Cape Epic 2017

It doesn't matter how I disappointed I felt at the news that Ironman took over the Cape Epic, I can't but help myself to be totally engrossed and excited for this year's race. 

The women change in combinations in the women's field will bring an exciting race. I would still love Ariane Luthi to take the overall title. She is an incredible rider, down to earth and races her heart out! This year she will be teaming up with Adel Morath from Germany who rode her first epic last year with Sally Bigham. Adel is quite light and got blown over when the helicopter followed them closely last year. Annika Langvad is finishing her studies in Denmark so Ariane and Adel will compete as Team Spur! This will be the first year that Team Spur will have a back-up team in the race. 

Malcolm Lange team owner of Team Ascendis Health flew in the legendary Sabine Spitz who competed for the first time last year to race with Robyn de Groot. De Groot raced with Jennie Stenerhag last year, Jennie had to abandon the race after experiencing an extremely high heartrate which she later needed an operation for. The combination of De Groot and Spitz signals danger for all of the other teams. De Groot has been hungry for victory and Spitz's appetite got whet last year as she finished on the podium last year and got the hang of stage racing towards the end of the week. She also loves the heat which will definitely count in her favour!

Jennie Stennerhag is racing for Meerendal Cape Town Brewing Company with experienced and previous winner, Ester Suss from Switzerland. It will be interesting to see what the two of them can do. 

Team Dorma Kaba features local girl and Olympian Candice Lill and Namibian Vera Adrian. They have been racing together before and did extremely well in the Tankwa Trek which serves as a good training ground for the Epic. Lill also won the Tour of Good Hope road tour two weeks ago. They are in good form and it will be great to see what the all African team will do in this year's race. 

The men's field is back to the Epic battle for 6 Epic victories between Karl Platt and Christoph Sauser. Sauser is such a force to reckon with that even being retired from racing puts him right up there in contention again. Jaroslav Kulhavy asked him to be his partner and Sauser couldn't resist the challenge. My question is, why not? He has won it five times, twice with Jaro and he rides actively with the young guns he coaches and is an allround walking legend. My heart skipped a beat of excitement when I saw the news. 


Manual Fumic will be back racing on their Cannondales with Brazilian, Avancini and I think they might have their eyes on a stage win or 2. 

Jose Hermida, the funniest Spaniard and great character are back after a year's break to race with road cyclist Joaquim Rodriguez from Bahrain Merida (also the new team of Vincenzo Nibali and Louis Meintjes) road team.

Team Scott SRAM brought Nino Schurter current Olympic Champion and rising star Mathias Stirnemann as their lead team. If they can win the overall title we will have to see, but they will surely fight it out! Mathias is in my opinion Nino's strongest team mate for the Epic and that makes me excited. 

Since Erik Kleinhans joined Team Topeak Ergon I really hope there bad luck has run out now and that Alban Lakata and Kristian Hynek will get a fair shot at the podium. They have the charasmatic team of Jeremiah Bishop and Erik Kleinhans to support them. 

South Africans Phil Buys and Matthys Beukes are now racing on local designed Pyga bikes and they will sure hope to mix it up in the African Jersey race with Waylon Woolcock who will be teaming up with roadie HB Kruger this year and NAD Pro Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck. 

Further exciting news is that young Jenny Rissveds, Olympic Champion also from Scott SRAM will be racing with legend and team manager Thomas Frischnecht. 

No-one can say that the Epic doesn't have an exciting line-up. 

Good luck to everyone racing! Hang in there and keep on pedalling! 

Follow me on @tangocycling for live tweeting where I can. :-) 

