The multi-stage race comprises 1 prologue and 7 daily stages on which 15,000 meters of altitude difference spread over 647km have to be mastered. Compared to other years, the route has been shortened by around 90km, but the proportion of singletrail (110km in total) has been increased. According to the organizers, this year's event will be more physically and technically demanding for the athletes than ever before.

Wheeler and Bixs will have four athletes at the 13th Cape Epic in South Africa. Martin Gujan from Graubünden and Esther Süss from Aargau will start from the Wheeler Pro Team (but not together). From the BiXS Pro Team, Konny Looser from Zurich and Bärti Bucher from Obwalden will be at the start (also in separate teams). In the run-up to the Cape Epic, we spoke to Martin Gujan and Konny Looser, who will be competing as a team, about the Cape Epic.

Martin Gujan and Konny Looser start as a team for the first time at the Cape Epic 2016

What is the attraction of this 8-day multi-stage race in South Africa for you
? Martin: The attraction of a multi-stage race is that many other factors play a bigger role than in "normal" races. I always tell myself that it's not necessarily the strongest team that's the best, but the one that makes the fewest mistakes. Nutrition, defects, recovery, all that has to be taken into account much more, because after a stage is also before a stage. I really enjoy coming up with ways to complete the race better. It's things like cold baths, what food to eat and what not to eat, nutritional supplements, tactics, how to deal with my team partner in stressful situations, etc.
Konny: The Cape Epic is the Tour de France in mountain bike marathon sport, so for me it's the most important race of the year.

What have been your highlights
from previous editions of the Cape Epic? Martin: My highlight was definitely the prologue victory. It came as a surprise because I was anything but optimally prepared for the race. Of course, winning the prologue also means that you start the next day in the leader's jersey.
Konny: In 2011 and 2012, I finished second in the opening stage. In this race, the jump onto the podium is a highlight with the impressive award ceremony in the evening and after the stage.

Konny: Tell us how you keep fit in Namibia over the winter months.
South Africa became my second home and I had spent around 6 months of the year here over the last 2 years. In December, I trained in Namibia, my girlfriend's home country, and training there requires a lot of stamina. On the one hand, the training opportunities are very limited as there are only a few roads. Then there is the altitude (Windhoek is 1700 meters above sea level) and the heat of up to 45 degrees. However, the perfect weather and the Cape Epic as a goal never really affect my motivation. In South Africa, I also have my own apartment and lots of training colleagues. So I'm well equipped and the conditions are perfect. The stable weather means I don't have to travel to many training camps and the busy race calendar in South Africa offers plenty of opportunities to test my form in advance and really get going.

Konny, this is your 5th time at the Cape Epic. In the past, you always had to finish the race alone because your team partners had to drop out during the races. What can you do to prevent dropping out?
So far I've really only ever had bad luck at this race and I've never been able to get a good result, even though I've always been in top form. All the retirements were just bad luck and it can happen to anyone. The Epic is the toughest race in the world. Not only is the rider constantly at the limit, but the material is also tested to its limits over 8 days and something can happen very quickly. At some point, however, luck will be with me and then the greatest thing will be to be successful in this race.

Martin, at the cyclo-cross race in Meilen at the beginning of January, you had to end the race early due to back pain. Is the pain in your back gone again?
At the moment I don't feel anything anymore and I think I was lucky that I didn't drag it on for long. But I was also able to learn from it again and try to avoid this back pain in future.

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Interview: Wheeler/Bixs