Lejla Njemčević first competitor from BiH at Cape Epic, the world's toughest MTB race

(Patria) - The best BiH cyclist Lejla Njemčević is diligently preparing for the new season in which she will compete in the exhausting, eight-day UCI race Absa Cape Epic.

With this performance, she will become the first competitor from Bosnia and Herzegovina ever to participate in this prestigious competition, rightly known as the "Tour de France of mountain biking". All stages of this spectacular race can be followed in a live broadcast on the YouTube channel.

Cape Epic takes place from March 15 to 22, and the women's UCI race covers a total distance of 560 kilometers with as much as 13,350 meters of climbing. The distance is divided into a prologue and seven extremely demanding stages, which ranks this race among the toughest events in professional sports. It is raced for eight days in the harsh conditions of South Africa through mountains, desert parts, dust, rocky terrain, and technically most demanding trails under high temperatures. This is not just a race of endurance, but the ultimate test of the limits of human strength, mental resilience, and team preparation.

Speaking about this performance and the demanding preparations, Lejla Njemčević emphasizes:

"Competing at the UCI Cape Epic is a huge challenge for me, but also an exceptional honor as I will be the first to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in this iconic race. The competition format is incredibly difficult, raced for eight days on harsh and unpredictable terrain, but we are maximally focused. Preparations are going according to plan, we are spending hours on the bike working on specific endurance to be as ready as possible for the start in South Africa in mid-March."

Her coach, Amar Njemčević, emphasizes the complexity of the training process for such an undertaking:

"Preparing for Cape Epic means planning absolutely every detail. Given that the race is coming up very soon, we are now in the most intensive phase of preparations. We have focused on simulating long efforts and technically demanding sections that await us there. This is a race that does not forgive mistakes, but Lejla is incredibly strong mentally and physically, and I believe she is fully prepared for this test of endurance."

In this year's race, our cyclist will compete as a pair with Faranak Partoazar as part of the "Pump for Peace" team, an international humanitarian project and Cape Epic participant known for its strong social message and high level of media production.

It is important to note that Absa Cape Epic is the most watched MTB race in the world with an accumulated TV audience of 132 million viewers and TV and digital content distribution in 195 countries. During the eight days of the race, daily live broadcasts are realized on television, YouTube, and Facebook, with over 1.5 million live content views. Therefore, this race represents one of the strongest marketing platforms in endurance sports, and Lejla Njemčević's participation will be an opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina to appear on the biggest cycling stage."