{"id":50174,"date":"2023-03-24T19:04:03","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T17:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/?p=50174"},"modified":"2023-03-24T19:04:03","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T17:04:03","slug":"sheuntamed-are-masters-of-mtb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/cycling\/sheuntamed-are-masters-of-mtb\/","title":{"rendered":"SheUntamed are masters of MTB"},"content":{"rendered":"

They have eight Absa Cape Epic finishes between them, yet Team #SheUntamed Grand Masters is tackling the 2023 event with new vigour.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cape Town, 23 March 2023 – When Capetonians Anne Harrison and Anneke Jacobs teamed up for their first Absa Cape Epic together just a fortnight before the 2023 event, it presented a new angle on the event not just for the experienced mountain bikers, but for two important 2023 initiatives for the Race That Measures All.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a relative newcomer to the Absa Cape Epic as a solo finisher in 2018, Jacobs is immensely proud of Absa\u2019s #SheUntamed programme and the opportunities it is affording women from across the cycling spectrum. “Absa has been absolutely amazing in the way they have treated us and enabled us to get an entry along with many others for this year\u2019s event. And what they are doing for women mountain bikers is absolutely wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This will be the second full year that #SheUntamed brings women athletes to the Absa Cape Epic, after a stellar 2022, and the results are already being seen, not just in the number of Absa jerseys on the start line, but in the general growth of the women\u2019s field.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With seven Absa Cape Epic finishes under her belt, to add to an endurance-event history that is the envy of many, Harrison is well-positioned to track the ups and downs of the women\u2019s category in the event. \u201cWe are seeing such growth in the numbers of women riding the Absa Cape Epic, if I compare it to the last time I rode it in 2017. I think that is purely because of what Absa is doing with #SheUntamed. It\u2019s obviously centered around the race itself, but they do much more than that, encouraging women to ride through the rest of the year at events and clinics.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to the pair\u2019s assault on The Untamed African Mountain Bike Race than the ongoing empowerment of women in and away from the event. \u201cThis year, there are age categories for us \u2018older\u2019 ladies, and even the older ones, so technically, we are in the Grand Masters category – we are both over 50. But I think there are only two teams that would actually qualify for the age group, so we are racing Masters. I know so many riders who will come and ride the Grand Masters next year, especially for the 20th Absa Cape Epic, so I hope this year helps show them it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s difficult for us, you know. I don\u2019t think we recover as well as the men, and we certainly aren\u2019t as fast, so eight days is quite tough I think as we get a bit older.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s real pity we can\u2019t race in our official age category,\u201d says Jacobs, but with not quite as much regret as maybe there could be. \u201cBut next year, I am sure the category will be bigger and the racing will be great!\u201d Harrison nods in agreement, and as pioneers the pair will be spreading the word through their untamed action for eight days across the Western Cape.<\/p>\n

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Harrison comes into the \u201923 event off the back of a calamitous mountain bike crash six months ago that resulted in multiple broken bones and some lingering shoulder issues that aren\u2019t causing trouble yet\u2026 but! \u201cCome and speak to me on day four! That\u2019s when, I think, when we will really start to wonder whether we are doing the right thing here! But, obviously we are, there is nothing that compares to the Absa Cape Epic machine and everything it brings to the riders.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so privileged to ride bikes and ride this event; at our age we just have to enjoy it and share that, so more women ride next year, and beyond.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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They have eight Absa Cape Epic finishes between them, yet Team #SheUntamed Grand Masters is tackling the 2023 event with new vigour.   Cape Town, 23 March 2023 – When Capetonians Anne Harrison and Anneke Jacobs teamed up for their first Absa Cape Epic together just a fortnight before the 2023 event, it presented a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3260],"tags":[9196,9209,2206],"class_list":["post-50174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-absa","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-cape-epic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}