When Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad lifted the trophy for winning their third straight Absa Cape Epic title on March 20 the Swiss-Danish pairing would have noticed a slightly different feeling about it. That is because it wasn’t the same trophy they had lifted in 2014 and 2015. Their 2016 trophy, as winners of the Sasol Women’s category, was specially commissioned and designed by Capetonian sculptor, Isabel Mertz.
“What excited me immensely about designing and manufacturing trophies for the Absa Cape Epic was the race’s emphasis on team spirit, camaraderie, courage and endurance,” Mertz says. “The brief called for a piece that represented a two person team event in a non-figurative manner, 2016 also marks the first time that a woman has been asked to design the trophies and for the race it is also the first time the women’s and men’s races were equal in all aspects [referring to the UCI-registered women having their own start batch].”
The 28-year-old Mertz graduated in 2010 with a BA (Fine Arts) from the University of Pretoria with a distinction for her practical work. A year later she received the Gerard Sekoto award, and a merit award at the annual Absa L’Atelier Art competition and is currently studying towards a Masters in Visual Arts at the University of Stellenbosch. An all-women team of artists helped her design the newest additions to the Spur-Specialized women’s newest addition to their honours.
“It was locally cast in our small scale foundry set up by myself and sculptor Ledelle Moe. Danika Schultz and Milandi Coetzer complete our team helping every step of the way in the production of these pieces.”
Continuing the trend of ‘local is lekker’, all the materials used for the production of the trophies were locally sourced. Each trophy is made using once off pieces cast in bronze and mounted on wild fig wood, which will be durable and stand the test of time – much the same traits a winning Absa Cape Epic partnership needs. Adding to the uniqueness of the trophy is the inspiration behind it.
“For these trophies I drew inspiration from the spectacular Western Cape landscape. I wanted to incorporate a variety of textures; the wood, sourced from a local timber yard, is from a wild fig tree. In African mythology figs and fig trees are symbols of abundance, fertility and femininity. The two cast bronze stones balance on top of each other symbolising team work, endurance and the epic mountain ranges riders encounter during the race. The cast bronze branches curling around the stone are based on the structure of an adrenaline molecule, emphasising the endurance factor of this eight day sporting event and conquering a challenge.”
With World Cup races, the World Marathon Championships and the Olympic Games on Langvad and Kleinhans’ schedules in the coming months, here’s hoping their new new Absa Cape Epic trophy will be a fitting inspiration for those challenges…
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