Photo Epic: Witfontein Enduro | SA EDR Cup, Rd 2
One giant leap for South African Enduro racing.
Not quite your average race, the renowned Witfontein Enduro provided a weekend of unique trails and challenges, with new stages, unfamiliar terrain and even a railway shuttle. Riders headed to George in the Western Cape to find out exactly what the event had in store for them. On trend with previous years, the race provided as expected and perhaps a little more…
The race has gained a reputation as one of the best, most challenging and most anticipated Enduro races on the annual calendar. This year, Chris Barrett and his team took it up a notch, putting together a massive day in the Outeniqua mountains. Being Round Two of the South African National Enduro Cup Series, as well as the venue for next year’s 2027 South African Enduro Championships, racers and competitors from all over the country were keen to get tires to dirt in this renowned location.
“I had very high expectations coming into the event as this is by far my favourite enduro race (and venue!) on our local calendar, and the event exceeded every expectation!” – Frankie Du Toit, Unbound MTB.
“I would place the race on-par with the World Cups that I rode in 2025 in terms of technicality and physicality. The total race time is still a little on the shorter side relative to most World Cups but the climbing demands and technicality of the Stages was right up there.” – Jason Boulle, Trek Bikes SA.
For it’s 6th official running, the main difference from previous years was the addition of two new stages beginning at the top of the Old Craddock pass and following the pass itself down into the valley below. Riders would start their race day with a shuttle from the race village at the botanical gardens, to the top of the Montagu pass, driven by PowerVan George along the now 112-year-old railway line. Then everyone would disembark from the train, and collect their bikes from a separate vehicle, before hiking another 30-odd minutes up into the saddle. After stages 1 and 2, riders would traverse back to the nature reserve, where four, more familiar and shorter stages would lead competitors back to the race village.
These two new stages were the talk of the weekend. Beginning at almost 1000m elevation, and descending nearly 800m combined, both stages offered over four minutes a piece of fast, rocky, washed out and unforgiving track, which claimed many riders and bikes throughout the week. Unpredictable and seemingly endless patches of loose rocks and boulders combined with short climbs and fast, blind sections of trail, meant the riders would experience more in the first two stages, than most do in a weekend of riding.
“As well as the stages themselves being quite raw hiking trails that may be fun to just ride, but unforgiving to race. Evident by the amount of mechanicals and crashes on those stages.” – Matt Lombardi, Unbound MTB
Onto race day, the shuttle process and batched start times meant riders had to be ready to go from as early as 5am, in order to prep their bikes for the shuttle, get them loaded, listen to the briefing, and hop onto the PowerVan train. With the train departing on the hour from 6, 7, 8 and 9am, it was early doors for those eager to get stuck in first.
We asked Keira Duncan what his least favorite part of the track was. “Hard to answer that… Probably the fact that we went into the most extreme stage first.”
After a shuttle related delay, the first riders began to drop in to SS1. Soon one thing became clear, which was the boisterous pace seen in some of the younger categories. Making their intentions (and lack of self-preservation) crystal clear, charging horns forward, the youngsters put on some frighteningly fast, and downright risky displays within a few seconds of setting off.
Not to be tamed, the boulders and slabs of SS1 did bite back in several cases, with more than a few riders experiencing crashes, mechanicals and other mishaps. Amongst other things, it also became evident that racing this style of trail was something that very few riders had experience doing, never mind preparing for. Proving tricky for even the very best, there was no doubt in the level of challenge that the stage provided.
“I made the error of walking down the track on Stage 1 (the uber gnarly one) to watch some juniors (who have no regard for life or limb) get through the first technical section. The juniors were riding very very fast, and that made me adjust my approach from conservative to ‘full gas and see what happens’. My first spectacular over-the-bars crash came 200m into the Stage.” – Jason Boulle.
“Stage 1 wasn’t meant to be so hectic, we spent about 3 weeks & almost R15 000 with two labourers trying to fix up that trail and make it smooth. Not just trimming bush & drainage, but mostly packing rocks, then motorbikes would just come and spin them out..” – Chris Barrett.
Reigning champion Keira Duncan flew down the river of boulders at a blistering pace, taking the stage win ahead of Luca Zietsman and Matt Lombardi. Youth category rider Camryn Marais took an impressive fourth place overall, with The Bike Guru himself, Luke Dinkel just behind in fifth.
