On the Sofia Nash team… Does anyone know if Sofia had a different partner in mind for this race but had to change due to a late injury
I’m confused why someone with the drive, tenacity, will to win, “…F the spirit of gravel…” mentality would pick a 46 year old as a partner to defend her title for the worlds toughest MTB race. Anika got new partners routinely Nino as well BUT never a 46 year old.
I feel that there has to be a Paul Harvey, more to the story.
Anyone got a clue or some insight to why?
I don’t think that’s roadie tactics. Pretty sure there are no single tracks on the road.
That said no one likes people who don’t do their share of the work. In college I was in a 10k race and a guy drafted me for 24 laps and blasted me the last lap. I was pissed and lesson learned. The next time I found myself in that situation it was in the conference 10k. I had to decide if I wanted to push the pace and go for time or let it be a slow tactical race and go for the win. (I choose tactical and got the conference title). It is irritating but these guys are pros and racing at a high level. You got to read the race and decide what you want to do.
That said slowing down on the single track so your teammate can get away might result in retaliation in later stages. I mean you take a cheap shot in hockey don’t be surprised when you see the enforcer out your next shift.
She announced it early enough that I suspect it wasn’t a late injury sub. My guess is lack of interest from other Specialized MTB athletes. Haley Batten was her teammate last year and isn’t injured to my knowledge, and I think Sina Frei is the other female Specialized Factory Racing athlete. I’m not sure if she’s ever done Cape Epic before, so maybe she’s not interested. For racers focused on XCO (Batten, Frei), it’s not always seen as the best season prep (I realize Nino and some others do it every year, but plenty opt for early season XCO races instead), so they may opt to not do it. Whereas someone racing longer gravel/XCM events like Sofia may find it to be better specific prep. As @mailman mentioned above, there definitely seems to be less factory team buy-in this year.
That’s my guess anyhow, but I have no inside knowledge.
I think Sofia had limited options as you say. She had the previous relationship with Nash from Clifbar. Hopefully she had set her expectations at the right level before getting to SA.
(I haven’t watched today’s stage yet, hoping they’ve had a good day)
In an interview with Payson on the adventure stache, Baten said she found it didnt work well with her training for the year, so was not going back. I suspect we will start to see more specialization in the women’s field as the XCO seems so tight these days.
Good points on your opening and closing! A good story on your use of tactics… In the end it’s all within the rules and they are racing for hardware. SCR they need to follow your lead and learn and adjust. Last year no one gave them respect this year they have targets on their backs…
I would like to see them put the hammer down and ride everyone into the ground like last year, easier said than done. Or just maybe just one or two stages with your hockey enforcer analogy
I don’t think there’s any “enforcing” required. SCR have also fought for position going into singletrack. They ride a lot more as an even pairing whereas Nino and Andri, and Beers and Blevins are both less evenly matched.
Remember last year the amount of mechanicals and punctures also changed the way the races played out. I don’t think they’ve done any huge climbing days like last year yet either? If Beers or Andri had to get over another big climb today I think they’d have cracked.
Wilier Pirelli are a dark horse. Didn’t look strong today and got on the front and controlled rather than pushed. I think they are both well positioned to sneak out something. They also are the most likely to have one rider crash from the racing so far.
Katerina Nash isn’t just some 46 year old – I feel like the harping on her age is really unfounded. It’s certainly not uncommon for female pros to stay competitive well into their 40s. Gunn Rita won a World Cup XCO in 2018 at what, 45? Sabine Spitz was getting top 10s at 47.
I do see what you’re saying though. Class is class. I don’t think Nash is out of her depth, but eight days of hard racing is harder on a 46 year old body than a 26 year old one.
Honestly, I think Annika could be in a winning team still.
Yes, Nash, Gunn, Lea Davidson all badasses. I suspect that Sofia and Nash are at the upper end of all competitors in the standings thru Stage 4 and will most likely make the podium. However, I don’t see them making up on average 3+ min per the next four stages and barring a major injury or mechanical I don’d see them overtaking the Africans.
We still have 4 stages left and as I stated I could very well eat my words… Lots of MTBing still to come. It is rare not impossible for someone at an advanced age competing at the highest levels to win. Tomorrow on Stage 5 they have to start shaving off time…
It’s shaping up a fairly fascinating race for the podium positions on the men’s side.
As I see it, the Wilier team would require some sort of blow up/mechanical to climb back onto the podium.
The questions now for me are; was Andri suffering today, or were they metering their effort (they looked extremely fast over the final few km’s)? Did Spesh or SCR have to go deep at all in the TT to achieve what they did? Will Spesh work with SCR to climb the podium?
So imagine we have made a coffee or beer stop during a group ride and were are now just BSing:
as I watched Stage 4 I was thinking about a rule changes that will never happen as you have a major paradigm shift. 1. Drafting for only within the two person teams. 2. Once the race breaks away from the start line and becomes open no peloton drafting… seperation would be similar to what IronMan does one or two bike lengths. Just a thought.
remember we are at the coffee shop on a group rid and kept pushing up the hills oh I need solutions for my ideas Okay that’s fair why make the change and what purpose does it serve. I don’t know if it will make it more exciting. In reality this long XCM endurance races are quit boring unless you have teams trying to attack and drop one another. In todays stage there was nothing exciting i.e. what would make fans want to watch…
We watch because we are cyclists and enjoy the sport but in reality we would be hard pressed to bring a friend who is not into cycling have them sitdown for 4hrs watching the ABSA Cape Epic.
I guess I don’t like the whole drafting concept in XCM. Case in point: Today an announcer mention that maybe Team Scott(TS) and Team Specialized (Spec) could bring to road tactics and work togther to catch SCR. Then in the post race interviews Frey Singer Racing was asked why he didn’t work with TS and Spec he said we were so far back and we dont feel we should help them deterdetermine the outcome or words to that effect(WTE). When Nino was asked about working with Spec to catch SCR he avoided the question. Team Spec head mechanic said the women race different from than the men as many times they are not in a group are essentially TT it and WTE. So I read between the lines that yes as XCM MTBers they know it’s really a mano y mano versue draft save energy attack at the end…I just don’t like the whole drafting aspect outside of road racing in XC XCC may its okay as it is unavoidable but in XCM and all triathlons I don’t like it. So essentially don’t have a good answer for why to make the change Just BSing and maybe you’ll want to continue the conversation not push it up that last climb before we get home
Hey are you paying for this
on the Sofia Nash issue I saw the pre race interview and am reading between the lines of Sofia response…She said she asked Nash to join her because essentially NO else wanted to step up. She then also gave props to Nash. So read that because everyone opting out of supporting Sofia and here and Nash have a friendship from Cliff Bar Team. Nash probably said hey if you don’t find someone let me know and I’ll ride with you BUT… and Sofia eventually had to make the call.
So MAD respect to both Sofia and Nash!!!
Furthermore, Anika while commentating during the early stages she made a reference to the fact that many women pros do not participate in Cape Epic… she alluded that if could be due several factors: stuck in old training paradigms, UCI not allowing points to migrate to XC or something to that nature, recovery was long maybe a week or so but she also said it gave you the base you need to get thru an XC season. Nino does every year Avancini also. I think the year Kate Courtney is did it she won the XC
In any case I now have my answer to WHY Sofia picked Nash. And I’m down with Team Sofia and Nash!
remember we are at the coffee shop on a group rid and kept pushing up the hills 
Okay that’s fair why make the change and what purpose does it serve. 
Just BSing and maybe you’ll want to continue the conversation not push it up that last climb before we get home 