CapeEpic Stage 4

Niclas: Welcome to the Afasteryou Podcast, where everything revolves around endurance sports and training. Here Sebastian Schluricke, Björn Kafka, and Niclas Ranker give you valuable tips and insights to help you take your performance to the next level. So, a warm welcome to a new Cape Epic episode. Today Stage 4 was on the plan: 80 kilometers with 1950 meters of elevation. It didn't cool down overnight. This morning it was still around 24, 25 degrees during the warm-up. The positive thing was that it was a bit cloudy today. And it didn't heat up quite as much, so I think the peak today was, in quotes, only 32 degrees. That was significantly more pleasant, and you could definitely feel that everything was cooler, which was really quite nice. The stage went over 80 kilometers and 1900 meters of elevation, starting very flat. We rode very flat terrain up to kilometer 20, 25 around Pal, mainly jeep tracks between vineyards, so really through the vines. And it was incredibly dusty, very sandy, it wasn't really that much fun, at least I thought so, because the trails just didn't flow well. You could also see it in the pro race, it wasn't technically super demanding. Of course, you have to be able to ride in sand. But the sand wasn't that deep most of the time, and it was actually just very, very restless in the field. And of course it was ridden fast and also very tight, I'd say. And because of that, the start was definitely hectic and relatively tight. The whole thing went on for about 15.6 kilometers, I'd say exactly. During that time I rode 291 NP, 260 average, and had peaks of 987 watts when you had to sprint out of corners to get back to the group. Classic accordion effect. Someone in front of me also went sideways and out of the pedal once, and then of course you have to keep accelerating again and things like that. That was definitely the most hectic and for me the most exhausting phase of the race today. After that we went up a first climb and then into trails again and again. I have to say, that was definitely the coolest part of the race for me today. The whole thing lasted 17 kilometers, up to about race hour 40, kilometer 33 roughly in the race. And that was actually really cool. There were some really, really good trails. Over big rocks, even once a really... A somewhat surprising jump, at least for me. I rode over a big rock, and behind most of them there was a wooden bridge built. There would have been a line to the right past the rock too, but I thought, well, normally there's a wooden bridge behind it. There wasn't. And then you just had to drop off. It was definitely fun. During that phase of the race, NP and average diverged a bit, 262 and 194. And there were also some really steep climbs mixed in. I should mention, at that point we were, I think, together with the leaders in the Grandmasters, Ebon and Karren. They're definitely really fit, and also with Avelo Racing, who lead the Open Class, we were together with them. They definitely struggled a bit in the early phase today, I think up to kilometer 38, 40, well up to kilometer 33 I'd say. One of them crashed yesterday and was definitely having trouble producing real power with his right leg today. That was a bit hard for them, I think. My partner was also riding quite well up until that point, I'd say. However, I was already thinking after yesterday, the hot day, I personally would have wished he'd said earlier, okay, let's ride a bit slower, because the early phase was very hectic, lots of accelerations, and on what is now Stage 4, the fifth day in the Epic, that simply costs strength and obviously burns significantly more carbohydrates when you have to keep riding over threshold. I personally would have preferred to pace the whole thing a bit more conservatively, and I offered that to him. But he wanted to stay in the group, so that was the decision and then we did it. From kilometer 33 it went up the climb first. It was very steep, and so due to my chainring I had to ride it a bit more briskly. It was completely on trail. Let me zoom out. That was 5 minutes. There I rode 300 watts NP and 295 average. Of course I tried to stay as close as possible to my partner. I had to put down a bit more watts here and there, I think the peak was 600 over the rock, and then also here and there around 400, just to get up there in my 38-tooth chainring, simply because of the gradient. After that, again a really cool descent with nice switchbacks, through vineyards again. That was really fun. And after that it went over asphalt first, and then also over trail uphill until kilometer 40. There was the first big waterpoint. That was another 4.5 kilometers of climbing. There I rode 264 watts NP and 229 average. So the whole thing visibly slowed down, and my partner really started to struggle at that point, which made things a bit slower. Simply because the whole thing was mostly on trail, I couldn't really intervene and push him. So he more or less had to get through there on his own. At kilometer 40 we had completed half the stage, and at that point we already had 800 meters of the 1900 meters of elevation behind us. And after that, the main climb actually began, where from kilometer 40 it went up first. First