After eight days of hot, grueling mountain biking through South Africa filled with mechanicals and saddle sores, the Belgian duo of Sven Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout finished off their bucket list item.
The pair of retired cyclocrossers completed the 2017 Cape Epic almost exactly where they finished the Stage One prologue, ending up 58th overall, 40th place in the men’s category, almost 7 hours down on the overall winners. The pair was 58th overall and 41st in the men’s category after day one.
Prior to the final day, Sven and Sven were in good spirits, laughing and smiling, and after the finish, it was much of the same:
“We did it again together and have finally reached the Cape Epic together, comrade,” Nys told Vanthourenhout after the race (translated).
Might the fat tire race give the two cyclocross stars the itch to do more racing? We’ll see. Both look as fit as ever, and Nys appears to have no trouble competing at high-profile events, with or without suspension or derailleurs.
The 2017 Cape Epic men’s overall winner was the team of Olympic champion Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann of Scott-SRAM MTB Racing, while the women’s race was won by the dominating Jennie Stenerhag and Ester Süss of the Meerendal CBC Team.
