Top IRONMAN triathletes are teaming up for the IRONMAN Foundation at the 2018 Absa Cape Epic to help support three Absa Cape Epic race communities.
The legendary eight-day churn on a mountain bike in South Africa, known as the Absa Cape Epic, is not kind to its riders. The grueling race across wild, rough terrains squeezes the proverbial "blood, sweat and tears" from 1,300 riders every year, challenging the world’s top professional and amateur cyclists alike.
Aiming to give back in a race that takes so much, two IRONMAN champions will switch out their sleek TT bikes for a tougher set of wheels this March and compete for charity in what has become the world’s largest multi-stage mountain bike race.
Sebastian "Sebi" Kienle, the 2014 IRONMAN World Champion and two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion triathlete, and Ben "The Hoff" Hoffman, six-time IRONMAN Champion and two-time IRONMAN World Championship top-five finisher, will team up and lead the 2018 IMF mountain bike team, one of three teams at this year’s Absa Cape Epic raising funds for the IRONMAN Foundation.
U.S. pro mountain bikers Kelly Megelky and Josh Bezency of Honey Stinger/Bontrager mountain bike team and the age-group duo of South Africans Harold Myberg and Chris Vermuelen round out the IRONMAN Foundation contingent. With the support of those teams, the IRONMAN Foundation plans to donate a total of 225,000 ZAR (just under 20,000 USD) to nonprofit organizations in three of the host communities along the race course.
"I’m really proud to have the opportunity to race the Absa Cape Epic as part of the IRONMAN Foundation team," says Hoffman. "I am looking forward to 'racing for more' and knowing that my efforts will help to make a difference in South Africa. Leaving something positive behind in these communities is important to me."
Kienle, a long-time fan of the Absa Cape Epic, agrees. "Just like Kona is the pinnacle of IRONMAN racing, the Cape Epic is the pinnacle of the mountain biking world, and I feel fortunate to be able to have an opportunity to compete."
And here’s what the IRONMAN champs can expect as they ride for a good cause in the 15th edition of the Absa Cape Epic: In eight days, 650 teams of two riders each will travel 700km and climb 15,000m across the unforgiving and beautiful landscape of South Africa's Western Cape province.
Relying on their endurance strength, technical skills, and pure grit, cyclists will storm through forests, across mountains, down ravines, and along coastlines on a route carefully planned anew each year. Athletes end every day at a different location with accommodations, food, and other services to recover from the ride and rest up before the next day.
A sign of its prestige, the Absa Cape Epic is the only eight-day stage race classed as hors catégorie (beyond categorization) by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the same category as the iconic Grand Tours of road cycling.
Since 2003, the IRONMAN Foundation and other IRONMAN charitable programs have provided more than $50,000,000 to 6,300 nonprofit initiatives around the world. David Deschenes, Executive Director of the IRONMAN Foundation, says, "Having the opportunity to support community initiatives in Robertson, Worcester, and Wellington, South Africa as part of the Absa Cape Epic event helps us spread the mission and positive impact of the IRONMAN Foundation."
"This is great news," says Kevin Vermaak, founder of the Absa Cape Epic. "To have IRONMAN champions cross over to the sport of mountain biking is very exciting. Sebastian and Ben will add another element of competition to our field of racers, and we wish them the best of luck!"