Round four of the 2025 SRAM Western Cape Downhill Series attracted a huge field of the region’s best riders to chase the clock down the iconic Zevenwacht DH. This track has delivered some incredible racing through the years and with this weekend’s ever-changing weather, there were plenty of exciting yet unexpected challenges.
Saturday’s practice got underway in cold and cloudy conditions that soon turned into light rain. The weather flipped conditions on the track from what riders experience in the dry. The usual slippery corners became grippy. The usual grippy rocks became slick. The fast-rolling sections required more effort to move forward. Perhaps the most treacherous were the few wooden sections that were slicker than an ice rink in Vladivostock. By midday, the light rain became a heavy downpour and the pace on track slowed as riders dealt with poor vision, wet kit and gusts.
Onto Sunday and calmer weather prevailed. The track had dried somewhat and although conditions were misty – the speeds were up as everyone sought race-pace. With weather impacting Saturday’s riding, the organizers made a smart move to add an hour to Sunday’s practice session – a decision that was well-received by the riders.
With Theo Erlangsen and Johann Potgieter away on World Cup duty, the anticipation bubbled around who would podium in the Elite Men’s race. Matt Lombardi proved too fast for the challengers and mastered the tricky conditions putting over 7-seconds into 2nd placed, Rico Steinfurth. A further 2-seconds adrift, Sam Court rounded out the Elite Men’s podium.
The experienced campaigner Frankie du Toit dominated the Elite Women’s race. Inside the age group categories, the fields were stacked (again!) with talent like Junior Men’s winner Xavi Gomes who finished second overall. There’s the 15-year-old Jake van Schoor who won the Youth Men race placing third overall. Junior Women’s winner Tricia Rossouw, Sprog Boys winner Peter Nelson, Junior Boys winner Luc Rossouw (and others) are all riding incredibly well and are names to keep an eye on, in the future. Here’s a recap of the weekend’s action as captured through the lens of Chris Taylor.
The effervescent Roxy Baynes has been working on her jumping skills – and it shows.Tricia Rossouw, doing the work and progressing up the overall ranks, one race at a time.27-year-old Hamish Dibden sights the landing on the way to the eBike class win.In the Vet Men’s category, Jaco Veldsman was unbeatable all weekend and took a convincing (15-second!) win. Waldo De Wet, chased the win in the 30 to 39 Sub-Vets category but was a single second short of it.Rico Steinfurth absorbs the landing and clinched an impressive second-place in Elite Men.All weekend there was a lot of shapes and stoke.14-year-old Dylan Wiggill has been racing bikes for more than half his life — and he loves it.Gerhard Hoepfner, is 15-years-old and fast. Very fast.A mechanical impacted his result but not his mojo – Pieter Rossouw, 3rd in the eBike category.15-year-old Anne Cramer threads the needle through the final rock garden.Joshua Ord, another talented Junior and name to watch in the future ended the day fourth in class.Christeleigh Bruwer returned to racing with a solid performance. With both her runs ending on the same second it seems she has found a consistent race pace to build from.Third place in the highly competitive Youth Men went to Lian De Jager. More mates and shapes.Good times.Chief whip of the committee Chris Nixon has a lot to deal with over these race weekends. Course marking, rider safety, changing schedules and the list goes on. Somehow, he still ends up on the Masters podium with a time that’s good enough for 13th overall.Finley Neil, 8-years-young and acing this drop that’s about three times his height on the way to the win in the Sprog Boys class. Garan Reck repped for the #WednesdayNightRideCrew and kept it tidy to place 3rd in the eBike class. I did some laps with 11-year-old Benjamin Nash on Thursday. He’s fast!Still building strength and speed after an injury earlier this year, what Zak Jones hasn’t lost is style.40-something Channette Bantjes placed 3rd in Master’s Woman.Son of Piet (who runs the shuttles on race weekend), brother of William (who is FAST!), this is 12-year-old Peter Nelson who also only knows one pace: flat out!Pholani Loots launching the drop, in the rain.Chris Wagner is the legend from Specialized HQ that spends a lot of time building and fixing trails all over the province. Thank you Mr Flowand congrats on the win!Warwick Davison drops in for fourth place in Sub Vet Men. Another Sunday, another win for Frankie du Toit.1st in Youth Men, 3rd overall, this is Jake Van Speed. Junior Men shredder Xavi Gomes engages full flight mode to take the win.Over 4-seconds faster than the rest, nobody matched Lombardi’s pace.
Stay tuned for the announcement of the final two rounds of the 2025 SRAM Western Cape DH Series, starting in October. Full results here //