road, then wider jeep track. There I kept pushing Juri to support him as best I could. On the road that went really well of course. I rode pretty constantly around 300 watts the whole time there and gave him the climb first. Yeah, supported him as best I could and pushed him up. Then we were up on this mountain, or in this nature reservoir of Pal, where yesterday the entire stage actually took place. And there yesterday the whole thing was really only on trails, and today I actually found, unfortunately, because as I had understood it the whole time from the organizers, trails were also planned there. But they had apparently already shot all their powder. And up there we actually only rode jeep track at first. So you can imagine, from kilometer 40 until actually up to the highest point, about 15.1 kilometers long with 600 meters of elevation, it was really just wide jeep track. Here and there dustier, on the other side firmer again, here and there a sandy corner, but actually nothing worth mentioning. After that came, unfortunately I thought, the same descent as yesterday, at least the first part went down again. That one was definitely so dusty at the beginning that I had to leave space to Juri, so he rode down first, I then rode behind him, and I saw nothing for, well, about 100 meters into the trail due to the dust. Then I left a gap, rode down the trail behind him, then we went into the Toyota Tough Terrain. That was a new section, and there it also went down to the last waterpoint. The trail was quite cool again. But now, well, I found the trails in the earlier part of the race definitely more interesting. Juri, even though he was super gray, I mean completely done, downhill he just always rides like on rails. So I basically never have to worry. He rides really well and also very fast and safe downhill. Then we were down at the waterpoint again. Since we had filled up completely at the last one at 60, simply because of the heat, because at that point it was already 32 degrees again, we just went down and rode through one last waterpoint. We were together with two Americans, and then we rode the last 10 kilometers, I think it was exactly the last 10 flat around Pal. So we rode down, saw the finish, and then rode another 10 kilometers around it. In my situation it wasn't that bad. But if I put myself in Juri's situation, you're up there at kilometer 60, completely dead, empty, and then you have to go down a technical descent first, and then you know, you could ride to the finish now, but they send you another 10 kilometers around, where there were also sandy jeep tracks again and a trail that... really wasn't particularly nice, just a flat path that they built in with a few berms, but which you had to pedal completely because it was on flat ground. So yeah, I thought it was semi-spectacular. I would have wished for a bit more from the course, that maybe they hadn't packed all the trails in at once yesterday and then maybe done one or another one up there today. So basically the Pal area was cool, but I think you could have gotten a bit more out of it and simply mixed today's and yesterday's two stages a bit. So today in the first part we had a few cool trails, but all this sandy jeep track riding... Yeah, if it's on a bridging stage, then I get it, but if it's on a stage where you start at the same point as you also end, I always find it a bit unnecessary. You also saw, like in the pro race, it didn't really achieve much. All the favorites rode together there, and up on the jeep tracks you couldn't really sort things out. Only the climb up was simply decisive. Exactly. So we finished the stage today a bit slower. Yeah, as I said, Juri wasn't feeling well today. I stopped at 3 hours 48. I think in the stage results we were at 3 hours 50, 50. So it was about 2 minutes that we stood at the VPs, at the 2, and refilled. Once you have the routine, that actually goes pretty quickly. So today we were unfortunately only 13th. in the Open Man category, and we also lost our second place in the GC of the Open Man category. We dropped back to fourth place, now have about nine minutes gap to the third team, the Honeycombs, and have a good 15 minutes to second place, Coach Me, the Swiss team. Yeah, and on the leaders we have 35 minutes, but Avelo Racing, against them, well... there was no chance anyway. But I also have to say, because of Juri, as I said, 49, he rides really strong for his age. That really impresses me. And if we just finish the Epic cleanly now, I'm happy. I was asked two more things. One about nutrition and fueling in general. Basically I try, here in the stage race, because I'm also using the whole thing at least as training for me—I mean, I race of course, but I don't have to go all out and don't have to destroy myself completely every day. So of course I'm hoping to get a bigger training stimulus from this than if I drive myself into the ground here. And I fuel with at least 120, more like 150 grams of carbohydrates per hour. I get those in fairly easily, yes, even in the heat yesterday. We're equipped here by Amex. So I have 40-gram carbohydrate gels, plus always 2 liters of carbs in the hydration bladder. where I have 80 grams per 500 milliliters, and