The 2017 Absa Cape Epic was dominated by one brand: SCOTT. The Swiss-based bike brand won four stages and the overall title in the Men’s race, claimed seven stage wins and the overall title the Women’s race and secured all eight stages and the overall title in the Mixed category.
The Swiss-based brand has never shone this brightly at the Cape Epic before and the success wasn’t any kind of fluke. There was a great deal of planning and behind-the-scenes strategy that went into the event by SCOTT Sports, both internationally and locally.
Modern Cape Epic teams with any kind of podium ambitions require highly 
professional back-up staff to ensure that everything off the bike runs smoothly so that the riders only have to worry about pedaling as fast as they can for eight successive days.
A key member of the SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing Team is South African Joggie Prinsloo. Prinsloo is a natural organiser and one of those humans that often prefers to do things himself rather than delegate to ensure it’s done properly. We managed to get him to sit still for long enough to ask him some questions about himself and his role in the team’s Cape Epic success.
Compiled by Dino Lloyd
Have you always worked in the cycling industry?
Pretty much, yes. As a youngster I used to deliver newspapers in the early mornings in the town of Graaf Reinet on my mountain bike. During this time, my bike broke down a few times, so I started a small repair centre in my dad’s garage. I also used my bike as transport to school and sport after school. I started racing road bikes in 2002 and had the opportunity to join Silverback Technologies in their early phase in 2005. During my time there I experienced every position in the cycling wholesale industry. From packing boxes in the warehouse to managing stock and staff then rep work to sales and marketing manager. I am still very grateful towards Silverback owner Deon Retief for the opportunity and everything I learned from him. In 2011 I accepted an offer to join Scott Sports Africa.
And what has your time at SCOTT involved?
After setting and achieving goals with Silverback, I felt I’d reached a point to aim for my next big thing. After taking a break to climb Kilimanjaro, I spent some time plotting my next list of goals and how that could happen with the SCOTT brand. On Kilimanjaro I realised that I needed to focus more on bigger picture objectives for the SCOTT brand and I needed to find ways in which I could personally contribute to that, one of those being success at the Absa Cape Epic, a major event in my home country.
Who have been mentors in your life?
Three people have played a big role. Marguerite Wolfaart from Graaff Reinet, who got me into the cycling lifestyle and taught me how to suffer; Neal du Preez, my current mentor in business, and Thomas Frischknecht, a mountain bike racing legend who lives the SCOTT brand serving the company and the sport to the very best of his ability, always driven by passion.
In short, what do your day-to-day tasks involve? When specific events arise, like the Cape Epic, what extra duties come into play?
With my role as Brand Manager at Scott Sports Africa it can be anything that needs my attention to contribute to generating sales and/or demand. From dealing with consumers to dealing with retailers, corporates, media, event organisers or athletes. Sometimes there are really challenging situations or brand activations and product or team launches. So basically connecting marketing and sales. In today’s world more creative, unconventional avenues need to be explored in marketing. So I am fortunate to be innovative with this side of the business as well. From point-of-sale design in shops for SCOTT to social media management or to planning for the new season with my team. Anything that contributes to the goal of the company and the direction we need to go as a brand, keeping in mind what we stand for at SCOTT Sports. For me it’s always about how I can help make a difference, not just in the company, but with the people that cross my path during this amazing journey – especially my SCOTT Sports colleagues, locally and internationally.
When events like the International SCOTT SRAM Team launch or Cape Epic arise, it becomes twice the pace of the daily game as the everyday stuff cannot take a back seat. This year again I had the privilege of being team manager for the SCOTT SRAM Mtb Racing Team at the Cape Epic. So during the eight days the race goals and everything around the team gets priority. But later at night, when riders are happy and settled into bed, I make time to catch up on urgent matters that need my attention for SCOTT Sports dealers and consumers.
Cape Epic is really hard and reminds me again what life is about. Setting a goal, preparing for the goal and then executing it. Because the goal is for the brand, you can’t get caught up in thinking about yourself, but have to consider everyone involved in the project. That’s what I love about it! I’m always up first to make sure everyone, including staff wake up as comfortably as possible and always go to bed last, once everybody is prepped and ready for the next day! This suits my busy personality…
How often do you interact with Scott on an international level and what kind of input do they require from South Africa that applies to their global strategy?
Depending on the strategy or specific project sometimes on a daily basis. Our social media and marketing strategies are aligned across the world and therefore we have to drive the same plan. The last six months was an important project period for SCOTT Sports as we had two goals in mind. The one was the international launch for the SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing Team in Stellenbosch and then also the 2017 Cape Epic.
Although the South African market is really small, we play a vital role to the industry as we have the best platform to test and market a marathon bike. And this year’s Cape Epic success was just what we wanted – and needed. There has always been a perception that our bike takes second step when it comes to racing marathon, but with the success story at the 2017 Cape Epic and the subsequent rollout, this is already changing.
SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing based themselves in South Africa prior to the Cape Epic, including a press camp in Stellenbosch the week before. Was this experience deemed a success by SCOTT internationally?
Definitely. We had the privilege to introduce our SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing Team to the very top media experts in our industry from around the world. They also had an opportunity to spend three days with the team doing interviews. They also got to test ride the new SCOTT Spark with our athletes. While on some of the most beautiful trails, they had time to do photo shoots and video interviews with the team members. What made it even more special for us at SCOTT Sports is that most of these media joined us for the Cape Epic too, so the SCOTT Cape Epic success made an even bigger impact!
