This Friday (28 March) marks the beginning of the fifth edition of the Absa Cape Epic, with over 1,200 riders from 41 countries ready to embark on the torturous 966km route across the inhospitable landscape of South Africa’s Western Cape.

As riders arrived at Cape Town International Airport over the previous days, it’s clear the event has quite a draw, with some top international riders making the journey to try and conquer the event. Bart Brentjens, Roel Paulissen, Christoph Sauser (reigning World and European Mountain Bike Marathon Champion) and many other top international MTBers have flown in for the “Magical and Untamed African Mountain Bike Race.”

Though much of the format remains as before, the organisers have added time bonuses, which will feature at various points through the stage race. “In the first few years of the race, when typically one team dominated the race from start to finish, time bonuses would have made the race less exciting, since this dominant team would end up even further in the lead. However, as we have more world-class teams enter the race, time bonuses now make the race even more exciting and unpredictable,” says Kevin Vermaak, founder and director of the Absa Cape Epic.

Though watching the race could be a tad tricky unless you actually find yourself to be in South Africa, MTN, the Official Communications Provider have worked with heart rate monitor manufacturer Polar to provide the current position of the top riders as well as their current heart rate and speed visible to all visitors of cape-epic.com, live.