Cape Town, 16 February 2007: Downhill racing is often euphemistically referred to as gravity-assisted time trial racing, which basically means getting from the top to the bottom as quickly as possible. The slopes are steep, the speeds are frightening, the terrain is rough and good disc brakes are a prerequisite. In the universe of mountain bike racing, the amateur downhill discipline has carved out a subculture of its own, a culture where spandex, shaving and working out are not welcome. This often leads the untrained observer to assume that all downhill riders have less endurance and lower fitness levels than riders from other disciplines. However, with the shorter format a far cry from the slightly more horizontal cross country and marathon racing, pro downhill riders are often separated by only a few thousandths of a second, a fraction that makes every ounce of fitness count. There's no denying, some serious skills are needed to ride two kilometres of mountain slope as fast as possible without breaking something.

Also considered one of the toughest disciplines in mountain biking, marathon racing, on the other hand, sees riders covering much longer distances of between 40 and 100 kilometres over physically taxing mountainous terrain. A different set of skills comes into play when riding marathons, endurance being fundamental. One step further in the need for stamina is epic riding, which sees riders completing a number of stages in one day or over a few consecutive days. And at the very apex of the hierarchy of endurance lies the Absa Cape Epic, where participants ride between 80 and 130 kilometres every day, for eight consecutive days. That's a marathon, or ultra-marathon, every day, for over a week.

Endurance is the key to success in, or just finishing, the Absa Cape Epic. This year, challenging the unfit and unfitting reputation of downhill, three of the world's top downwhill riders, Greg Minnaar, Anka Martin and Kathy Pruitt, are entering the Absa Cape Epic presented by adidas.

South Africa's first cycling world champion, Greg Minnaar, is in the midst of an illustrious career which has already been punctuated with a host of international wins. Greg was the 2001 and 2005 World Cup Overall Winner, has five Downhill World Cup Wins under his belt, won the World Championships in 2003 and took home gold in the 2003 and 2004 NORBA (National Off-Road Bicycle Association) Championships. He is also the only rider in history to score Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Cup points in three different disciplines, Dual, Downhill and Cross Country, in one weekend. Entering for his second time, Greg will be partnering with one of South Africa's top female mountain bike riders, Hannele Steyn-Kotze, in the Mixed classification. According to Hannele, although they are not necessarily entering to win, Greg's fitness is working strongly in their favour and they may be contenders for at least one stage win.

Californian-born downhill champion Kathy Pruitt will be partnering with Anka Martin. Martin rides with the top international pro team, Honda Iron Horse, and has achieved multiple podium positions in downhill and 4-cross to clinch the coveted spot of South Africa's top female downhill rider. At sixteen, Pruitt took home the Junior World Champion title and in 2003 won the women's NORBA Championships. The Martin-Pruitt combination will undoubtedly be a competitive one in the Ladies classification at this year’s Absa Cape Epic.

These two teams will be competing with some of the world's top marathon riders including, defending champion, two-time World Cup Overall Winner and Olympic medallist Christoph Sauser, Olympic gold medallist, World Champion and World Cup Overall Winner Bart Brentjens, current World Marathon Champion Ralph Naef, the most prolific Olympic Cross Country format World Cup winner, Thomas Frischknecht, and mountain biking legend Tom Ritchey from California.

This year's route begins in Knysna and ends in Lourensford Wine Estate, covering a distance of 886 kilometres with a total climbing distance of 15 045 metres. Every day riders will be completing between 60 and 130 kilometres, with the Oudtshoorn/Ladismith stage challenging these downhill champs to a gruelling 128 kilometres with a climb of 2425 metres.

For more information on the riders, the route and the race, visit www.cape-epic.com