Whilst there is often a bit of a chill pre-dawn at The Big 5 by Imbuko Wines and
\nCanetsfontein, there was no need for warm layers in 2026. It was going to be a hot day in
\nthe Hawequa mountains. With the largest field of participants in the event's history
\nshuffling into the start chute of the new venue, and some of the best bike racers in the
\nworld assembled under the arch at the front of the mass, there was no doubt that it was
\ngoing to be a day of exhilarating racing action and profound personal undertakings.<\/p>\n
Image: Candice Lill (Seattle Coffee Co. \/ E-Fort \/ Sabi Sabi) was untouchable on the climbs<\/em> The big names on everyone's lips were defending champion Candice Lill (Seattle Coffee Hatherly surged past Nortje and rode a pace that the Wellington local said he \u201cjust couldn\u2019t climb and then sort of settle into a good pace. Today I managed to fuel really well and Both Hatherly and Nortje went under record time, the race winner by a whole four minutes, Top 10 Women:<\/strong>
\nand on rails down every descent once again. Credit: Sam Clark<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCo. \/ E-Fort \/ Sabi Sabi), Hayley Preen (Honeycomb 226ers), Greta Seiwald (Decathlon
\nFord), Vera Looser (Efficient Infiniti), Bianca Haw, and Sarah Mar\u00e9. Alan Hatherly (Giant
\nFactory Off-Road) was coming back for more after his debut in 2025, Scott-SRAM\u2019s Andri
\nFrischknecht was a previous winner looking for his 2nd title, and the Toyota Specialized
\nImbuko squad of Marco Joubert, Tristan Nortje, Lood Goosen, Inus du Preez and Jaedon
\nTerlouw had skin in the game with it being their home race. Felix Stehli (Honeycomb
\n226ers), as well as Wessel Botha and Arno du Toit (Insect Science MTB), were also
\nfavourites for a big ride.
\n5 kilometres in, riders hit the first climb, known as Hawequa. It takes in 750m of elevation
\ngain and is a monster. If it weren\u2019t for the Cliffhanger this would be the biggest feature of
\nthe day, and straight out the gates, there was an intensity in the lead bunch that surpassed
\nany previous year\u2019s racing.
\nIn the men\u2019s group, Cronje Beukes had snuck off the front of the group as they moved
\ntowards the steeper slopes, but he wasn\u2019t getting much attention until Alan Hatherly used
\nthe momentum off of a small descent to fly off the front of the group and really get the party
\nstarted, at just 7 kilometres into the race! It was fireworks from then on. As the gradients
\nescalated, chunks of the bunch broke off until it was just Nortje, Botha and Hatherly
\nremaining out in front with Stedman, Frischknecht and Goosen in chase. Botha would slip
\noff before the top of the Hawequa, and each rider began to settle into whatever rhythm
\nthey could find on the unforgiving terrain.
\nIt was a group of Lill, Preen, Seiwald, Haw, and Looser that led the women\u2019s field up the
\nlower slopes of Hawequa. Lill was, of course, the conductor setting the pace, but the rest
\nof her entourage were locking in to the hurt box and holding the wheel as long as they
\ncould! Greta Seiwald was the most resilient in the fight up to the first summit of the day,
\ndropping into the exquisite Hawequa trail descent 40 seconds back from Lill. Preen was
\nnext to begin the descent, followed by Haw and then Looser, with about a minute
\nseparating each rider at the 16km mark.
\nHitting the single track ascent up Seven Peaks, Nortje led Hatherly, setting a strong pace
\nto fend off the chasers. The two were inseparable down the high-speed Cool Runnings
\ntrail and through the second water point at Canetsfontein until Hatherly suffered an
\nuntimely puncture hitting the 3rd climb of the day. Nortje kept the throttle open and got
\nhimself 30 seconds clear of the XCO World Champion. The race was now on.
\nNortje exited the classic Aap d\u2019huez trail with a strong advantage, but Hatherly was on the
\nhunt. A couple of kilometres deeper into the climb taking them up to the Cliffhanger,<\/p>\n
\nhold\u201d to crest the Cliffhanger first and bank the R20 000 KOM prize.
\nMeanwhile, Candice Lill kept the lead women chasing hard through Seven Peaks and up
\nand over the Cliffhanger (claiming her R20 000 QOM prize). Greta Seiwald was hot on her
\nheels, doing the best of any competitor in recent years to keep the Queen of The Big 5 in
\ncheck. Looser had moved into 4th position, passing Bianca Haw as she was picking
\nherself up from her third crash of the day (and all this before the first water point). It was
\nnot a great start from Underberg\u2019s finest, but they breed them tough in KZN, and she
\ndusted herself off from \u201cthe biggest crash of her life\u201d and got back in the fight!
\nPreen was doing her best to hold Looser off as they wound their way up to the summit of
\nthe route, with plenty of fatigue in the legs after several weeks of big races back-to-back.
\nLooser said that she knew she needed to get past Preen before the top of the cliffhanger
\nto secure her shot at a podium finish, and she made it happen, putting just 30 seconds into
\nthe gravel expert by the summit and looking strong in 3rd.
