Cape to Cape MTB
Celebrating a Successful 10 Years of the Cape to Cape MTB
Press Release / 02.11.2017
The Cape to Cape MTB, Australia’s biggest multi-stage endurance race, has drawn to a close for 2017 with nearly 1800 riders crossing the finish line on Sunday 22nd October.
Riders of varying levels from across Australia and the world descended on the South West to compete in the ultimate four-day endurance test, with many riders returning from past years for the celebration of the event’s 10-year anniversary.
An exciting new course and format was introduced this year, with riders starting and finishing each of the stages at host venues including Xanadu Winery, Leeuwin Estate, Colonial and Margaret River town centre. Day to day the weather held out and the sun shone, however overnight storms threatened a number of the trails causing last minute changes and re-routes to take place during the event.
Brendan ‘Trekky’ Johnston took out the overall win and James Williamson medal with a total combined time of 08:46:35. Johnston won Stages 1, 2 and 4, as well as claiming the win and 1-minute time credit at the Fat Tyre Crit, a 12-minute time trial held at Margaret River Senior School. 2016’s Cape to Cape MTB winner and Men’s Under-23 Australian XCO champion, Tasman Nankervis, finished this year as runner up, only a couple of minutes behind on 08:49:07. Following on in 3rd place was fellow Australian Cameron Ivory, coming direct from the World Cup circuit to compete. Ivory completed the course in 08:52:35
In the largest female elite field the event has seen, New Zealander Samara Sheppard was crowned the 2017 Cape to Cape MTB Women’s Champion. Sheppard backed up her 2016 title with four out of four stage wins and a total combined time of 09:33:43 to complete the course. Peta Mullens stayed close to Sheppard coming in 2nd on Stages 1, 2 and 4, finishing up with a total time of 09:53:57 whilst also winning the female category of the Fat Tyre Crit. Coming in 3rd for the Women’s was Renata Bucher who rode a very impressive race finishing only minutes behind Mullens with a total time of 09:57:43.
Special mention must go to local legend Rod Lakelin who was presented with the 2017 Beacon Award, an honour that identifies a person who most embodies the true spirit of the Cape to Cape MTB. Rod has been instrumental to the success of the event with his course work and trail development over the last 5 years. He also suffered a severe neck injury after an MTB accident earlier this year which saw him unable to walk, let alone ride. After months of rehabilitation, we were thrilled to see Rod achieve his goal of making it to the start line and completing Stage 1 of this year’s course.
Commenting on the success of Year 10, Race Director Jason Dover said “The event was a huge success with rider feedback on the new courses and format overwhelmingly positive. We took a lot of risks in changing things up for Year Ten but it seems like it has been worth it! The racing at the pointy end of the field was first-class and all riders that competed in the event loved the trails and ease of logistics with the loop course formats over the four days”.
The Cape to Cape MTB is one of WA’s most successful home-grown events, first held in 2008 with a modest field of less than 100 participants. This year celebrating 10 years, the Cape to Cape MTB has become Australia’s largest multi-stage mountain bike race with nearly 1800 registered riders. It has cemented itself as a permanent fixture on all mountain biking calendars across the world, attracting national and international elite riders, endurance and adventure sport athletes and regular riders up for the ultimate challenge.
The highlights documentary of the 2017 Cape to Cape MTB event will be aired in Australia on SBS on Saturday 2nd December and distributed worldwide. A selection of high resolution images from this year’s event can be downloaded here.
The Cape to Cape MTB returns to the South West from the 18th – 21st October 2018 for its 11th consecutive year, with registrations now open.
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