to get ready – this never seems enough time. we have to be ready for Nino and Florian and sort out equipment, nutrition etc. We (me and our mechanic) stay here in the motor home while our riders are in a gust house in town (Grabouw).

I would choose the motor home over the B&B any day. What I don’t want is to stay in the tents. Either I am camping or I’m at a bike race, not both!