\nBoth Nortje and Seiwald closed down the gaps to their respective race leaders as they
\nplummeted down the 850m vertical drop back to the Canetsfontein water point, though it
\nwouldn\u2019t last long as Hatherly and Lill were more than prepared to step on the gas again
\nand widen the margin and get some breathing room back.
\nFrischknecht was the next best man, though Botha and Stedman were close on his heels
\ndown the Cliffhanger, Full Monty, and Route 66 descents. Looser had Seiwald within sight
\nat several points in the closing kilometres but didn\u2019t quite have the power to close down
\nthe gap, despite the Italian rider wavering a bit on the often-underestimated Pataskloof
\nclimb, worried that she may have emptied the tank too soon. Their pursuit of the leaders
\nwas valiant but not enough to change the battle for the top 2 steps of each podium,
\nHatherly and Lill claimed their respective category titles with Nortje and Seiwald runners
\nup.
\nFrischknecht seemed to have 3rd place all but secured, surviving the sun-baked slopes of
\nPatatskloof where many a podium favourite has overcooked their goose, but it was not to
\nbe. The XCO star\u2019s rear tyre would succumb to one of the rocks that took Matt Beers out
\nof the race with a broken wheel in 2025. Frischknecht\u2019s race was over, and it was Botha
\nwho was poised to jump on the 3rd podium step, and he did precisely that. Surprisingly, it
\nwasn\u2019t Stedman coming through behind him. His teammate Jaedon Terlouw, had managed
\nhis pacing exquisitely and came through out of the blue to grab 4th ahead of Stedman.
\nFollowing Lill and Seiwald across the line was Looser in 3rd, Preen in 4th, and Haw
\nrounding out the top 5. Candice Lill defended her title at the 2026 Big 5 with the kind of
\nauthority we've come to expect. Measured, controlled, and relentlessly strong. She
\ncrossed the line in an astonishing new course-record time of 4h25m54s. Adding yet
\nanother first-place finish to her decorated run at this event, and once again proving that
\nwhen it comes to the Big 5, she knows exactly how to win it.
\n\u201cI think today is quite a unique race because in some other races there's more tactics,\u201d
\nsays Lill of The Big 5, \u201cbecause it's a hill and then a downhill and a lot mixed up. Whereas
\nin this, the more you can just keep your own pace, the faster you're going to be over the
\nwhole course. That being said, it is kind of my MO to just attack from the start. I think it
\nmakes others feel like you're kind of on the back foot. So I do go a little bit hard on the first<\/p>\n
\nmanage my effort well. I finished stronger than in other years, which is awesome"<\/p>\n
\nand the runner-up by two. It was arguably the most dominant ride we have seen in the
\nmen\u2019s race in the history of the event. Even through his mechanical setback, Hatherly
\nseemed to have everything under control and always had the reserves to dig a little deeper
\nwhen needed.
\n\u201cI guess I kind of caught the guys a bit off guard,\u201d Alan Hatherly recounts the racing,
\n\u201cSomebody sent a flyer early on, and I sent it down the side to bridge across, and I think
\ncaught a few people out. They had to work pretty hard to catch me in the beginning. I think
\nthat kind of hurt the guys and split the race to bits back there.
\n\u201cI guess Tristan was super strong, and I think local knowledge really helped him a lot
\ntoday. He was flying on the downhills and really put me under pressure. I had a small
\nmechanical, a flat tyre, it was super strange, but a quick plug-and-go and I managed to get
\nback to Tristan and get past him to take the KOM. He nearly caught me on the descent,
\nlike I said \u2014 local knowledge \u2014 and I guess in the last 20km or so, I just motored and time
\ntrialled my way home and sealed the deal. A bit of a suffer-fest! There\u2019s no easy way to
\nget around in Imbuko Big 5, but I enjoyed it. My form is good, so I'm happy.\u201d
\nThe racing at The Big 5 has gotten better and better every year. The event has solidified
\nitself as a staple on the calendar of SA\u2019s best marathon riders and World Cup XCO racers
\nalike. The pure test of endurance and bike handling has drawn riders from far and wide,
\nand is set to keep its trajectory through 2027 and beyond!<\/p>\n
\n1 – Candice Lill – 04:25:54
\n2 – Greta Seiwald – 04:30:59
\n3 – Vera Looser – 04:33:48
\n4 – Hayley Preen – 04:38:40
\n5 – Bianca Haw – 04:46:44
\n6 – Felicitas Geiger – 04:52:33
\n7 – Ila Stow – 05:00:09
\n8 – Chloe Bishop – 05:04:03
\n9 – Cherise Willeit – 05:05:18
\n10 – Anri Greeff – 05:05:48
\nTop 10 Men<\/strong>:
\n1 – Alan Hatherly – 03:37:49
\n2 – Tristan Nortje – 03:39:28
\n3 – Wessel Botha – 03:42:17
\n4 – Jaedon Terlouw – 03:48:22
\n5 – Travis Stedman – 03:48:37
\n6 – Lood Goosen – 03:50:57
\n7 – Inus Du Preez – 03:52:51
\n8 – Tayne Rudling – 03:53:48
\n9 – Jan Withaar – 03:55:45
\n10 – Cronje Beaukes – 03:55:46<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"