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Sören Nissen is ready for the Cape Epic

Probably the biggest and most prestigious mountain bike team race in the world, the Cape Epic, will take place in 2022 in the Western Cape of South Africa from the 20th to 27th of March. STEVENS team rider Sören Nissen will take part for the fourth time - this year with experienced Swiss Konny Looser at his side.

Sören already wanted to compete again in 2020, following participations in 2013, 2014 and 2015. All preparations had already been made, winter training was fully geared towards the Cape Epic, a South African race in preparation of the event had been completed and the native Dane with a Luxembourg passport was highly motivated - until the event had to be cancelled the day before the start due to Corona restrictions. Now, in 2022, the time has finally come again. The Cape Epic is a full-service race with a maximum of 680 teams is the only eight-day MTB stage race in the world with the highest UCI mountain classification "Hors Catégorie", which makes it a real highlight for every professional - and ambitious amateur riders. Held over a prologue plus seven full stages and without a rest day, as well as over a distance of 681 kilometres and 16900 metres of altitude difference, the Cape Epic is a true test for man and machine. Another challenge for the two-person teams: at no point during the race the riders may be apart more than two minutes.

After many years of racing each other, Sören and Konny have already competed as a team, including last year's Swiss Epic, which they finished in an excellent third place. The two are competing against the world's best factory teams and riders with names like Olympic champion Nino Schurter, Cross-Country all-rounder Henrique Silva Avancini and many others.

The goal for Sören and Konny is to finish this year's race in the top 10. "I think that’s possible. If everything goes really good I believe you will find us even fighting for the top 5 ... And if you can go top 5 ... The podium is not that far away anymore! You are always allowed to dream big, right?", tells a laughing Sören.

The entire race will be broadcasted live on South African TV, but will also be available live on the Cape Epic website and via the Epic Series app.

We have just received the news that Sören and Konny had to withdraw from the Cape Epic because Konny tested positive for the Corona virus on the day of the prologue.

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