Multi-talented North Canterbury brothers Ben and Craig Oliver are set to take on the legendary Cape Epic mountain bike challenge in South Africa this month.
The MitoQ - NZ Cycling Project riders will be relative unknowns in this annual mega-test with Craig the current national MTB Marathon Champion and Ben a former NZ MTB Marathon Champion and Commonwealth Games medallist.
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They will compete against professional mountain bikers from around the world over 700kms of untamed trails comprising 16kms of vertical climbing.
“It is special to be racing the world’s most prestigious MTB race with my brother,” said Craig Oliver. “Having the opportunity to mix it up at the front of the field is super exciting and the icing on the cake is doing it with the fern on my chest as NZ MTB Marathon Champ.”
Younger brother Ben makes no bones about the team goals.
“We are chasing a stage win and we will have eight chances during the week, so Craig and I would love to pull that off. I also think a top-five is realistic, that would be a big ask but not impossible.”
The team is preparing and acclimatising to altitude, based in Stellenbosch, before racing begins in earnest.
The project has taken significant planning to get the MitoQ - NZ Cycling Project team to the race.
“We have been fortunate to have the support of our sponsors MitoQ, Champion System NZ, Worralls, Southern Insulation, Creation Signs and Julbo to back the plan,” said General Manager James Canny.
“Over and above this the team at Mikro Foundation Rotorua and Omnico (South African Cannondale/Giro distributors) have also given generous support to make the dream happen. I really hope we can open doors to send more kiwi men’s and women’s teams to the Cape Epic in the future.”