The irrigation canals flowing from the Hartbeespoort Dam into the surrounding farming communities provided a beautiful backdrop for the opening kilometres. Photo by Dominic Barnardt.
Race day had started misty and cool on the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam, but warmed as the sun rose into a beautiful winter’s morning. The racing hotted up as the mercury rose, proving once again why the King Price Race to the Sun is South Africa’s premier gravel race. No other event in the country brings such a mix of road, mountain, and gravel bike specialists to the fore. Perhaps because the route from Die Oewer to Sun City mixed fast rolling gravel roads with sections of asphalt and short technical stretches. This allows road racers to compete with the more technically adept off-road campaigners.
The story pre-race had been how Ryan Gibbons and his Fly Cool Collective, in particular, would fare against the mountain bike teams, Toyota Specialized Imbuko and Insect Science. The answer was well, until a muddy section proved his undoing.
Fly Cool Collective set the early pace until the group started to break apart in the Sediba Kwêle game reserve section, nearing the halfway point of the race. With 55 kilometres to go, the race entered a new phase in which Terlouw and Nortje began trading attacks. The pressure exerted by the Toyota Specialized Imbuko combination whittled the leading group down to four, as only Gibbons and Withaar could follow the repeated accelerations.
Terlouw and Nortje were happy to let Gibbons sprint for the King Price King of the Mountain hotspot prize, then attack on the next technical segment shortly thereafter. Having left the broad gravel roads for meandering tracks through the grasslands, the surface roughened. A muddy section along one such track proved Gibbon’s undoing. A dropped chain and a cautious chase allowed Terlouw, Nortje, and Withaar to create a gap that the former World Tour road racer could not bridge across.
Terlouw then accelerated, and Withaar was unable to follow, allowing the Ride Joburg champion to fly solo through the final 40 kilometres. Behind Nortje was able to conserve energy, then attack Withaar, too, creating a perfect one-two for Toyota Specialized Imbuko. Withaar had to be content with third, while Gibbons lost fourth on the road to Jordan Boshoff, who finished with a powerful flourish.
“It was an awesome event!” Terlouw stated. “The Fly [Cool Collective] team took control from the start, until about halfway, when we went through the water point and started making it hard. When we hit the [Sediba Kwêle] Reserve, we tried to make it even harder and drop a few guys on the corners through there. Back out on the district road, Tristan [Nortje] and I tried a few attacks, and eventually I managed to get away with one of my attacks. And from there it was a super hard time trial to the finish.”
In the elite women’s race, the war of attrition steadily burned off contenders. Though Cycle Nation Enza Construction played their joker early in an attempt to disrupt Efficient Infiniti Insure’s tactics. Bone’s teammate, Marzaan Mellett, attacked early, after just 23 kilometres, and established a maximum advantage of 1-minute over the Sanders-led main peloton.
Having finished on the King Price Race to the Sun podium before, but never having won the race, Sanders must have been wondering if all her efforts would leave her empty-handed once more. Despite having to work to shut down Mellett’s break and then to keep the tempo high, the eventual race winner never tired. By the halfway point, she had reduced the lead group to just five. Sarah Maré joined Sanders for Efficient Infiniti Insure in that final selection, while Tshenolo Pro Cycling was represented by Lucy Young and Taneal Otto. Bone was the lone Cycle Nation Enza Construction rider to make the group.
In Sediba Kwêle, inside 60 kilometres to go, Young began to lose contact. The next to be distanced was her teammate, Otto. Bone kicked to claim the King Price Queen of the Mountain prize, and still had the reserves to follow Sanders when Maré was eventually dropped, too. Heading into the final kilometres, it looked like the day’s primary protagonist would be forced to sprint the fast-finishing Bone for the title.
Fortunately for Sanders, leading into the finishing chute gave her an advantage that Bone could not overturn on tired legs. Crossing the line, the queen of the 2026 King Price Race to the Sun was able to sit up and enjoy her victory. Bone finished second and Maré third. Taneal Otto was fourth, ahead of Maude le Roux, who had finished strong and overhauled Young on the run into Sun City.
“I have to say it was a really cool race with very positive racing, all the women were keen to make it exciting, which is great,” Sanders said. “At the [King Price] QOM, I said to Lisa [Bone] that I wasn’t going to contest for the hotspot, but let’s keep rolling. And that’s where we managed to get away with Sarah [Maré]. I just drove the break really hard in a group of three, rather than five, and from there it worked out perfectly.”
2026 King Price Race to the Sun Results
Elite Men’s Results:
- Jaedon Terlouw: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (4:11:55)
- Tristan Nortje: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (4:13:06 | +1:11)
- Jan Withaar: Insect Science (4:14:16 | +2:21)
- Jordan Boshoff: Project Dream SA (4:17:53 | +5:58)
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Ryan Gibbons: Fly Cool Collective (4:17:55 | +6:00)
Elite Women’s Results:
- Samantha Sanders: Efficient Infiniti Insure (4:50:01)
- Lisa Bone: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (4:50:03 | +2)
- Sarah Mare: Efficient Infiniti Insure (4:51:14 | +1:11)
- Taneal Otto: Tshenolo Pro Cycling (5:00:40 | +10:39)
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Maude le Roux: Tshenolo Pro Cycling (5:01:47 | +11:46)
