Celina Carpinteiro and Katerina Slegrova, who made up the BTT Loulé/BPI team, finished in 11th place in females. ABSA Cape Epic, the most popular MTB competition by stages in the world, which took place in South Africa, between the 23rd and the 30th of March.
The route changes with each edition and the number of entries is limited to 1200, in “double” teams made up of amateurs and professionals, coming from approximately 50 countries.
Athletes from each team must stay together (never more than two minutes apart) during the course and finish each stage by 17:00 each day. Teams can be formed by two male, female, mixed or veteran elements.
This year, the eight stages (prologue + seven stages) added up to a total distance of 718 kilometers and an accumulated ascent of 14780 meters, making the race one of the toughest in the world.
In the initial stage, 1240 athletes were on the starting line and 1118 finished the eight days of competition.
The duo Celina Carpinteiro and Katerina Slegrova got the 11th place in females (235th overall). For Celina, this was her third participation and her first in a women's team, as the other two times (2010 and 2013) she partnered with Valério Ferreira.
The 2015 edition is scheduled for the 15th to 22nd of March, and it is increasingly difficult to get a ticket to participate in this mythical race.
Pre-registrations for the 2015 race have already started, but sold out in seconds. In addition to this opportunity, it remains to try the draw for entries or be invited by the organization, which takes into account the athlete's curriculum.
Consult here the complete ratings.
Consult here the athletes' details.
Watch the video with an eight-minute summary of the eight steps:
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