MTB

Homework pays off for Lill, Woolcock

By Absa Cape Epic

The USN Purefit outfit of Darren Lill and Waylon Woolcock confirmed on Stage 3 of the Absa Cape Epic that they are the African team to beat this year.

Coming home in an impressive seventh place on the 104km stage from Tulbagh to Wellington, Lill and Woolcock opened up a 15-minute gap on their nearest rivals for the Absa African Special Jersey. They now sit sixth in the overall standings after three stages of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic.

With four stages to go, Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell (NAD Pro MTB), 12th on Stage 3 and in 10th position in the overall standings for the race, will have to pull out all the stops to prevent Lill and Woolcock from finishing the race as the best African team at this year’s Epic.

For a third day running, Team USN Purefit looked calm and comfortable as they crossed the finish line. A small mechanical – a flat on the first climb of the day – forced them to lose sight of the leading group, but the pair remained unflustered and cruised home in another impressive display of controlled riding.

“We were going along nicely, just in touch with the lead group until we had to stop for a quick repair,” said Lill. “After that we pulled along with Team Topeak Ergon, who worked really hard on the day, and we made contact with the lead bunch at Bain’s Kloof Pass.”


Photo courtesy of Absa Cape Epic

Woolcock says the Dolomiti Superbike team of Periklis Ilias and Tiago Ferreira pulled the bunch up Bain’s Kloof, allowing a number of teams to enter into the forest together. “At this stage we decided not to push and just went at our own pace. It had been a good day up until that point, so we wanted to ride safely – as safely as you can at the Cape Epic – to the finish.”

Judging from their performance and smiles, Lill and Woolcock have a plan and it’s working for them. Woolcock admits that going into this Cape Epic they put in a huge amount of groundwork in terms of preparation and research.

“We worked really hard before the race,” said Woolcock. “We did more core work than we’d ever done before and focussed a great deal on improving our skills and fitness. As former roadies we will never match the technical ability of the mountain bikers who have been riding since childhood, so we worked on our skills a lot this year.


Photo courtesy of Absa Cape Epic

The pair also spent time researching the mechanical aspects of mountain biking. “We looked at what parts were the most durable and what best suited the racing for the Cape Epic. We made more informed choices about equipment and looked into what would best aid our race. Of course, nothing is unbreakable, but it was important spending the time to look into every aspect of the race.”

With a commanding lead and three confidence-building stages behind them, Lill and Woolcock appear to have found the recipe for success at the 2016 Absa Cape Epic.

“We’ll just keep going along,” says Woolcock. “Anything can happen here. But right now we are feeling good.” 


The 2016 Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race takes place from 13 to 20 March and the much anticipated racing updates can be viewed here.  The 2016 race hosted the 100th stage in the history of the event – the EPIC100 –  today, Tuesday 15 March.