They’ve been rivals for more than a decade when racing XCO, but Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss have now teamed up to try and win one major title that’s eluded both of them – the Absa Cape Epic. Racing as Team Faces CST, they’re aiming to become the first all-South African-team to win the Cape Epic since 2007. Here’s how they feel about their chances.
By Sean Badenhorst
In 17 years only seven South Africans have won the Women’s category at the Absa Cape Epic. Hanlie Booyens has won the race twice – 2004 and 2009 – both times partnered with the late Sharon Laws of Great Britain. In 2005, Hannele Steyn won with the late Zoe Frost, the first South African team to win. In 2007, Anke Erlank and Yolande de Villiers claimed the women’s title, which hasn’t been won by an all-South African team since.
Only two South Africans have won since then*: Karien van Jaarsveld (now Alberts) in 2011, partnered with Great Britain’s Sally Bigham; and Yolande Speedy (now Cordes), in 2013, with Catherine Williamson of Great Britain.
Lill and Strauss are no strangers to the Cape Epic. Lill has completed three, while Strauss has finished five. Each has finished as the runner-up in the past, Lill in 2019 and Strauss in 2017. They were teamed up for the 2020 edition, which was cancelled and have maintained their commitment and will be taking on the postponed 2021 edition with the aim of being only the third all-South African team to win the world’s most prestigious stage race.
We asked them some questions:
A Cape Epic in October – do you think this will have much of an impact on the racing?
Mariske: It’s definitely a different ball game. We’ve just come out of a cross-country season, so training has definitely been a bit different to our normal prep for Epic. I think it will be fine though. We have prepared mentally for it, but it’s definitely strange to prepare for an Epic in October.
Candice: It will certainly be a different dynamic. Firstly, it’s not as dry so most of the trails are riding really nicely. It’s not that dusty, loose, dry terrain that we are used to in March. In October it can also be super-hot or very rainy. So that dynamic comes into play with equipment choices. Being the end of the season, the Europeans have come from summer with a whole year’s racing in them as opposed to March when they might struggle with the heat after coming from their winter. The marathon riders just had their world champs so they will be well prepared off the back of that, whereas us cross-country riders have had to cram some endurance rides in after a full, hard season of racing.
The field has obviously been affected by the time of year (end of XCO season) and travel restrictions still place due to Covid measures. How do you rate this Elite women’s field against recent editions of the Cape Epic?
Mariske: It’s been affected for sure. The event has done an amazing job to get everything together and make the racing possible. It’s still a strong field of women and I’m excited to see how the racing turns out!
Candice: I actually think the women’s race this year is going to be the most interesting out of all the years. The retirement of Annika Langvad, who was really dominant for the last few years certainly opens things up. This year we have a very equal field I feel. It’s going to be a lot closer, which is what we want to see. Close racing is more entertaining. The women’s field is looking strong. I don’t think the restrictions and postponement have had much effect on the Elite women’s field compared to previous years.
Mariske, the battle for the one Olympic Games spot must have been quite draining. And not getting the nod must have been a tough decision to handle for you. How have you managed this emotionally in terms of staying positive and focussed on racing?
Mariske: Yes, that was for sure a big knock. But it was the third time it’s happened so I’m well trained in handling it by now. It’s always a let-down when you don’t achieve your goals, but it’s important to focus forward and getting to race my bike with an amazing partner is definitely motivating me to do my best. I feel we are in a really good position to show our stuff and take the win. But ja, it has been all the types of draining. I have also dealt with some personal struggles, so it’s been a really tough year. But I’m really looking forward to this Epic.
Candice, while we might have expected the Olympic Games, including the stressful build-up, to have exhausted you, it seems that you were possibly even more motivated afterwards, based on your recent race results. Is that the case?
Candice: It’s true! I put a lot in for the Olympics. I struggled in the beginning of the season. I had a lot to work on if I wanted to have any kind of decent performance at the Olympics – and I did. But it kind of opened up all these doors for me and motivated me hugely. When I saw what I could overcome mentally and physically, especially from a skills perspective, it motivated me a lot! The self-confidence that came from that has really stood me in good stead for the rest of the season. It’s funny, I have had my best results since the Olympics. Even though it’s the end of a long – and in some ways difficult- season, I’m still excited to race. That’s a great place to be going into an eight-day stage race.
Was it always going to be Candice that you would race the ‘next Cape Epic’ with, considering you were partnered for the cancelled 2020 edition?
Mariske: I’m super committed to this goal and I’m super stoked to be able to line up with Candice. We have become great friends and I can’t see myself racing with anyone else!
Candice: It was never a question. I feel like we have unfinished business. I’m really looking forward to racing with Mariske!
