Hanka Kupfernagel is taking on a completely new challenge in mid-March: a start at the spectacular Cape Epic mountain bike stage race in South Africa. "If someone had told me a few weeks ago that I would be competing in the Cape Epic, I would probably have thought they were crazy," jokes Hanka Kupfernagel. But sometimes the events of a professional athlete simply come thick and fast, and when Udo Bölts contacted Kupfernagel in February and offered her his starting place, she was initially perplexed. Bölts had broken his left hand in a training accident, underwent surgery and his planned start in South Africa had become impossible as a result.
Udo Bölts tried to make Hanka Kupfernagel feel ashamed of the 739-kilometre stage race with 16,000 metres of climbing. And from his mouth, the "Cape Epic" actually sounded more like a coffee run than one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world. Bölts finally managed to convince her to take part and accept this completely new experience and challenge. From then on, there wasn't much time left for halfway focussed preparation and it was off to a training camp in Mallorca.
Despite a short preparation period, Kupfernagel seems to be in good shape and his South African adventure begins on 11 March with a flight to Cape Town, before the "Cape Epic" starts with the prologue on 15 March. Kupfernagel will start together with Carsten Bresser in a 2-man team in the mixed category. Bresser has already taken part in the "Cape Epic" seven times.
