Merida (South Africa) - After eight days of gruelling racing, the MERIDA FACTORY RACING team of José Antonio Hermida and Joaquim ‘Purito’ Rodríguez managed to bring it home and win the Masters category of the 2019 ABSA Cape Epic. In the end, the team were able to win five stages (plus the prologue) and had a time gap of over 70mins ahead of the 2nd team in their category. Throughout the week, José and Purito rode a well-calculated race, during which they avoided crashes and mechanical issues and really benefited from their close friendship and teamwork.

Besides winning the Masters category, they secured a very respectable 26th place in the overall classification, leaving many well-established teams behind. They even managed to finish today’s stage in 23rd (overall) position.

‘We had a fantastic and very successful day today. Our bikes have been a key part of our success. The ONE-TWENTY did an amazing job throughout the week and really showed its strength today. The suspension and stiff frame gave us super-efficient climbing with perfect power transition and lots of traction, while it naturally came into its own on the descents and bike park sections’, José commented after the race. He continued, ‘We pushed hard throughout the day and managed to extend the gap a little bit further. Our team worked superbly, and Purito has really come into his own and has become a super strong mountain biker and the perfect team partner for me. I am super proud that we could get him into the ‘Amabubesi’ while winning the Masters category. This has been the perfect race.’

This week has shown again, that a strong team performance is the basis for a great result. Besides José and Purito’s outstanding performance on the bike, it was as always the combined efforts of the rest of the MERIDA team, making sure that the bikes are in top conditions and ensuring that riders and equipment can perform at their best, which ultimately contributed to this ‘team’ victory!