A deeper pro field, a longer course and a heftier prize purse highlight the 2008 Absa Cape Epic, the world’s premier mountain bike stage race, which begins this Friday, March 28.

In its fifth year, South Africa’s self-coined “Magical and Untamed African MTB race” will again send teams of two spinning from the port city of Knysna through the country’s mountainous and arid Western Cape before finishing at the Lourensford Wine Estate outside of Cape Town.

For 2008 the race boasts dizzying stats: 1200 participants, 600 total miles and more than 60,000 total feet of elevation gain. While much of the riding is on dusty fire roads and double track, the race’s speedy pace and distance, and South Africa’s grueling climate make it one of the world’s most daunting challenges on a bike.

As in years past, the Cape Epic’s management has organized a detailed television production, which includes motorbikes, helicopters and stationary cameras, and beams daily broadcasts across Africa and Europe.

The Cape Epic includes plenty of ups — 60,000 total feet of them, to be

Photo: Absa Cape Epic

But race director Kevin Vermaak hopes that some new-for-’08 tweaks help his race step closer toward becoming the Tour de France of mountain bike racing.

For starters Vermaak has added a ninth day: the Cape Epic now opens with a 17km prologue through the streets of Knysna. At 8:00 a.m. on Friday age group teams will depart one-by-one from the starting gate in Knysna in 30-second intervals. At 2 p.m. the pros will take to the course, with a jumbotron and leader board broadcasting the intermediate and final times to fans, participants and VIPs alike. An awards ceremony will follow the race, with the top teams earning leader’s jerseys for the next day’s 123km journey from Knysna to George.

“We’ve been looking to create a spectator event for the beginning of the race, and a prologue made perfect sense,” said Vermaak, who hopes for between 20,000 and 30,000 spectators at the prologue. “I was at the Tour prologue in London this year and it was unbelievable. Our goal is to create a similarly hyped event.”

Of course most of the Cape Epic’s hype has come from its star-studded field of professional male riders. For the past four seasons World Cup riders such as Christoph Sauser, Bart Brentjens and Roel Paulissen have started their campaigns off with the Cape Epic. While the world’s other endurance stage races — events such as the Tran Alp and TransRockies Challenge — strive to fill their ranks with amateur athletes, the Cape Epic aggressively pursues professionals. The event’s late-March, early-April starting date falls a few weeks before the cross-country season, and gives the elite riders one final block of volume and intensity before the World Cup opens. Half of the top-10 ranked riders in the final 2007 World Cup rankings began their seasons off at the Cape Epic.

Riders spend each night in tents. The blast of a semi truck's air horn wakes everyone at 5 a.m. sharp

Photo: Absa Cape Epic

For 2008 Vermaak has added more perks to attract more pros. The race pays 15 teams deep in the men’s category, with the winning team taking home 50,000 Rand (About $10,000), with stage winners earning 2,000 Rand and a King of the Mountains competition paying 3,000 Rand.

For 2008 the race also awards valuable UCI points in cross-country, which affects each riders’ starting position at World Cup events and the world championships. The Cape Epic is one of only five events on the 2008 UCI calendar with Hors Categorie status for its UCI point payout.

The race also guarantees TV exposure to any riders who are fast enough to ride at the front of the race.

Not surprisingly, a host of Europe’s best cross-country and marathon riders are on tap for the 2008 race. The 2007 champions Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm of the Bulls squad are back, as are the second-place Cannondale-Vredestein team of Paulissen and U23 world cross-country champion Jakob Fuglsang. Brentjens is back, riding alongside marathon specialist Alban Lakata for the Dolphin-Trek team. Sauser, winner in 2006, will ride alongside South African phenom Burry Stander.

The men’s race also boasts a handful of wildcard teams, including that of South African road time-trial champ David George, who in 2007 competed alongside Sauser in his first-ever mountain-bike race. George is riding alongside South African strongman Kevin Evans. Also registered is 11-time World Cup winner Rune Hoydahl of Norway, who will race alongside countryman Kristian Torgenson. Finally, German stage racer Carsten Bresser will race alongside former Telekom/T-Mobile road star Udo Bolts.

The combination of TV time, pre-season training and prize cash has attracted elite riders from the United States and Canada for the first time in the race’s history. The Rocky Mountain bicycles team is sending three-time world champion Alison Sydor to race alongside Finland’s marathon specialist Pia Sundstedt. American Xterra triathletes Greg Krause and Josiah Middaugh, and endurance mountain bikers Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) and Cristina Begy (Spot Bicycles) are also making the trek.

The relentless dust of South Africa

Photo: Absa Cape Epic

The Trek-Volkswagen factory team is sending the elite men’s team of Chris Eatough and Jeremiah Bishop and the elite women’s squad of Susan Haywood and Jenny Smith to the 2008 event.

The addition of the North Americans should elevate the intensity of the women’s elite race. In years past the women’s fields have been slim at the Cape Epic, and in 2007 the duo of Yolande DeVilliers and Anke Erlank were virtually unopposed in their victory.

Bishop and Eatough should factor into the men’s race as well.

Bishop and Haywood, both Olympic hopefuls for the United States, hope the Cape Epic gives them the fitness boost to each grab a spot on the U.S. team for Beijing.

Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for news and updates form the 2008 Absa Cape Epic.

Prologue: Knysna
17km
301m of climbing

Stage 1: Knysna – George
123km
3091m of climbing

Stage 2: George – Calitzdorp
137km
2518m of climbing

Stage 3: Calitzdorp – Riversdale
133km
2340m of climbing

Stage 4: Riversdale – Swellendam
121km
2620m of climbing

Stage 5: Swellendam – Bredasdorp
146km
1819m of climbing

Stage 6: Bredasdorp – Hermanus
130km
2095m of climbing

Stage 7: Hermanus – Elgin
91km
1985m of climbing

Stage 8: Elgin – Lourensford
68km
1760m of climbing