An Epic Christmas Shopping List 2016

Bike Box Alanavailable from £415. This is a hardcase giving optimal protection The Velovault is available at £449 STEADFAST by former World Champion, Lizzie Armitstead GoPro's newest edition is now available at Chain Reaction for £349.99 Garmin VIRB available at Amazon for £349.99 Fenwicks Foaming Chain Cleaner - £4.49 This chain cleaner can be sprayed directly onto the chain making it a whole lot easier than any other degreaser to work with.   Mens Casual T-Shirtfrom Plain Lazy Specialized Ambush Helmet 2017 available at for £74.99 Mens Merino Wool Long Sleeve baselayer Endura Thermolite Full leg warmers Cycling Shoe laces :-)  Cable Cutter from Superstar components £13.99 Pizza Cutter from Park Tools Torque Wrench - Handy tool to have to make sure all the nuts and bolts are as tight as it should be! A bit too scientific to me, but highly recommended as a handy gift to the home mechanic.  Crank Brothers Tyre Leavers - Rich showed me these this past weekend, they fit over your Crank Brother multi-tool, nice & compact.  Park tool chain cleaner at 50% off from Chain Reaction Park tool cleaning brushes Back due to popular demand, the Air Chuck Co2 Pump Master Chain link opener for those who do their own repairs - £13.99 Dropper Seatpost, Rockshox Reverb comes highly recommended by friends who all have one! Buy from: Wiggle Chain Reaction Bargain rechargeable commuter lights from Lezyne @ £9.99! Support Qhubeka by buying something from their online store! Qhubeka hands out bikes to people who don't have an alternative mode of transport!   Available at WIGGLE for £249.95 QOM sleeveless baselayer £40 At the Edge  by Danny MacAskill who became a YouTubephenomenon! Olympics Golden Couple writes their Autobiography, The Inside Track  TomTom Bandit is a more affordable at £160 from Amazon. SEAL, tubeless sealant from Squirtlube.  Specialized Grail finger less gloves, ok maybe not the appropriate time of the year to buy these, but they are beautiful and has to be included on this list.  Squirt Long Lasting Dry Lube - This will form the ideal gift with other products like the Fenwicks Foam Chain Cleaner! Best applied on a clean degreased chain. Read a review from a Tango Cycling member here.  Mountain Woman T-Shirt from Howies Fox Cargo Ranger Baggies 40% off Womens Merino Long Sleeve baselayer DeFeet Woolie Boolie  Cycling Christmas Cards from Ginger & French Can't stop thinking about cycling, drink your tea from a stylish Cycling mug Mountain Biking The Untold British Story  Cleat Covers as used by Mark Cahill to protect road cycling cleats and to provide comfort whilst wearing road shoes. Get cold feet? These cheap toe warmers might just be the cure!  Lizard Skin Lock On Grips - £15.98 Assos Chamois Creme has been the best in the business for years!  Garmin Edge 1000 - track your rides and training with this device. The Sahmurai Sword was developed by ex-pro mountain biker, Stephan Sahm, use this kit to fix your tubeless tyres in no time. These lights will be a great asset for the seasoned commuter!  This is my commuter backpack and is honestly the most comfortable backpack on the bike, it stays in one place, has ample space and the weigh distribution is just perfect. Vaude Splash! Read a Review here from myself.

Tango Shopping!

A shopping list for everything you need to make degrease your chain and to convert your tyre to tubeless!  There are two things that I would highly recommend you to do, both of these are a bit of a hack, BUT both of them are tasks that makes you feel you have accomplished something and you will reap the benefits for months after you have done them. 1. De-grease your chain 2. Convert your tyres to tubeless Both of these are straight forward, but can potentially turn into a major faff, below are all the products you need to make your life easier to complete these tasks! Happy Shopping! TC Fenwicks Foaming Chain Cleaner - £4.49 This chain cleaner can be sprayed directly onto the chain making it a whole lot easier than any other degreaser to work with. Squirt Long Lasting Dry Lube - Is best applied on a clean de-greased chain. Many people have asked me how I keep my chain so clean, the answer is Squirt lube, I can not recommend it enough! Happy chain, happy bike. Read a review from a Tango Cycling member here.  The need for easy and quick access to our smartphones has increased a lot, making these gloves a must have item! North Wave Etip Women's Glove North Wave Etip Mens Glove Tubeless Valves are needed to replace your current valves and to complete seal the valve hole.  Airwave Tubeless Tyre Track Pump - this is only one of the pumps on the market that now acts as a compressor. In order for your tyre to seat onto the rim you need a fair amount of compressed air, this is a great gift for anyone who has been through the paces and frustration to convert their tyres.  Bio-Bike Wash is a concentrated & biodegradable bike cleaner. The concentrate can be diluted to 1:25 and still produce a heavy-duty cleaning solution. It is water based and does not contain any organic solvents.Can be used on any surface of the bike. Park tool chain cleaner at 50% off from Chain Reaction, for those who would rather not get there hands dirty.  Park tool cleaning brushes gets into all the nooks and crannies to clean your bike.  SEAL, tubeless sealant from Squirtlube is the last ingredient you need to complete your tubeless conversion. I find the more generous you are with the sealant, the better is your success to 'pop' your tyre quickly.  Tubeless Rim Tape - To convert your wheels to tubeless, you need a few essentials of which rim tape is one, the rim tape helps seal the rim so that the spoke holes are completely blocked which prevents any air or liquid from escaping.  The Sahmurai Sword was developed by ex-pro mountain biker, Stephan Sahm, use this kit to fix your tubeless tyres in no time.