{"id":8975,"date":"2020-02-16T19:11:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T17:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/?p=8975"},"modified":"2020-02-16T19:11:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T17:11:38","slug":"the-challenge-for-the-absa-cape-epic-african-womens-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/the-challenge-for-the-absa-cape-epic-african-womens-jersey\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge for the Absa Cape Epic African Women’s Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Absa\nAfrican Women\u2019s jersey competition will be held for the third year during the\n2020 Absa Cape Epic. The race, inaugurated to foster growth in the number of\nAfrican riders in the Women\u2019s category, is designed to raise the profile of the\nlocal women and provide a platform for their sponsors. In this year\u2019s race, the\nteams contesting the eye-catching red jerseys are Faces CST, Galileo Risk\nInfiniti and Saint Ladies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Faces\nCST team of Mariske Strauss and Candice Lill start as the favourites for the\ncompetition. In fact, the pair are among the favourites for the Women\u2019s overall\ntitle. Both Strauss and Lill have finished second on the general classification\nand 2020 represents a chance to go one better and take home the orange Women\u2019s\nleader jerseys, as well as the Absa African Women’s jerseys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lill was one\nof the inaugural Absa African Women\u2019s jersey champions, alongside Amy\nMcDougall, in 2018. The South African cross-country champion opted not to\ndefend her title in 2019 however, as she raced with Germany\u2019s Adelheid Morath.\nShe pointed out then that she aimed to win the race outright, rather than\ntargeting the Absa African Women’s jersey competition within the Absa Cape\nEpic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Strauss,\nLill has a partner capable of aiding her in the bid towards both titles. The\nformer national cross-country champion, whose title her now partner won off\nher, is, on paper, the Faces CST rider\u2019s best possible partner. Both Lill and Strauss\nare entering the peak of their careers, possess explosive power and superb\nbike-handling skills. They should, therefore, be able to follow each other\u2019s\nattacks, but could be at a disadvantage on the long stages where holding a\nsteady pace for hours will be required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Absa\nAfrican Women\u2019s jersey defending champions, Sarah Hill and Theresa Ralph will\nhave their work cut out for them if they are to retain their title. Though Hill\nhas grown in leaps and bounds, as a mountain biker, in recent years, she and\nthe evergreen Ralph have not had the firepower to go head-to-head with Faces\nCST. They do know, from experience, the Absa Cape Epic categories and\ncompetitions are easy to lose but difficult to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph is one\nof the most experienced women in the field. Since taking up mountain biking, at\nthe age of 34 in 2010, just six months before her Absa Cape Epic debut, she has\nfinished eight editions of the Untamed African MTB Race. The Galileo Risk\nInfiniti rider has finished on the overall podium on two occasions, securing\nsecond in 2012 and third in 2014. That experience helped Ralph guide the\nexcitable Hill back from a disastrous start to the 2019 race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Galileo\nRisk Infiniti pair came back from a 30-minute time penalty to win the Absa\nAfrican Women\u2019s jerseys after dormakaba\u2019s McDougall withdrew due to illness.\nStaying healthy, avoiding injuries and reducing the risk of mechanicals are all\npart of the winning formula. By remaining in contention until Val de Vie, Hill\nand Ralph can keep themselves in the running for the jerseys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third team to watch in the Absa African Women\u2019s jersey shakedown is the Saint Ladies combination of Cherise Willeit and Nicky Giliomee. Willeit is the South African road (2008) and time trial (2009) champion, along with holding four Cape Town Cycle Tour titles. A formidable and fearless bunch sprinter, she has made occasional, if not always sustained, forays into the world of mountain biking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Willeit last\nrode the Absa Cape Epic in 2017; alongside Mikayla Benkenstein. Her 2020\npartner, Giliomee, is no stranger to Absa Cape Epic success. Giliomee won the\nVirgin Active Mixed Category, alongside Brennan Anderson, in 2018. The Saint\nLadies pair raced the Cape Pioneer Trek, in September 2019, together and proved\nto be well-matched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are\nalso both exceptionally popular off the bike and likely be found in the middle\nof a circle of riders, somewhere near the Woolworths coffee truck. While their\nSaint kit will be difficult to overlook in the peloton, there is no question\nthat, regardless of how they fare in the race for the Absa African Women’s\njerseys, Willeit and Giliomee will attract their fair share of the media\nspotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The favourites for the win remain the Faces CST team; with Olympic qualification spots up for grabs, thanks to the UCI points on offer at the Absa Cape Epic, Strauss and Lill cannot afford not to equal or better their previous bests. That pressure could spur them on to new heights, or it could play into the hands of Galileo Risk Infiniti and the Saint Ladies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Absa Cape Epic <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Absa African Women\u2019s jersey competition will be held for the third year during the 2020 Absa Cape Epic. The race, inaugurated to foster growth in the number of African riders in the Women\u2019s category, is designed to raise the profile of the local women and provide a platform for their sponsors. In this year\u2019s… Read More »The Challenge for the Absa Cape Epic African Women’s Jersey<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[59],"tags":[2424],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}