Twenty-five year-old Mechanical Engineering student, Hayley Preen, has collected a few national and continental cycling titles in the past few years. This week she begins what is sure to be her greatest challenge yet, the seven-race Life Time Grand Prix Series in the United States. We had a chat to her to find out more. Words: Sean Badenhorst | Intro image: Warwick Purdy She took us by surprise when she won the Elite Women’s Road Race national championship in 2021. Now, when Hayley Preen is on a start line of any bicycle race, we expect success – or at least a hard race. She’s a fierce competi ..read more

I’m introducing my son to South African mountain bike stage racing by combining as a Dad-and-Son team at the 20th edition of the KAP Sani2c, the world’s biggest mountain bike stage race. Here’s how we trained, where we trained and what we used for energy and recovery; what injury challenges we faced and a nice family bonus. By Sean Badenhorst It’s a week before we start the Adventure edition of the 2024 KAP Sani2c, a 285km, three-day mountain bike haul across southern KwaZulu-Natal. Cade is young and strong and enthusiastic. I turn 54 next month and had haven’t done a stage race since 2020. I ..read more

Greg Minnaar started winning World Cup races before Jackson Goldstone was born! This 30-minute documentary of their assault on the 2023 UCI DH World Cup season gives great insight into the bond they have as well as the mutual respect. What was Jackson’s dream debut season turned out to be Greg’s worst, which is well documented here. Also some great footage of Minnaar’s early racing days and some cool behind-the-scenes clips from the World Cup races. Watch it now via the link below! https://www.redbull.com/za-en/episodes/race-tapes-s2-e3 ..read more

In the final of our four-part reveal of the results of the 2023 South African Mountain Biking Survey, presented by Garmin, we examine gear choices. There was a total of 2467 respondents. Here’s a look at the preferences South African mountain bikers have for helmets, shoes, eyewear, clothing and other gear selections, with comparisons to previous years where relevant. What brand of helmet do you currently ride with? 2023 2022 2021 2020 Specialized 19.11% 18.84% 19.44% 17.98% SCOTT 13.89% 12.00% 11.89% 10.81% Giro 10.08% 11.53% 11.36% 12.18% Bell 6.77% 9.03% 10.80% 13.30% Bontra ..read more

Matt Beers became the first South African to win the Absa Cape Epic three times when he and his Toyota Specialized Ninety-One teammate, Howard Grotts of the USA secured a somewhat clinical victory in the 20thedition of the race. In this interview, Beers explains how changed his training for this year’s Cape Epic – and how it paid off. By Sean Badenhorst Three Absa Cape Epic wins, Matt! Only Sauser, Platt, Kulhavy, Sahm, Luthi and Langvad have achieved this. How does it feel to be among Cape Epic royalty? It does feel crazy. Those are all riders I look up to, especially Kulhavy. He was my inspi ..read more

Keira Duncan and Frankie du Toit tamed a strong field and challenging conditions to secure the men and women’s titles respectively at Round 1 of the 2024 Enduro SA Cup, presented by Balwin and Suzuki at Thaba Trails, Johannesburg on Sunday 31 March. Words: Sean Badenhorst | Photography: Dominic Barnardt and Justin Barlow It was the second win for Duncan at this venue, but it was an extremely narrow victory margin. The KwaZulu-Natal racer beat Western Cape’s Matt Lombardi by just a single second over the seven stages, including a blind stage. Third place went to another Western Cape rider ..read more

There’s something truly special about free-ride mountain bikers. They’re insanely skilled, but you know that to reach that level of competence, they had their share of falls. And they still have crashes because they’re always pushing the limits. Always! We’re privileged that the annual Darkfest, presented by Monster, happens in South Africa each year. If you couldn’t make it in person, you can catch all the big-air, huge-courage action in this 23-minute summary. As usual, there was wildness off the bike among the world’s best, but man was the riding incredible, despite some of the biggest fall ..read more

The good news is that the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series kicks off in Brazil next week! The bad news is that South Africans may struggle to watch it live as in the past. Here’s why… By Sean Badenhorst As of today, Thursday 4 April 2024, South Africa’s premier sports broadcaster, SuperSport, has not secured broadcast rights for the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series. We received a very brief reply from SuperSport on enquiring this week: “Unfortunately, we have not confirmed the deal”. We have asked for more details, but haven’t had a response yet as to whether that means SuperSpor ..read more

If you have been following the journey of the #SheUntamed movement, you would have noticed lots of hype and build-up before and during the 2024 Absa Cape Epic. The primary goal was to have 20 all-female Absa Teams on the start line, with the Number 1 rider in each team being a woman of colour. Here’s how it panned out. By Joanne Badenhorst | Photography: AC Media From the outset, we knew this was a long shot, a tall order, not a mission impossible, but definitely mission improbable. The #SheUntamed initiative has been in existence for four years now. Some riders have been along for the full jo ..read more

In Part 3 of our four-part reveal of the 2023 South African Mountain Biking Survey, presented by Garmin, we look at the performance questions. The 13 questions were designed to find out more about how mountain bikers measure their training/racing performance and which brands they choose for GPS devices, home trainers, workout apps and more. Since this has tables, it’s best viewed on a laptop or desktop computer. On a mobile phone, turn to landscape for best viewing. Do you wear a GPS smart watch to monitor your riding performance? 2023 2022 2021 2020 Yes 70.96% 68.70% 71.44% 63.14% No ..read more