Matt Beers and Candice Lill claimed victories at the first round of the 2026 Ford Trailseeker Series in
\nthe Banhoek Valley on Saturday, 31 January. Stacked men\u2019s and women\u2019s elite fields saw the top
\nSouth African mountain bikers bolstered by international talent, which ensured fiercely competitive
\nracing. Beers held off Marc Pritzen and Luke Moir to win the men\u2019s race, in the 63.5 kilometre
\nmarathon distance, after having spent the last 20 kilometres racing them and Michael Foster for
\nprimacy on the trails. Lill claimed the women\u2019s crown after a puncture for Alessandra Keller put the
\nSwiss champion out of contention for victory. Tyler Jacobs recovered from a crash to finish second,
\nwhile Keller rode her way back into the podium places and finished third.<\/p>\n
Header image: Michael Foster, of Ford Prime Bunch, leading the quartet who would fight it out for victory in the final 15 kilometres. Photo by Max Sullivan.<\/em><\/p>\n An early start, at 06:30, and a lightning-fast race \u2013 which saw the women\u2019s podium places wrapped \u201cI think harder even than a cross-country,\u201d the Toyota Specialized Imbuko rider grimaced. \u201cPosition Ford Trailseeker Banhoek Results<\/strong> 6. Sascha Weber: RH77 Factory Racing (2:26:07 | +1:37)
\nup before 09:30 \u2013 ensured that the elite racers did not feel the heat of the day. The African sun beat
\ndown on the more social riders, making for a tough day in the saddle. For professional and amateur
\nracers alike, the opening round of the Ford Trailseeker Series is a gauge of how well December and
\nJanuary training have gone.
\n\u201cIt was a chilled start, I\u2019d say, but once the climbs came it got really, really, fast out there!\u201d Vera
\nLooser noted. \u201cI could feel that it was my first race of the year.\u201d
\nAs Looser had explained, the elite women\u2019s field raced relatively conservatively through the first 10
\nkilometres until the climbing began. Then Lill and Keller worked to split the field. Only Jacobs,
\nLooser, and Hayley Preen could match the climbing speed of the women on the Th\u00f6mas bikes.
\nLeading into Water Point 2, at the 26-kilometre mark, when the trails steepened even more, Lill\u2019s
\npressure told, and the leading group splintered further.
\n\u201cI could feel today that I\u2019m in a really good place, and this is a great way to go into the season,\u201d Lill
\nreflected. \u201cUnfortunately, Alessandra [Keller] had a puncture; it would have been really nice to race
\nwith her for longer. There were a couple of open sections of the route where we could have worked
\nwell together. But she put in a really strong ride and came in third.\u201d
\nKeller\u2019s puncture dropped her out of the top five on the trails, but the Cross-Country Short Course
\nWorld Champion used the climbs in the final 15 kilometres to work her way back into third. The
\nTh\u00f6mus Maxon rider reeled in and passed both Preen and Looser on the trails but ran out of road to
\ncatch Jacobs. \u201cIt was so much fun, the trails were awesome, and the competition was amazing, so it
\nwas a really good test,\u201d Jacobs stated after holding off the hard-charging Keller. \u201cIt\u2019s always cool to
\nhave overseas riders here, at the start of the year, and to see how strong the South Africans are.\u201d
\nAfter Keller punctured and Lill had attacked, Jacobs time trialled her way to the finish. The Liv
\nFactory Racing star finished 3 minutes and 18 seconds behind Lill, and just 12 ahead of Keller. Looser
\nwas fourth, a further 2 minutes and 47 seconds down. Preen rounded out the top five places, ahead
\nof Sara Cortinovis, Bianca Haw, Sarah Mar\u00e9, Flora Duffy, and Frances Janse van Rensburg.
\nIn the men\u2019s race, Foster was the early aggressor. Racing in the Ford Prime Bunch colours for the first
\ntime, he ensured that the group split before the climbing began. Sandy corners and hidden rocks
\nmade the first 20 kilometres particularly treacherous, as Tristan Nortje explained. \u201cThe first 20
\nkilometres of this Ford Trailseeker Banhoek are always hard!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nis so important with the speed and the sand in the corners.\u201d Elaborating on how the race unfolded,
\nhe continued: \u201cIt split up on the first climb, and I lost the group there, because they were going too
\nhard, but then after Banhoek, a group of us managed to catch back up when the leaders sat up.