then each bottle with 80 grams and the rest just as gels. Then on top of the 150 that I have and take myself, there's the USN, so that's the nutrition sponsor here at the Cape Epic, which also provides the feed zone. what the Energy that I pick up at the feed stations to keep drinking, how they mix it. No idea, I haven't looked at it. I just take it and drink it on top. What I change about my own, the normal Amex mixture, so to speak, I have an electrolyte powder, meaning more salt, more potassium, so more sodium, potassium, and magnesium and calcium that goes in extra. So I actually put 1g more salt into each 500ml than is already in Amex. I think in Amex there's 1g of salt per 100g. I do that because I know I sweat a lot and also lose a lot of salt. And if I don't do that, I just get cramps and really drive myself into the ground. So definitely ramp up the electrolytes. Yesterday for example, when it was so hot, that was definitely my rescue, I think, that I was really well supplied with electrolytes and that's why I got through it so well. That's it for nutrition in the race. Outside the race, yeah, getting up at 4:30 in the morning. Then in the evening I always have a bowl of oatmeal prepared, about 100-120 grams. With just blueberries and oat milk, so frozen blueberries in the evening. Oatmeal and then oat milk on top, and just let it soak overnight, then in the morning a bit of honey on top and just in with it. During warm-up there's another 500ml iso with 40g and a cola gel with caffeine, just so I'm awake. Then 30 minutes before the start I take taurine to boost focus and concentration a bit. In the morning before the stage, there are four salt tablets to have even more electrolytes. After the stage there's a recovery shake, also with an extra gram of salt, so electrolytes, plus then ideally a portion of pasta directly in the car, something to eat right away. Then we drive home, and then there are more salt tablets, magnesium, and more pasta. In the end I try to get in about 7 grams per kilogram of body weight in carbohydrates per day outside the race. Exactly. So definitely just really, I mean... You're eating all day, and also eating carbs all day. That's definitely, I probably even eat, why, never really. So definitely a lot of carbs. The positive thing for me now is that the whole thing is also training—also a gut training—to handle this well here. Oh, what I forgot, I'm also taking a probiotic. I can't quite pronounce the name right now, but it's definitely well known here in South Africa to help against stomach bug. So against the classic diarrhea that you get here. And what I also do against diarrhea, I really just don't eat fruit much, only frozen fruit. And also no vegetables from here, no vegetables, no salad, nothing. So everything cooked myself, everything done myself. Ideally just pasta and toast. Relatively monotonous and boring, I'd say, but... it's just about, I experienced it last year, riding eight days of Cape Epic with diarrhea. I'd rather just eat super monotonously for eight days, or rather the days before as well, before I catch something. So just play it completely safe, disinfecting hands the whole time so you don't catch anything somewhere. And so far, I need to knock on wood somewhere, it's definitely going well for me. and is working, but you read here and there in the whole field already... every year, some people get it, for example the Americans we rode with at the end today, they actually started in the Pro category. And even though Juri wasn't feeling well, we caught up to them. And one of them apparently had diarrhea all night. And also the leader in the Grandmasters category, the Karren, the Dane, one of those two apparently got it last night, from yesterday to today, which of course can just be due to the elevated stress and the heat. Exactly, on the topic of sleep for example, I always try to go to sleep here around 8 o'clock, or go to bed, that is from 19:00, 19:30 lights out, wind down. Yesterday for example, we don't have air conditioning here in the house, I just laid a cold or cool towel on my back so that the whole thing cools the body down a bit and I can sleep better. I still found it quite hard... to sleep well through the night, so I was often awake, completely sweating, so I kept drinking something. Today it went quite well, but it's simply challenging. Right, then I was also asked how fast I could be here if I myself rode all out. I should say, I came here unfit, so for my standards in quotes unfit. This year in January I was sick for three weeks, which was really hard. Then I also rode the Lanzarote Stage Race unfit because I had paid for it and was registered. After that a bit sick again. Then I was able to train cleanly for three weeks. One week ten hours, the second 20 hours, and then the last 25 hours. That was the training camp in Girona. And then I basically flew straight from the Girona training camp to South Africa. Then in the week before the Epic I had, I think, nine hours or so. And also from the fitness values, if you take it for example to fitness values from TrainingPeaks, I was at a 54 on the 24th, when normally I would say I have form I'm at close to 100 to 110. So for comparison, for example last