Kate Courtney and Candice Lill’s She Sends privateer super squad and Lukas Baum and Georg Egger’s ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company headline the 2025 Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, elite fields. The South African star returns to the Koue Bokkeveld to defend her title with the popular American when the Stage Hors Classe (SHC) race gets underway on the 6th of February. The German combination will make their debut in the event and will face stiff competition from a selection of top local and international teams.
The four-day event features 270 kilometres of racing, with 5 400 metres of climbing. Each day starts and ends at the spectacular Kaleo Guest Farm, outside Ceres. Stage 1 is a short, sharp afternoon stage, before the marathon days begin with Stage 2 into the iconic Witzenberg Valley. Saturday, 8 February, hosts the Queen Stage which includes the formidable Merino Monster ascent. A shorter final route brings the race to its conclusion on the 9th of February.
Lill and Courtney will face off against an eclectic mix of riders, many of whom have never teamed up before. These include Tyler Jacobs, with whom Lill has won two Wines2Whales titles, and Sara Cortinovis. Jacobs and Cortinovis start as GHOST-LIV Racing. Greta Seiwald and Martina Berta are another pairing made up of riders from different trade teams. The Decathlon Ford and Origine Racing Division partnership will compete as Spaghetti M&G in the Bokveld. A more familiar team, in the colours of Efficient Infiniti Insure, are Sarah Hill and Vera Looser, while Bianca Haw and Danielle Strydom make their teams racing debut for Safari Essence Titan Racing.
GMG Ladies’s Andrea Schofmann and Felicitas Geiger are also a team to watch, as the cross-country specialists make rare stage racing starts. Young Lianke Fourie and her Fast and Fabulous teammate, Bianca Botha, are unknown quantities ahead of the event, though they will be motivated to hold off the collection of top amateur teams racing in the elite competition. The Kolisi/Songo Foundation’s Cherise Willeit and Ila Stow are the strongest of this group on paper, but they will have to best Nicola Freitas and Megan Scribante, Sarita Louw and Rebecca van Huyssteen, Hayley Smith and Janice Venter, Kylie Hanekom and Juanita Mackenzie, as well as Tarryn Povey and Roxy Kemp.
In the men’s race ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company face two fellow German outfits and a number of top South African teams. The Bulls return to the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, for the 12th time, having never missed an edition. The German bike brand will be represented by Simon Schneller and the two-time French national marathon champion, Axel Roudil-Cortinat. Schneller’s former teammates, Simon Stiebjahn and Martin Frey – of Singer KTM Racing – are the other all-international contenders. Ursin Spescha completes the European assault on the event, though the 26-year-old Swiss rider is partnered by a young South African, in the form of Cannondale Pro MTB’s Daniel van Der Walt.
The defending champions, Toyota Specialized Racing, combine the experience of Matt Beers with the youthful exuberance of Johan van Zyl. The diminutive rider from Wellington will have his work cut out for him following the powerhouse of South African marathon and stage racing. Yet, Van Zyl is undaunted by the prospect. Fellow South Africans Imbuko A, Honeycomb ProCycling A, Insect Science, and the two PYGA Euro Steel Squads are the other top local teams to watch.
Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje start their stage racing season having finished 6th and 2nd at the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, on Saturday, 18 January. PYGA Euro Steel’s nominal B team, of Michael Foster and Jaedon Terlouw, were better matched across the Hell of the South course having raced to 4th and 5th. Their team leaders, Philip Buys and Pieter du Toit started their seasons at the Banhoek TrailSeeker event, where Joubert and Nortje claimed 1st and 2nd, the next weekend and should complete a formidable two-team double act for the Pretoria based outfit.
Wessel Botha and Marc Pritzen’s debut as a stage race pairing could see them thrive on the Queen Stage in particular, while Arno du Toit and Keegan Bontekoning are highly motivated to start the season with a stellar result. Further down the favourites list the teams chasing a top ten placing include Valley Electrical Titan Racing (Rossouw Bekker and Herman Fourie), Imbuko B (Rudi Koen and Lood Goosen), Honeycomb ProCycling B (Julian Jessop and Felix Stehli), and Insect Science Azimuth Cycling (Alan Gordon and Jan Withaar). Other teams to keep an eye on are the Pump for Peace Lesotho and South Africa combinations, AJ Racing, Team ACT, FuelX, Fastlane Cycles, Tshenolo Pro Cycling Team, and Fairtree DP World Cannondale.
In total 23 elite men’s teams will take to the trails of the Koue Bokkeveld, where many twists, turns and surprises undoubtedly lie in store; making speculation largely for personal entertainment before a pedal stroke is turned in anger. To see how the action unfolds mountain biking fans are encouraged to follow @tankwatrek on Instagram and to like the Tankwa Trek Facebook page. Regular updates from the trails will be posted on the race’s stories, while longer-form content will be uploaded to the social media accounts too. For more information on the 2025 Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, visit www.tankwatrek.co.za.
