TOPEAK

​Topeak had a number of sponsored teams race the Cape Epic, including two teams from SCOTT-SRAM MTB, and two teams from Team Topeak-Ergon. Despite extreme heat and intense racing conditions, SCOTT-SRAM MTB rode away with the overall wins in the Men’s Elite and Mixed Categories, with SCOTT-SRAM team Young Guns, including Andri Frischknecht and Michiel van der Heijden won two stages, including Stage 7. The Men’s Elite team included Olympic Champion Nino Shurter and Matthias Stirnemann, and the Mixed team included Olympic Champion Jenny Rissveds and Thomas Frischknecht.

​​Through the heat and brutal conditions at this year’s Epic, the team not only depended on their physical and mental strenght, but their team off-the-bike that kept the show rolling. SCOTT-SRAM head mechanic, Yanick Gyger, maintained the rider’s bikes after every stage

“The conditions here are so extreme, in case it rains, we change the entire bike completely. We literally build-up entirely new bikes ever day at the epic.” – Yanick Gyger

With the help of Topeak’s PrepStand Pro, the teams were able to efficiently get bikes rebuilt once the riders crossed the finish line. Mechanics were on a time constraint as the bikes must be ready before midnight for the next Stage. 

​Team Topeak-Ergon raced Cape Epic with two teams including Kristian Hynek, Alban Lakata, Jeremiah Bishop, and Erik Kleinhans. Not earning the results they strove for, Hynek and Lakata finished 8th overall in the Men’s Elite, while Kleinhans and Bishop finished 14th.