Pritzen Puts in Perfect Performance to Win in Die Bosveld

Heading into the penultimate round of the Ford Trailseeker Series, in Die Bosveld, Marc Pritzen led Jaedon Terlouw by 20 points on the series leaderboard, while Sarah Maré held a 36-point advantage over Samantha Sanders. Pritzen’s perfect performance and superbly executed ride to victory on Saturday, 1 August 2026, moves him a further 15 points clear of Terlouw. Sanders was able to reduce Maré’s buffer by claiming the Die Bosveld crown, but by finishing second, Maré was able to limit the damage and still has 26 points in hand over her Efficient Infiniti Insure teammate and Ford Trailseeker Series rival.

“It was good to feel myself again, without Unbound in my legs and a bit of sickness in my lungs,” Marc Pritzen smiled. “I was pretty fatigued and a bit ill coming into Sondela, so I wasn’t able to race to my usual level there. Today it was great to look down and see the power numbers I know I’m capable of producing.”

Those numbers helped Pritzen create an early advantage and then hold off a chasing pack to win. “I came to recce the route in the week and saw that a sprint finish was very likely if nobody got away early,” Pritzen recounted. “That’s why I gambled and went solo near the 20-kilometre mark. I knew I could build a gap there and if I could hold them off until the singletracks in the last 15 kilometres or so I’d be able to stay away.”

“I expected Marc to attack on that climb, but I thought we’d bring him back, to be honest,” Jan Withaar explained the chasers’ perspective. “We had the two [Toyota Specialized] Imbuko guys [Terlouw and Ignatius du Preez], Michael Foster, and myself. That’s a lot of horsepower! We could see him, at times, and managed to get close, but could never quite reel him in.”

“Approaching the Ford Wildtrak segment, I knew if I had any chance of a result I’d have to get into the singletrack ahead of Jadeon [Terlouw] and Inus [Ignatius du Preez]. I managed to get a bit of a gap on them, but I couldn’t bridge across to Marc [Pritzen].”

Pritzen’s advantage was never much more than 45 seconds, and his final margin of victory over Withaar was just 39 seconds. Terlouw completed the podium places, a further 10 seconds back.

“The overall is realistically now beyond me, but I’ll be going all in for victory in Wellington,” Terlouw stated. “It’s a home race for the Toyota Specialized Imbuko team, and winning there would be a great way to end the Ford Trailseeker Series.”

“The [35-point] advantage is good, but it’s not over yet,” Pritzen warned. “Wellington will be another fiercely contested race in September. I’ve sacrificed a lot to be at my best for the Highveld Ford Trailseeker Series races this year. I live in Cape Town now, but I haven’t been home since April. With the events three weeks apart, it made sense to live up here at altitude rather than travel up and down. I’m looking forward to getting home now!”

Sarah Maré, like Pritzen, has prioritized the Ford Trailseeker Series in 2026. By consistently scoring points, she has built a healthy lead over Samantha Sanders. Sanders had only started two of the four races before Saturday, but scored a maximum 40 points with a victory at Van Gaalen and 30 points for second at the Cradle. A second victory in Die Bosveld, after her win in Sondela, would have put Maré in an unassailable position. For the sake of excitement leading into the final round, Sanders’ performance in Die Bosveld was vital.

The Efficient Infiniti Insure women initially worked together to distance themselves from their rivals on other teams. With a decisive advantage established over Rachel Seaman, Tania Bugarin Otiz, and Frances Swanepoel [née Janse van Rensburg]. “After a bit of a break you never really know how your legs are going to feel,” Sanders confessed. “So, I pushed the first 20 minutes quite hard to see where my legs were, and I was pleasantly surprised so I could push on. I had some admin with a derailleur battery too, but I was able to swap it out with my dropper seatpost battery, so it didn’t really make any difference in the end.”

Once Sanders was solo, she was able to hold Maré at bay, while Maré was herself equally adept at distancing the chasers in third, fourth and fifth on the trails. “Sam [Sanders] started us off really nicely, with a fast pace,” Maré recounted. “I’ve raced with and against her a lot over the years, and I know how she likes to go out at a fast but steady pace. On the second climb, I thought I would take it up; it was there that Sam and I managed to distance the rest of the field.”

“On the third of those three climbs in the first 25 kilometres, my 3-minute power was just not quite good enough to stay with Sam over the summit,” Maré said. “From there it was a time trial to the finish, but if I have to come second to anyone, I’m happy it was Sam!”

Sanders crossed the Die Bosveld finish line 1 minute and 33 seconds ahead of Maré. Behind the Efficient Infiniti Insure pairing, Seaman and Bugarin Ortiz were locked in a titanic tussle for third. “The course sort of suited me today,” the 2025 South African Under 23 Road Race Champion stated. “I loved the jeep track, but I have to admit that on the singletrack things fell apart a bit and my technical skills were up to maggots. I managed to fight my way back on the jeep tracks again though.”

In the finale, Seaman outsprinted Bugarin Ortiz to claim her best yet Ford Trailseeker Series result. Seaman and Bugarin Ortiz were 4 minutes and 54 seconds down on the day’s winner in third and fourth, ahead of Swanepoel, who rounded out the top five.

As a result, Maré leads Sanders by 26 points heading into the final round of the 2026 Ford Trailseeker Series. The Wellington leg takes place on Saturday, 12 September, from Bosman Family Vineyards. Entries for the final round are open and can be secured via the www.trailseeker.co.za series website. To share in the excitement building up to the grand finale and to relive the highs of the season thus far, follow @trailseekerseriesmtb on Instagram, like the Ford Trailseeker MTB Series Facebook page, and subscribe to the Ford Trailseeker Series YouTube channel.