\nThen, when the attacking started, again, in the Boschendal and Plaisir trails, it was just about survival
\nuntil the finish line.\u201d
\nNortje had managed to ride his way back to the Foster group, which included Beers, Pritzen, Moir,
\nand Sarrou. In the lull near the 40-kilometre mark, the group swelled to include Sascha Weber,
\nAndreas Seewald, Marco Joubert, Ernest Roets, and Johan van Zyl. Then Foster put the hammer
\ndown once again.
\n\u201cI actually thought the second last climb was the last climb,\u201d Foster laughed. \u201cI thought it was my
\ntime to go, and I got a little gap on Matt [Beers] and Luke [Moir], but they came back on the descent
\nand then on the last climb, that was me done. They left me, and Marc [Pritzen] caught me. But, for
\nthe first race of the year\u2026 I\u2019m happy with where my legs are.\u201d
\nBeers used the final climb to edge away from Moir, while Pritzen dug deep to claw his way back to
\nthe pre-race favourite. \u201cThere was never really a spot of difficulty for me today,\u201d Beers confessed. \u201cIt
\nwas hard, but a good pace. Michael [Foster] was a beast, just hammering it, and he caused quite a
\nfew of the splits today. And I managed to get away with him, Luke [Moir], and Marc [Pritzen]
\ntowards the end.\u201d
\n\u201cGoing down the last singletrack, Marc was leading, and I was on his wheel. I think Luke was dealing
\nwith some cramps by then. I had ridden the last kay and a half this morning, so I knew where to
\nattack. And I managed to execute it to perfection,\u201d the Specialized Off-Road man grinned.
\nBeers led into the final corner with Pritzen a few bike lengths back. \u201cIt gave me visions of last year,
\nwhen I crashed on the final corner,\u201d Pritzen recalled. \u201cI backed off to avoid a repeat of that. But Matt
\n[Beers] rode a really good race, so congratulations to him.\u201d
\nWith victory going to Beers, Pritzen settled for second, and Moir crossed the line 25 seconds down
\nto finish third. Foster recovered on the last descent and hung on to fourth ahead of the French
\nformer Cross-Country World Champion, Sarrou. Webber was sixth, with his fellow German Seewald
\nseventh. Nortje led home the Toyota Specialized Imbuko team, in eighth, a minute faster than
\nJaedon Terlouw and Joubert, in ninth and tenth.
\nThe Ford Trailseeker Series pauses now, until the Autumn when the racing resumes in Gauteng.
\nRound 2 is hosted by the Cradle Moon Lakeside Game Lodge on Saturday, 2 May, and will see the
\nresumption of hostilities in the battle for the R100\u00a0000 series winner prizes. In the meantime, to
\nrelive the highlights from the opening round, follow @trailseekerseriesmtb on Instagram, like the
\nFord Trailseeker MTB Series Facebook page, and tune in for extended highlights from the Banhoek
\nValley race on the Ford Trailseeker Series YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
\nElite Men:
\n1. Matt Beers: Specialized Off-Road (2:24:30)
\n2. Marc Pritzen: Honeycomb 226ers (2:24:31 | +1)
\n3. Luke Moir: Mondraker Factory Racing XC (2:24:55 | +25)
\n4. Michael Foster: Ford Prime Bunch (2:25:41 | +1:11)
\n5. Jordan Sarrou: BMC MTB Team (2:26:02 | +1:32)<\/p>\n
\n7. Andreas Seewald: Singer KTM (2:26:31 | +2:01)
\n8. Tristan Nortje: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (2:26:56 | +2:26)
\n9. Jaedon Terlouw: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (2:28:00 | +3:30)
\n10. Marco Joubert: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (2:28:01 | +3:31)
\nElite Women:
\n1. Candice Lill: Seattle Coffee Co e-Fort Sabi Sabi (2:49:46)
\n2. Tyler Jacobs: LIV Factory Racing (2:53:04 | +3:18)
\n3. Alessandra Keller: Th\u00f6mus Maxon (2:53:16 | +3:30)
\n4. Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (2:56:03 | +6:17)
\n5. Hayley Preen: ChemChamp Honeycomb (2:58:43 | +8:57)
\n6. Sara Cortinovis: UNNO Polimedical (3:01:00 | +11:14)
\n7. Bianca Haw: LEATT (3:02:13 | +12:27)
\n8. Sarah Mar\u00e9: Efficient Infiniti Insure (3:05:30 | +15:44)
\n9. Flora Duffy: Specialized (3:06:11 | +16:25)
\n10. Frances Janse van Rensburg (3:08:17 | +18:31)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"