How did your training change once you had committed to the 2021 Cape Epic?
Mariske: Like you said earlier, it is at the end of the XCO season. I think we had about a 13-day turnaround before we had to start tapering for the Cape Epic. Definitely not my normal Epic preparation! But coming off a very solid XCO season, it’s easier to go from XCO training to marathon versus the other way around. I’m sure we’ll be 100% ready.
Candice: We have done a lot of cross-country racing this year which is great! It gives us that intensity and being able to ride at speed. Also tactically and skills wise, it’s benefitted us. So we have all that going for us. We just had to work on being able to do longer days and multiple stages. Training hasn’t changed that much. Our cross-country training is not so different from training for the Cape Epic. It’s just more hours. Also, planning when and how much to eat. I think that is the biggest thing. How well we fuel and hydrate. We have the speed, we have the intensity, we have the skills. We train many, many hours a week normally. It comes down to a matter of fuelling correctly for the longer distance and race time.
Based on your recent Instagram posts, it seems you have been doing a lot of preparation on parts of the Cape Epic route. What are your impressions of this year’s route?
Mariske: We actually went out in early 2020 to check the route out. It’s definitely a tough route. There are a lot of technical sections that I feel will suit XCO racers. Lots of singletrack with very rocky and loose surfaces in places. It will be interesting to see what the weather does. That part of the country (Cederberg) can get very cold and very hot!
Candice: Yes, Mariske and I went for a few days to Tulbagh and Ceres to check out some of the route. It’s good to know what you are in for and it’s helped us plan our stage as we intend to race tactically. It is a really tough route this year, so mentally it’s good to know what you’re in for. It think it’s one of the toughest Cape Epic routes. The terrain is so rocky and slow. It’s taxing on the body so it will be tough. Terrain like that can also lead to mechanicals and punctures which we need to manage as best we can.
Who do you see as your main rivals in the 2021 Cape Epic?
Mariske: There are a lot of strong teams. But for Candice and I, we are focussing on doing our thing the best we can. Focussing on other people can be distracting so we are really just going to our best, which will hopefully be enough to bring home the gold!
Candice: I think Robyn (de Groot) and Ariane (Lüthi) will be very strong rivals. They have the experience and the stamina as marathon racers. Laura (Stigger) and Sina (Frei) will be really good too. They don’t have the experience in the Cape Epic, but they are really good riders and I’m sure they will feature on multiple stages and possibly overall. There are others too, including Adelheid (Morath) and Cherie (Redecker), Sarah (Hill) and Vera (Looser). It’s going to be interesting!
How confident are you that you will be able to join the very small group of South African women that have won the Cape Epic?
Mariske: We are definitely aspiring to win. A lot of things need to go right. We have put in a lot of effort to make sure everything goes smoothly, but having said that, it’s the Cape Epic where literally anything and everything is thrown at you, so we are just going to do our best and whatever happens, happens. We will race our bikes the best we can and enjoy the experience.
Candice: It would be super cool to join that club. It’s our goal. We are more focused on the process now though. We are taking it day by day because that’s the way to win it. You ned to string good days together. That’s our way of approaching it. It would be really cool to pull off a win for South Africa. We are both confident and will ride like we want to win. You have got to believe that you can win. And we do.
You and were both vying for one Olympics spot, which obviously fuelled your rivalry. Now you have teamed up to achieve a common goal of trying to win the Cape Epic. Has this shift in mindset and emotions been challenging or relatively easy?
Mariske: We have matured so much and grown to become really good friends over the years and even more so in the past few months. So I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry in the classic sense. Perhaps more of a healthy athletic respect for each other. You need to be united and you need to be a team and we work well together. I’m super excited to be teamed up with Candice and I believe we are going to be a force to be reckoned with!
Candice: Mariske and I both want the same thing. Sometimes there’s only space for one. Hopefully in future there will be space for more SA women at the Olympics. Because we have had this common goal for quite a while, it was relatively easy to shift from racing against each other to racing with each other as a team. I think it’s been so, so good for us! We have grown a lot closer over the last few months. There’s a strong mutual respect for each other. We have been rivals since we were Juniors and because of this we know each other really well. We know each other’s racing strengths and weaknesses and it’s so cool to come together to use our strengths to our mutual benefit. I think we definitely have an advantage in that regard.
Follow Candice @candice_mtb and Mariske @mariskestraus on Instagram to see their Cape Epic progress
*Both Ariane Lüthi (2014-2016) and Jennie Stenerhag (2017) have won the Cape Epic. They held/hold South African citizenship but, race for their respective countries of origin. Lüthi is the current Swiss marathon champion and Stenerhag is the current Swedish marathon champion. Both are racing the Cape Epic again this year.
