Race Preview: 2025 Ride Joburg Pro Race
Tour de France Femme Yellow Jersey holder Kim Le Court headlines the R200K Ride Joburg showdown
Southern Africa’s top road racers will take to the streets of Johannesburg on Sunday, 26 October, for the 28th edition of Ride Joburg. They will compete across the same 97-kilometre course as thousands of avid amateur and social cyclists riding for personal bests and to enjoy a day dedicated to cycling the City of Gold. For the elite men and women looking to follow in the pedal strokes of cyclists of the calibre of Malcolm Lange, Daryl Impey, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, and Marianne Vos, there is a R200 000 prize for the men’s and women’s winners, too. Motivation levels are understandably high. So high, in fact, that Tour de France Femmes star, Kim le Court, headlines a field packed with talent from diverse worlds of road, gravel, and even mountain biking.
Le Court’s 2025 season highlights include a stage victory and four days in yellow at the Tour de France Femmes and victory in Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes. In achieving these feats, she became the first African woman to wear yellow at cycling’s most famous race and the first African rider to win one of cycling’s five ‘Monument’ one-day races. Alongside the Mauritian champion is a powerhouse lineup of formidable women. They include 2022 Ride Joburg champion Vera Looser, multiple-time South African Cross-Country Mountain Bike Champion Candice Lill, 2025 Mzansi National Road Series leader Lisa Bone, as well as the defending champion S’annara Grove. Grove won the 27th edition in a sprint against Looser and Hayley Preen, and went on to prove at the 2025 South African Road Championships that she has the sprint to beat anyone from a reduced group. The challenging route, which features 1 400 metres of climbing over its 97-kilometre distance, at altitude in the Highveld, produces a worthy winner, be it from a small group sprint or a solo attack.
The defending champion is aware that she is among a second tier of favourites for the 2025 race, behind Le Court. “Winning Ride Joburg would be a great way to wrap up the season,” Grove smiled. “I haven’t actually raced against Kim [le Court] in South Africa for a long time, but I’m sure her experience in Europe has taken her riding to another level. For sure, it’s motivating to line up against her! She’s competing and winning at the top level of the sport, and she won’t be easy to beat. But I’m always happy to have more strong riders in the race. It gives the other women someone else to focus on and makes the racing harder.”
“Someone that strong [like Le Court] will have a big influence on how the race plays out,” Grove explained. “If I’m there at the finish, I have some confidence I can take the win. A long drag sprint is something I definitely like. But, whether I’m there to contest the win will depend on how hard the climbs are raced and, of course, things like bad luck. I’ve been taken out of the running by a puncture on Jan Smuts before. We could see the race coming to a reduced bunch sprint, or things could be shaken down further, as it has a few times in the past.”
Le Court, for her part, is excited to race back on her adopted home soil and secure her first Ride Joburg crown. “Originally, I had no plans to race,” the Tour de France Femmes stage winner noted. “But since I’ll be flying to Mauritius from Johannesburg the day after Ride Joburg, it felt like a great opportunity to stop over, reconnect with friends, and enjoy the event. Turning it into a fun weekend made sense, and of course, why not try to take the win?”
“I’m not really focused on anyone in particular,” Le Court said. “I’ll just race my own race. My goal is to make it hard, have fun, and see what happens. I’m not a pure sprinter anymore, which can make things difficult if it comes down to a bunch finish, but hopefully the race is tough enough to play to my strengths.”
“For me, it’s about reconnecting with familiar faces and enjoying the atmosphere,” she said when asked what she is looking forward to most about race day. “I haven’t raced Ride Joburg in a few years, so the route itself isn’t fresh in my mind, but it’s always been an event I enjoy. Showing up, supporting the race, and soaking up the gees is important to me.”
An alliance of sorts between Le Court and her long-time friend, Lill, could lend unofficial support to the favourite’s plan of making the race hard. The mountain biker is a former South African time trial champion on the road and would also prefer if the race did not come down to a sprint finish. Grove, meanwhile, will find an ally in Looser, who also excels in a sprint from a small group. Bone brings excellent form and recent experience winning in South African conditions into the event, unlike the other big favourites who have been racing aboard or off-road. Under-23 South African Road Champion, Rachel Seaman, and Kelsey van Schoor are among a third tier of favourites looking to increase their already burgeoning reputations with a career-defining Ride Joburg victory.
In the men’s race, four former champions headline a stacked field of powerful contenders. Two-time Ride Joburg winner, Marc Pritzen, will be backed by the collective strength of his Honeycomb 226ers team, while Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and his Tshenolo Pro Cycling squad are equally poised to challenge for top honours. Gustav Basson is seeking to join Pritzen and Janse van Rensburg on two victories, though he could as easily be joined on a single win by Tyler Lange, Kent Main, or Chris Jooste if the race plays out according to one of those three’s strengths.
Defending champion, Ryan Gibbons, recently announced that this season will be his last in the WorldTour with the Lidl Trek team. His class and desire to cap his already successful professional career with a final marquee trophy make him a dangerous prospect for Pritzen, Janse van Rensburg, and Co. At the other end of the age and experience category are a quartet of young mountain bikers with fast finishes. Jaedon Terlouw has already illustrated that he is capable of winning Ride Joburg by finishing third in the 2024 edition. His and his team, PYGA Euro Steel’s, usual off-road focus will be turned to the road with Phillip Buys piloting Terlouw, against the superior manpower of Wessel Botha, Jaco van Dyk, Casper Kruger, and Felix Stehli of the Honeycomb 226ers squad. Luke Moir, Massimiliano Ambrosi, and Luca Ruwiel could attack the 97-kilometre road race like it is a short-track cross-country blitz. Much like in the women’s race, where Le Court and Lill may make an unofficial alliance, the mountain bikers in the men’s race could find themselves working together if the racing situation allows it. More: ridejoburg.co.za //