Former rugby professionals:

Breyton Paulse, Braam van Straaten and Marius Hurter,

Ex-soccer star:

Mark Fish,

Former Blue Bulls coach:

Mike Bayly

and 5FM and Supercycling presenter:

Owen Hannie

have commenced their training for next month’s event, in a bid to raise funds for the JAG Foundation.

Erica Green, Willie Engelbrecht and Linus van Onselen

well-known cycling and mountain biking personalities, will also be joining this gruelling challenge.


The Absa Cape Epic, considered one of the world’s most challenging mountain bike races, is a gruelling 685km race through the Western Cape which covers all kinds of terrain – whether dual track, single track or mountain pass. Usually the domain of highly-experienced, well-seasoned cyclists, the celebrities will need to undergo considerable fitness training in the next 6 weeks, to ensure they are able to finish the race.

“We believe that it is through the facilitation of sport that South Africa’s youth can become more active, involved and ultimately, better citizens,” comments JAG Foundation CEO, Elana Meyer. “By signing onto the JAG AllStars Challenge, these sporting celebrities are assisting us in building sport, igniting passion and uplifting local communities.”

The JAG AllStars team are now in their final stretch of training for the race, gearing up for one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world. And, while the sporting celebrities might boast vastly different levels of fitness, there is but one common goal – completing the race in the name of charity. “This really is a daunting task,” comments Paulse. “I’ve been preparing for over three months now, training hard and watching what I eat – I really do have a new-found respect for these athletes.”

You can pledge funds for JAG AllStar of your choice in order to support their Epic efforts. Funds raised will go towards JAG’s Mighty Metres running programme. It costs R200 per year per child to participate in the Mighty Metres programme.

Pledge funds now


When pledging funds for specific JAG AllStar please include: Epic + ( name of the JAG AllStar) in the reference box, i.e Epic Breyton; Epic Mark, Epic Erica etc.


Log onto ABSA Cape Epic for more information about the event itself