Looser’s Epic win a triumph for Namibia
A dream has come true for Namibia’s Vera Looser and Mauritius’ Kim Le Court, as they were crowned winners of the elite women’s race in the 2023 Absa Cape Epic yesterday.Hailed as probably the toughest, most demanding and most prestigious title in the sport of mountain biking, this Cape Epic triumph will be considered the pinnacle of their careers so far.
Looser and Le Court performed consistently, especially during the second half of the 648 kilometres over eight days, winning three consecutive stages on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the latter coinciding with a catastrophic mechanical failure and time loss for their main rivals, the South African pair of Candice Lill and Amy Wakefield.
Having practically wrapped up the overall victory ahead of yesterday’s final stage (80 km from Lourensford Wine Estate to Val de Vie Estate), Looser and Le Court could afford to give the stage win by 18 seconds to Greete Steinburg (Estonia) and Monica Calderon Martinez (Colombia).
Tough but worth it
The overall time for Looser and Le Court (Team Efficient Infiniti Insure) was 33 hours, 11 minutes, and 37 seconds – a lead of over 32 minutes ahead of Lill and Wakefield.
"We had a good day out there; the legs were just rolling. It was amazing," Looser said with a huge grin at the finish line.
"It really was teamwork between myself and Kim and all of our support staff. We couldn’t have done it without them.
"It is such a tough week that takes you to such dark places. It’s an amazing feeling."
Asked what this win could mean for their careers, Looser said: "It’ll probably take a week or two to get back into a normal rhythm and to let it all sink in. Then we’ll take it from there.
Proud Namibian
"I love Namibia. I’m a proud Namibian and looking forward to coming home next week."’
Her Swiss husband, Konny Looser, whose string of six Nedbank Desert Dash wins in a row is also the stuff of legends, commented: "They knew (the overall win) was possible, but to go out and do it, is really great. I am super excited for them. This is the biggest mountain bike stage race in the world. It’s a dream come true for her, and she deserves it; she worked so hard for it. It’s just perfect."
He added: "Vera is a role model in every way, and even though Namibia is a small country, she gives belief to every Namibian. It’s a great day for the country."
Famous footsteps
Looser follows in the illustrious footsteps of her countryman Mannie Heymans, who won the inaugural 2004 edition with Germany’s Karl Platt as his teammate.
• Another good result for Namibia was 22-year-old Cape Epic debutant Alex Miller (with Philip Buys of RSA as an experienced partner) finishing in the red jersey they held on to throughout the tour, honouring the leading all-African team.
Miller and Buys (PYGA Euro Steel) finished in a very respectable top-10 position at eighth place.