Bulls riders Thomas Dietsch and Tim Böhme finishes the final stage of the 2012 Absa Cape Epic mountain bike at Lourensford Wine Estate, South Africa. Photo: Shaun Roy/Cape Epic/Sportzpics
Frenchman Thomas Dietsch will team up with Germany’s Tim Böhme in the 2013 Absa Cape Epic as Team Bulls 2 to count among this year’s favourites.
The 10th edition of the mountain bike stage race will see cyclists from all over the world complete over 698km and eight days.
The prologue kicks off at Meerendal Wine Estate on March 17 and the race ends on March 24 at Lourensford Wine Estate.
Dietsch (38) is a five-time French and double European marathon champion and overall World Cup winner in 2007.
Böhme (30) placed fourth at the 2011 marathon world champs and took bronze at the 2011 European Championships.
“It’s one of the best races in the world, gets a lot of coverage and is great for preparing for the European season,” said Böhme.
“Thomas and I are a good combination as he’s tall and I’m small, so I have a good position in the flats. We’ve raced together a lot and know how to work together.
“We’d really like some stage wins and an overall podium finish, so we’re training hard. We also have a Bulls training camp of about four weeks.
“Last year we lost a stage win in a sprint and missed a podium finish by about 50 seconds. We want to try again this year.”
Visit www.cape-epic.com for more details.
