Head-to-head: Tony Hogg (left) and Kashi Leuchs, both of Dunedin, will become arch-rivals at the multi-day 2010 Alpine Epic mountain bike stage race from February 24 to 27 in South Canterbury. Leuchs will team up with Marcus Roy, of Invercargill, to defend their title and Hogg will team up with Mark Williams, of Queenstown, who finished second in 2009 with Scott Wilder, of Christchurch.
At the inaugural epic Olympic mountain biker Leuchs, of Dunedin, and Roy, of Invercargill, won four out of the five stages – relinquishing the last stage to Williams, of Queenstown, and Scott Wilder, of Christchurch.
With the notoriously strong Hogg (35) on his side, Williams (36) hopes his Team R&R Sport team can present Roy (25) and Leuchs (31) with a fight in the South Canterbury high country this February.
"It's always great to be able to ride up the front with those guys, so if we have a few good days we will be able to give it a nudge," Williams said.
"Tony's a real strong rider and it will be good to have his speed up there and to see if we can hold onto those guys on some of the longer sections."
Alpine Epic 2009. February 25-28, Mt Somers to Lake Tekapo. Teams event. Ian Edmund and Nora Audra cross the Orari River on their way to winning the Mixed Teams section in 2009.
"We're certainly going to go there and try to beat them – it will be a good wee battle," Hogg said.
"It's my first team race and that dynamic will be a bit different for me, so it will be fun to see what tactics come into play. The main thing will be to make sure we're about the same form level – it certainly wouldn't be any fun being the slow one."
Riding on the newly formed Team Yeticycles.com.nz Leuchs said the team dynamic played an important role in an adventure endurance race like the Alpine Epic.
"The experience from last year really taught us a lot – I think we know the times and places to attack and where to conserve energy. We also have the advantage of having ridden as a team and that will pay dividends," Leuchs said.
Leuchs teammate Roy is excited to have a new team of challengers for 2010.
"Kashi and I will have to fight pretty hard with this strong team to retain the Alpine Epic title for 2010," Roy said.
"Both Willy and Tony are experienced riders at mountain bike stage racing and they race well individually, so they will definitely be a team to keep a very close eye on."
Dubbed the toughest mountain bike race in New Zealand the 2010 Alpine Epic multi-stage mountain bike race will be held from Mt Somers to Lake Tekapo on February 24-27, 2010.