year after my vertebral fracture I had a 49. And my spring, so January, February, went so badly that I had a 54. So I... so yes, I could ride faster here. But not incredibly much. I'd probably just ride more consistently. I'd probably ride very consistently between 300 and 350 watts. Calculated threshold according to Afasteryou AI I'm right around 400. Now I have to say, in a stage race that of course goes down significantly. That means I'd probably ride here on the flats, if I paced myself, around 300, 320 watts, and on climbs then see that I can ride 350, and then recover on the descents. So I'd probably ride faster. Whether it would be enough for first place in the Open Man, no idea. You always have to say, racing is yet another thing. You have to be able to ride peaks. And I think for example, if I were racing here now, for example against Avelo, so if I were riding against Markus Nicolai and Lukas Koller with peaks and so on, I definitely wouldn't cope with that as well in my current training state. As when I'm here basically very constantly riding Fatmax the whole time with Juri. That's of course a difference. So I can't really answer that well. Right. One more thing about the women's race. There it was relatively tense for a long time today. Vera Lusa and Alexis Skada, I think, really held on well. And rode for a long time with Annika Langwart and Sophia Gomez from Toyota Specialized. At the finish they were 50 seconds behind. I thought that was really cool. In the GC with them it now looks like Toyota Specialized, so Annika Langwart and Sophia Gomez with 14 minutes 49 ahead of Vera Luce and Alexis Skada. Now you have to say, tomorrow Queen Stage, day 5 or day 6, Stage 5 with 98 kilometers, 2800 meters of elevation. It's already raining lightly outside. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. That can turn the race on its head. I'm curious. For the men's... it was really, like yesterday, an incredibly exciting finale. I also watched it myself, it was really cool. Basically you could see in the men's race, I think, that today's stage at least up top wasn't that selective. Because especially up on the jeep tracks, the whole thing came back together almost by itself, in quotes, after the long climb. And then up top it was made fast again, of course, and there were splits, but four teams were able to come back together after the descent in the flat section. I found it impressive, you clearly saw the advantage of the cross-country guys on the descent—they just ride two gears faster downhill. For example Tristan Nortje and Marco Juber were already having a very hard time keeping up, even though these are basically their home trails. And the whole thing was so fast that Tristan Nortje apparently even had a small crash. Nothing serious, just briefly slipped, but impressive. It just shows that even the guys who know the trails here inside out, when the cross-country riders, which are of course those four guys, some of the best in the world, Nino Schurter of course, when they really open it up and push, then no marathon rider or local can keep up. That's just... wild to watch. In the flat section there were definitely tactical maneuvers again. Quite cool to see that Tristan Nortje tried to ride away at the front. He seems to be incredibly strong right now. Really cool. Marco Gilbert unfortunately couldn't save or convert it, because the other guys were simply even stronger. Stosek made a move, and then Luca Predot and Simone Avendetto jumped right on, and then also won the sprint of the four teams afterwards. And so the whole thing is really close in the GC. So Schurter and Filippo Colombo lead with 42 seconds ahead of Villiers-Victoria, which I find really wild after five days of racing. And it's really been tough five days so far. Especially yesterday with the heat, today it was also warm. Tuesday was really a hard stage too. Sure, yesterday was shortened, but incredibly hot. So the toughest stages, the supposedly toughest Queen Stage is coming tomorrow. And Stage 6 with 88 and 2.5 and Stage 7 with 64 and 2.1 are both definitely still tough. But I find it really impressive that the teams are so close together. Of course it remains to be seen whether it continues like this for another three days. Schurter and Colombo look really good. Though Colombo, I think, is still the stronger of the two. With Predot and Simone, we'll see. I'd somehow think it would be cool if something happened with Marco Gilbert and Tristan Nortje, that they maybe even become second or even win the whole thing. I mean, if the South Africans won the race here against all the big guns, that would be really amazing. From a German perspective, Stibi with Fabian Rabensteiner together is still the best team in sixth place. Egger and Baum are in eighth, they held eighth, with a 23 minute 41 gap. Basically, especially Baum and Egger know that in this race everything is possible, anything can happen. But on the other hand, three days, as it currently looks, 23 minutes is still a lot. Maybe they'll manage to get a stage win. Let's see, we're definitely curious. Right, that's it from me. If there are any more questions, just drop them in the comments. Today it got a bit longer. Thanks for listening.