After Stage 1 had rattled everyone awake, riders made a short hop across the railway line, before dropping into Stage 2. Not as daunting as Stage 1, but no shorter, with it’s own fair share of rocks, high speed sections, plus some leg burner sprints for good measure. Jason Boulle put his international experience and strong legs to good use, taking the stage win ahead of Duncan, and Junior Men rider Justin Deyzel. Matt Lombardi managed fourth with a mechanical, and Marc Fourie rounded out the overall top five.
“I didn’t really know what to expect since I had never raced there before, but I knew it was it going to be hard, and holy smokes it was indeed hard.” – Arielle Behr.
“I started in the late train, at the back of the field and had a great stage 1. That all changed on stage 2 where I blew up my tyre, finished the stage on an insert luckily, bent the rim straight, put a tube in and carried on with 30psi in the back.” – Matt Lombardi.
After the combined behemoth-esque challenge of Stages 1 and 2, riders recovered (or repaired) at a small stream and began to hike out of, and descend into, two separate ravines on their way back toward the more familiar hills & trails used in previous years, on their way up to Stage 3 and 4.
Stage 3, a combination of trails named Toffiewolf and Loamstar, carried riders through some tricky rock sections and loamy turns, over relatively flat terrain before a rocky chute and fast run to the finish. The stage was a physical push from start to end, with some easy mistakes to be made on the tight cambers, rocks and powdery surface. First place on the stage went to Keira Duncan, with Boulle in second, narrowly ahead of Lombardi. KZN young gun Troy Cole took fourth, just 0.3 ahead of Luke Dinkel in fifth.
Stage 4, the flat-out fan favourite comprised of big rock slabs, jumps, berms and some old, classic sections, gave riders a few smiles under the helmet and enjoyment from top to bottom. The bigger doubles in the middle of the stage plus the large rock slab above the bottom contour, also attracted a couple of spectators throughout the day. The top three of Duncan, Boulle, and Lombardi remained unchanged from SS3, while Dinkel grabbed fourth ahead of Jan ‘Bof’ Vreken in fifth.
By this point in the race, most riders were beginning to show signs of strain. Those who had made it to that point without crashes or mechanicals were few. As for the remaining candidates, there were still two proper stages to complete, not to mention the increasingly hot & humid early afternoon conditions. Facing a combination of the infamous trails ‘Fart squirrel’ and ‘ACDC’ for stage 5, riders pressed on and traversed toward the last two stages.
“Favourite part is getting to those last two stages, pretty exhausted and seeing everyone else is in the same boat. The enduro spirit is usually quite high at that point. Then still finding the will power to push yourself hard against the trails and the clock when the body says no.” – Matt Lombardi.
Due to recent forestry, the ending of stage 5 had been re-routed with a fresh cut snake of loam, adding another challenge to the stage. Further up, the notorious rock chutes and slabs demanded a lot from riders physically, particularly the upper body, as big compressions, g-outs and hard braking tested rider’s capabilities. Especially after four hours and four stages of riding. Duncan again claimed victory, with Lombardi second, Boulle third, Dinkel and Deyzel making up the rest of the top five.
“Definitely comparable to international level Enduro racing. Long hours on the mountain, big transitions, physical stages with decent gravity and well organized.” – Keira Duncan.
R: Gerhard Hoepfner on his way to an impressive eighth overall.
Stage 6, Cornerstone DH, had also been freshened up since it’s first running last year, courtesy of some dedicated locals and their shovels. The short, loamy blast with no shortage of features, has been thoroughly enjoyed by almost everyone, and seemed the best trail to end a long day’s riding on.
Duncan took another step toward the race victory winning stage 6 with a 10-second margin. Sub-Vet Marc Fourie took second on the stage, his best effort of the day, ahead of Deyzel, Lombardi, and Joshua Ord, in that order. Elite woman Frankie Du Toit rounded off her day with a hot lap down SS6 and placed 9th overall on the stage, a fair margin ahead of second place woman, Arielle Behr.
