When Karl Platt stepped off the plane from Germany last week he said it felt "just like home".
Switzerland's Christoph Sauser spends so much time training in the Western Cape these days he regards it as "my second home".
To David George this is home and this week he declared: "We need to own that mountain."
For all three, with their partners, "home" over the next eight days will be the saddles of their mountain bikes as they chase glory in the Absa Cape Epic.
The sixth edition of the Epic has attracted 600 teams of two who will hit the dirt on the slopes of Table Mountain today for a 19km prologue in a race against the clock.
The fastest riders - likely to include Platt, Sauser and George, plus a handful of other pro teams - will be gunning for top seedings for the Epic's first stage in Gordon's Bay tomorrow.
Platt and countryman Stefan Sahm of Team Bulls, Sauser with South Africa's Burry Stander (Team Songo.info) and the MTN-Energade 1 pair of George and Kevin Evans will be - barring mishaps - among the top seeds and among the leaders as the field covers 685km over the mountains of the Southern Cape.
Platt has tasted Epic victory twice - he won the first race in 2004 with Namibia's Mannie Heymans and did it again two years ago with Sahm.
Sauser won in 2006 with compatriot Silvio Bundi and the George-Evans combo's best was third in 2008 behind Platt-Sahm who were second behind Denmark's Roel Paulissen-Jakob Fuglsang. The Danes are giving this year's race a missbut that doesn't mean things will be easier this time around.
"The level of competition goes up every year, you need more now to win the Epic," Sauser said in Stellenbosch on the eve of the race. "My condition is excellent and we're a real force but there are so many things (that can go wrong)."
He knows only too well how it feels when things go belly up. Riding as defending champion in 2007, his new partner "died" on him two days into the race. "He just couldn't go on," recalled the Swiss on Friday. And in 2008 Sauser was left alone again when Stander injured a knee on stage three.
"It's not nice when you see all the others ride off and you have to go home," Sauser added.
George and Evans want to make it a home win, which would be a first for them.
"We hope to go one better this year... no, make that two better," said George, a road cyclist who has competed at the highest level in Europe but has grown fond of the Epic. "It's given my career a different stimulus - the Epic is a big focus in my life."
DAILY PHONE-CALLS
George and Evans have been partners for 18 months and, though Evans lives in Plettenberg Bay, they are in daily contact.
"Every day we are on the phone talking about the race, we focus on what can go right... it's a challenge just to arrive at the Epic in the right frame of mind.
"This race is about understanding each other, about partnership... actually, we're a little like a married couple," George said. "The test comes after a few days' racing, whether we're still talking to each other."
Bulls partners Platt and Sahm are like relatives of another kind, according to a team manager.
"They are like brothers that get along," said Vincent Durand. "They're not interested in individual glory, it's all about collective results."
DAILY PHONE-CALLS
Platt (31) and Sahm (32) are two of the best mountain bikers around and each is amultiple winner of top events such as the TransAlp and TransRockies races.
Sahm lives and trains near Lucerne in Switzerland and Platt in Osthofen, Germany.
Sahm said: "We don't train together that much during winter. Karl lives about 400km away. During the season we do training camps together and see each other more often."
Platt's training programme has been the same for years: "Never change a winning recipe. I try to do the same every year. I think it works and hope that it will prove to be right again this year. I try to combine distance and intensity - that's what the Cape Epic is about."
It's also about suffering but, as Platt says: "If you're a mountain biker, you must like suffering... and it's worth it when you see the results."
'I'LL BRING THE FAMILY...
However he admits a good Epic result this year will probably need a little more suffering than normal... he should know, he's ridden every Epic since 2004
"There are 10 teams here that are very competitive, lots of riders well-prepared," he said. "When I arrived in Cape Town it felt like I'd landed at home... one of these days I intend spending more time training here, bring my family over."
That's what Sauser has been doing for a few years. "I come to train about three times a year and stay at the same place in Stellenbosch," said the Swiss, who has put his weight behind the Songo project which has built a BMX track for a local township. This this week donated 30 Specialized mountain bikes to up-and-coming riders in the community.
Last word on an Epic winning formula goes to the Bulls.
"I could talk about training and stuff, or bikes and equipment. All this is important but all riders who can win are exceptionally fit, so it's more about the mental aspect and how you deal with the pain.
"It's also a team race and it's about how well you know your partner - the secret is friendship, though you need motivation for self- punishment."