With the success that the team enjoyed at the Cape Epic, how do you feel this may influence future competition at the event?
Although the Cape Epic has it all from an athlete’s point of view, if you look at the competition, I do think that it will become a bigger priority for some brands and teams to compete for the win due to the value in marketing and exposure. The dynamic of this race just changed and this will make racing more exciting and will definitely get the attention of more media and consumers that would want to visit or join the coverage of this race across the world for eight days. I am sure with the World Cup round in Stellenbosch next year we will see more XCO teams at the Cape Epic that will definitely make it very exciting and competitive.
You were with the team daily during the Cape Epic – what were your duties within the team environment?
Everything! As I have mentioned, being team manager for a pro team takes first priority on all levels during the Cape Epic. Here’s an example of an average Cape Epic day for me:
04h30: Wake up and get coffee machine going so I can get all staff up and ready for the day.
05h00: Wake the riders with coffee in bed. Getting a good vibe going is really important during this time, so music plays huge part.
Then the staff timelines start where the breakfast team begin with breakfast and the mechanics start running through bikes one final time. During breakfast I will go through important points of the stage one more time.
Then there are some everyday routines making sure riders bottles and nutrition are sorted and normal checks, like the GoPro cameras on bikes, riders numbers on their jerseys etc.
07h00: Stage starts.
Once the riders have started racing, make sure campers are clean and ready for riders when they return. Also make sure the staff eat and are happy. During the stage I will keep sponsors, fans and colleagues up to date on what’s happening in race via Whatsapp or phone calls or social media. Do some grocery shopping/top-up, make sure campers are filled with water and fuel. Then I will start prepping for finish.
Recovery of the riders is the most important thing as this will affect how they perform the next day. So recovery shakes get made, and a cooler bag with enough water, Coke and food gets packed to fuel the riders immediately after finish.
On the finish line there are some things we need to do in a short amount of time. Get riders cleaned and dressed in fresh kit for podiums and make them eat. Then there will be media interviews where we manage the interview slots.
Like I said earlier, rider recovery is the most important so getting riders off their legs and into ice baths and onto massage tables is really important. And all this while you make sure they eat enough.
Then, once the riders are in full recovery mode, we will have our team managers meeting where the day’s stage is discussed and next day’s stage is planned. Once back at the team camp, the riders’ clothes, shoes and helmets get washed and we prep for next day.
Later in the afternoon we will have a fun session where we talk about the day and have pizza and coffee before we get ready for the main presentation and dinner in the big tent.
While the riders go for dinner in the big tent, I make sure the tech support boxes for the next day’s tech zones are collected and handed to the mechanic for a check/top-up, along with the spare wheels, before we take it all back and hand it in for the next day’s placement at the tech zones. During this time I will also submit the riders’ nutrition bottles for next day.
Once the teams get back from dinner, we will have a sit down to strategise the next day’s racing.
Once that is done we make sure everybody has fresh water for the night and then everyone goes to sleep. That’s when I catch up with my normal work as Brand Manager for SCOTT Sports Africa. I’ve not given all the details as quite a lot more gets done daily and there are situations that arise that you have to manage.
The most important thing is to make sure everybody is happy and that the camp vibe is 100%; and everybody, including our drivers, feel part of the amazing time we spend together.
On a personal level, how does this level of responsibility make you feel?
I have worked now with this team for six years so it makes it really easy for me as they are like family to me. All I want is to ensure our riders focus on and enjoy racing their bikes and I will make sure everything around that falls into place.
The SCOTT winning streak from XCO World Champs to Olympic Games to Cape Epic is a result of super hard work, passion and commitment, by individuals and as a support team behind the riders.
Being able to be so involved with this team as a team manager is a huge privilege and this creates a platform for me where team boss, Thomas Frischknecht, gives us at SCOTT Sports all the access and inside scoops to make SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing what it is today. For me it’s about what I can give back and everything I learn from this experience will go back into our industry. I just love the SCOTT brand and the culture that it represents; and I know this is how the riders live as well. That’s why we have the #noshortcuts tagline – it’s the way we do things. No place for taking shortcuts in everything we do!
And how involved do the star riders get in the business of the SCOTT brand?
One thing about these riders is the fact that they really believe in our products and they always talk to people and make sure from a pro rider’s point of view that you understand the setup and what the goal of the product is to the racing snake and to the weekend warrior.
That is one thing I have learned from Nino and Frischi; it doesn’t matter the time or place, there is always time to sell some product, even if you just bring it up in conversations, or just by simply living the brand.
The culture I love here is the fact that we not just here to win races, but to make sure the consumer knows exactly what they are riding and why they should choose SCOTT technology. It’s also more than just selling a bike, it’s about living a SCOTT lifestyle!
Many of the media as well as the staff and team riders were experiencing South Africa for the first time during the team presentation and at the Cape Epic. What do you feel they took away from their experience?
That this is Africa! It’s still one of the best places in the world to ride your bike and that we definitely have some of the friendliest people in the world!
To see what Joggie gets up to this year, follow him on Instagram and Twitter on the handle, @Scott2luvit.
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