“I really love that the organisers didn’t shy away from putting in really techy sections – all too often in local races we see trails dumbed down for the ‘safety of the riders’ which unfortunately means the standard of riding in South Africa is not being lifted. You really have to be on your A-game for this race and it pushes both body and bike and forces you as a rider to get better – I love it!” – Frankie Du Toit
After a few long, hot, and testing hours in the mountains, riders cruised back to the botanical gardens once they had completed SS6. One by one, riders arrived back to hand in their timing tags, grab something to drink and eat, and in most cases, lay down in the grass and shade for a little while. The battles of the day were reflected in rider’s facial expressions and body language, although stoked and relieved, there was no doubt that this year had pushed most riders to and beyond the border of their capability as racers.
Once all riders were accounted for, it was time for prize giving. Thanks to great sponsors such as Ruwacon, Leatt, RideLife Bike Shop, Giant, G2G Pro, & Ace Auto Parts, riders were treated to some merch and other cool prizes, with podium finishers even receiving re-reimbursement in the form of prize money, thanks to a cool R10k prize purse courtesy of Ruwacon. It’s not often that gravity racers in SA are rewarded financially, and it was awesome to see.
In The eBike class, Tuscan Hayward took a dominant win over Nicholas Van Zyl and Chris Botma. The eBike women again saw the familiar battle of Baynes and Burton at the forefront. Despite Amy taking the power stage win, and getting very close on Stages 3 & 6, Roxy ended up taking her class win on the day, after more than half an hour of total racing time.
The Youth Men’s class again saw several great displays from it’s young field of riders. Four of the top 15 overall were no older than 16 years of age, a testament to the increasing caliber of young gravity racers in the country these days. Gerhard Hopefner took the class win, and an impressive eighth overall, with Flow Factory’s Lian De Jager trailing closely behind in second. Third in class went to Luke Stafford, and in the youth Women it was Leah Mitchell who beat Lillian Bruwer to the win.
In the Junior Men’s class it was a similar story of fast youth’s, with Justin Deyzel taking the win in class and fifth overall. Second in class was Jan Vreken who finished sixth overall, and third place Junior Joshua Ord managed a top 10 overall.
Finally, onto Elites and the top 3 looked very similar to round one at Giba. Current National Champion Keira Duncan took his first national win of the season, ahead of Matt Lombardi in second and Jason Boulle in third overall, less than 5 seconds (or roughly 0.4%) slower than Lombardi. In the Women’s field, Julia Kotze and Arielle Behr finished third and second to the efforts of Frankie Du Toit, which saw her take the class win, and 20th overall in another dominant display of riding.
“My race went considerably well. It was a tough day out but I managed to keep it together aside from a mechanical issue on stage 2. The event was well organized, the route was excellent and great vibes all round. The route was definitely a bit more challenging than I was expecting but I think the challenge was appropriate and I’m stoked to see how many people realized what they are actually capable of.” – Keira Duncan, PYGA Bikes.
“My day went pretty much as well as it could have gone so I finished the day very happy – albeit absolutely blown! Around six hours out on the bike with several very physically demanding stages and lots of climbing to get to them took it’s toll.” – Frankie Du Toit, Unbound MTB
“My race went well, I’m happy with the fact that I finished the race, kept all my runs super slow but super consistent with minimal hold-ups so I’d call that a decent race for myself.” – Arielle Behr.
“What Chris is doing for the Enduro and Trail scene in George is massive and just want to share kudos with him and his team for continuous improvement of the race day. I think we can have 2 per year.” – Matt Lombardi.
All in all, the Witfontein enduro again set the benchmark for other national Enduro events, providing a day full of quality trails, big descents, and challenging racing, comparable to the level seen at overseas events. A huge thank you to Chris and his small, incredibly dedicated team for spending countless days and nights putting on yet another great race, pushing the boundaries of the local race scene to expand beyond it’s current standards. Without the hard work of a select few individuals, as well as passionate & supportive sponsors in the form of Ruwacon, Leatt, RideLife Bike Shop, Giant, G2G Pro and Ace Auto Parts, plus the trail building wizards at Hillbillies MTB, this fantastic & legendary race could not go ahead. The efforts & support of everyone involved do not go unrecognized, cheers! The Witfontein Enduro will be back next year for 2027 SA Enduro Championships, check you there!
“We got it done, I had about 1.5 hours of sleep, but we made it happen!” – Chris Barrett. //
| WORDS: Jordan de Goede | IMAGES: Hugo Du Plessis and Leslie Boulle |