Approaching the 2022 Absa Cape Epic it appears as if the most successful team in the history of the Absa African Jersey competition will be sitting out the race. In eight editions PYGA Euro Steel, or their previous incarnation, have won the red jerseys on six occasions. Their absence this year thus creates a significant opportunity for the other all-African teams.

The most likely squad to exploit this are the double runners-up, Imbuko {type}DEV equipped by Giant. With Marco Joubert once again heading up the Wellington-based outfit the newly amalgamated super team are the favourites to go one better than their second place Absa African finishes in 2019 and 2021. Currently, Joubert is pencilled in to race with Pieter du Toit; who is, himself, one of the defending red jersey champions, having won it alongside Philip Buys in 2021.

Imbuko {type}DEV equipped by Giant’s strength lies in their squad depth. Du Toit, Joubert and Wessel Botha are riders of near equal abilities. The most inform pair will thus start the Absa Cape Epic together with the third slotting in alongside, rugby player turned mountain biker, Franko van Zyl. The fifth rider in the squad, Rudi Koen, has recently returned to on-the-bike training after a collision with a truck in December. His ankle injury is expected to keep him out of the Untamed African MTB Race, but he personally has not ruled the possibility of making his Absa Cape Epic debut.

The two Imbuko {type}DEV equipped by Giant teams’ biggest competition is likely to come from the Insect Science Pro squads. Arno du Toit and Keagan Bontekoning are the stronger of the two pairings, though Bontekoning will be returning from injury for the race having had surgery on an injury he suffered at the Tankwa Trek in February. Given that it was to repair a vein in his elbow it should not have affected his form and Bontekoning will be rearing to go for the Absa Cape Epic.

In Du Toit he has a highly experienced partner, who spent his formulative years racing alongside Buys and Beukes. He is thus well-versed in what it takes to win the Absa African Jerseys, despite never having lifted the Burry Stander Memorial Trophy himself. 2022 could be Du Toit’s year, though.

Aiding him in his bid are the Insect Science Pro 2 team of Alan Gordon and CP van Wyk. With both the favourites for the competition fielding two teams the race could come down to whose support team is able to remain with the leading team for the longest. It does also put the pressure on the squads who will only be represented by one team.

The primary of those are the Valley Electrical Titan Racing team of HB Kruger and Matthew Keyser. Kruger and Keyser are dark horses for the jerseys, which suits them perfectly. If Imbuko {type}DEV equipped by Giant and Insect Science Pro focus too narrowly on each other the Titan Racing team could benefit. Especially on the transition stages from Lourensford to Elandskloof, and Elandskloof to Stellenbosch.

A further team who could potentially cause an upset are the Honeycomb Pro Cycling combination of Christiaan Janse van Rensburg and Marc Pritzen. Janse van Rensburg is the triple veteran (30-39 age group) South African champion; across the road, time trial and mountain bike marathon disciplines. While Pritzen is the 2021 South African under 23 and elite road champion. The pair thus have the engines to succeed, but how their technical abilities will cope with the trails of Lourensford, Greyton and Stellenbosch remains to be seen.

Three teams with interesting stories to tell complete the men’s Absa African ‘Who to Watch’ list. They are the AMANI Kenya, Absa C2R and Fairtree Imperial Cannondale squads. Sule Kangangi and Kenneth Karaya resume the Kenyan connection with the Absa Cape Epic, picking up the baton from David Kinjah Njau and Davidson Kamau Kihagi. Karaya raced the 2021 event for EF Education-Nippo with Lachlan Morton and that experience should stand him in good stead in what he and AMANI Kenya believe will be a more competitive second showing.

Absa C2R and Fairtree Imperial Cannondale continue the battle they begun in the Exxaro Jersey competition in the Absa African Jersey race. Phillimon Sebona is a three-time Exxaro winner and Jan Montshioa helped him to the 2015 title. Lorenzo Leroux & Luyanda Thobigunya, meanwhile, are the most recent Exxaro champions. The pair are highly motivated for their assault on the red jersey competition, though they are targeting a podium place in the race-within-a-race rather than outright victory.

The women’s Absa African Jersey battle is likely to be dominated by the Faces Rola team, of Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss. The defending red jersey champions were second overall in the race for the CM.com Women’s orange jerseys in 2021. If they are to go one better in 2022 the Absa African competition will be a natural addition to their Absa Cape Epic haul.

Having added the Tankwa Trek title to their palmarès, they are, as a team, arguably even more settled now than they were six months ago. Lill and Strauss also have the long-term support of both Faces Africa and the Rola Motor Group behind them, which adds stability to their campaign, which was lacking last year when Strauss’ ride with her then team was coming to an end.

Anything can happen in the Absa Cape Epic however, and favourites on paper do not necessarily win out on the trails. This Hayley Preen discovered all-too harshly in 2021. The 2021 South African road champion crashed and fractured her wrist on Stage 3 of the last event. She and Marie Rabie had been enjoying their best stage of the race to that point before the crash.

If the pair can build on the positives of 2021, and avoid overextending themselves on the more technical sections of the route, they will be in contention for a top place in the overall women’s race, and by extension a good result in the Absa African Jerseys. Though second is likely the best they can do without misfortune befalling Faces Rola; however they will still race every stage with the belief that they can claim the Hannele Steyn Trophy upon reaching Val de Vie.

For the Barrier Breakers team of Elrika Harmzen-Pretorius and Lehane Oosthuizen, they too will be in the hunt for the Absa African Jersey in their Absa Cape Epic debuts, and will no-doubt be learning from the experience of racing alongside the world’s best mountain bike stage racers. Ranked in the top three teams in the list of teams to follow their efforts will likely earn them a podium place.

Nothing is certain in mountain biking in general and the Absa Cape Epic in particular, however. The race plays out on the harsh African terrain, not the pristine white paper of a favourites’ list. So be sure to watch the races-within-the-race, the Absa African Jersey competitions, unfold from the 20^th to the 27^th of March this year.