Results & Recap: Cape Pioneer, Stage 2
Du Preez and Goosen take the sprint
Stage 2 of the 2026 Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer, presented by Biogen, came down to a sprint finish on Wednesday. Toyota Specialized Imbuko’s Ignatius du Preez and Lood Goosen, who had been aggressive early in the day, won out with a pair of perfectly timed bike throws, holding off the race leaders, the Honeycomb 226ers. Efficient Infiniti Insure, who established a commanding advantage on the opening day, continued their UCI Women’s race dominance, adding a second stage victory and an additional 8 minutes and 21 seconds to their overall buffer.
The second day of the five-day stage race featured a 73-kilometre course, which started and finished at Louvain Guest Farm in the Langkloof. 1 000 metres of the stage’s 1 500 metres of climbing came within the first 25 kilometres; thereafter, it appeared easier on paper, but the sodden ground, from a wet winter, ensured that conditions under tyre were challenging throughout. “It was one of those days where you had to be on the pedals all day,” Marc Pritzen, of the race-leading Honeycomb 226ers team, explained.
The men in the yellow First Ascent leaders’ jerseys had to push the pedals in defence, where they had been on the offensive all day on Stage 1. On the first climb, just 3 kilometres into the course, Herman Fourie and Keegan Tullis put in a stinging attack. “We lost time with a mechanical yesterday so we had nothing to lose,” Fourie noted. “We went all in up Duiwelskop and managed to get a gap with [Toyota Specialized] Imbuko, but the others came back on the descent.”
Fourie, Tullis, Du Preez, and Goosen’s efforts on the opening climb gained them a 15-second advantage over Insect Science Safari Essence’s Jan Withaar and Wessel Botha, while Pritzen and Felix Stehli were another 5 seconds back with Arno du Toit, Keagan Bontekoning, Unathi Nxumalo and Thabiso Zindela. On the descent into the Klein Langkloof and on the rolling terrain that followed, a supergroup formed to include the Cape Vulture Nature Reserve, Toyota Specialized Imbuko, Honeycomb 226ers, Insect Science Safari Essence, Insect Science, Pump for Peace Abashovi, and Absolute Motion Kings of Neon teams. This pack of seven squads contested much of the following 50 kilometres together, with Andre van Rooyen and Tayne Rudling the pair to spend the most time yo-yoing off the back of the group.
It was only after the second water point, with 23 kilometres to go, that the attritional nature of the racing told on Fourie, Tullis, Nxumalo, Zindela, Van Rooyen, and Rudling. With that trio of teams distanced, it was clear that the top four general classification campaigners would be contesting a sprint finish of sorts. “The climb up to the finish line is pretty long, and it gets steeper towards the top, so it creates a pretty unique finish for South African mountain biking,” Du Preez stated.
“We knew that to beat Marc [Pritzen] and Felix [Stehli] that we’d have to go hard from the bottom,” Du Preez added. “I hated myself for that tactic by three-quarters of the way up, but I had to just keep pushing.” Pritzen had got the jump on the Toyota Specialized Imbuko and Insect Science Safari Essence teams, while Insect Science’s Du Toit and Bontekoning could not follow the final acceleration. The South African Marathon Champion rounded the final corner first, and cruised across the line, while behind him Stehli went shoulder to shoulder with Du Preez and Goosen.
Du Preez edged across the line a tenth of a second before Goosen and Stehli, as they threw their bikes forward to gain the final centimetres necessary to win the stage. After a review of the finish line footage, the UCI commissaires awarded the stage victory to Toyota Specialized Imbuko. The Honeycomb 226ers finished in the same time, in second, a single second ahead of Withaar and Botha. Du Toit and Bontekoning rolled in, 14 seconds later, in fourth. Cape Vulture Nature Reserve’s Fourie and Tullis then won the sprint for fifth, holding off Van Rooyen and Rudling, as well as Nxumalo and Zindela.
With just 1 second separating the top three general classification teams on the day, the overall standings hardly changed. Pritzen and Stehli now lead Insect Science Safari Essence by 8 minutes and 6 seconds, with Du Preez and Goosen 9 minutes and 52 seconds down. Insect Science are fourth, at 11:30, and Pump for Peace Abashovi’s Nxumalo and Zindela fifth.
Having cantered to victory on Stage 1, the Efficient Infiniti Insure team of Sanders and Maré went out to add to their advantage on Stage 2. “Yesterday gave me the confidence that we would be able to extend our lead today, without riding recklessly,” Maré said. “Being in a team with Sam [Samantha Sanders] and Vera [Looser] often means that I’m the spare teammate, so I have to make the most of the opportunities I get to race stage races with either of them. I feel the pressure to perform, but it’s also an opportunity.”
“Today we planned to conserve, when possible, because there are three more days to come, but also to take our chances to gain time,” Maré continued. “Chloé [Hopf] and Lilian [Baber] climbed with us to the summit of the first climb, and then we managed to get away on the more rolling roads. Once Sam got fully warmed up, she just kept ratcheting up the pace until I had to ask her to slow back down a bit. By the end we were pretty comfortable and could sit up in the final kilometre, when we had to climb towards the finish into a headwind.”
Behind the runaway leaders Chloé Hopf and Lilian Baber, of Hollard Summerplace Racing, were comfortably the next strongest team, for the second day in a row. They crossed the line 8 minutes and 21 seconds behind the day’s victors, Efficient Infiniti Insure. Vitally they added more time to their buffer over third.
The fight for third, in the UCI Women’s race, was more exciting than it had been on the opening day. After struggling with nausea on Stage 1, Bianca Botha was back to her best on Stage 2. “I’m really proud of Bianca [Botha],” her Cycle Nation Enza Construction teammate Rachel Seaman praised. “She had a terrible day yesterday, but was cleared to race by the doctor yesterday afternoon and was so strong today. It would have been easy for her to have withdrawn yesterday, but she pushed on and finished. Today we got the reward for that perseverance.”
Cycle Nation Enza Construction had started conservatively, before speeding up in the second half of the stage to catch the Safari Essence Titan Racing team of Roxanne Kemp and Danielle du Toit. “Shame, I think Roxy [Kemp] is really sick; she was vomiting during the stage,” Botha sympathised. “Once we caught them on the open roads, the route changed to really suit my strengths,” Seaman smiled. “I really enjoy the descents and flatter terrain, and could put power down to gain time on third.”
Safari Essence Titan Racing had to settle for fourth after another challenging day, but Du Toit and Kemp remain third overall. Ahead of them, Sanders and Maré’s advantage grew to 24 minutes and 54 seconds over Hopf and Baber. Du Toit and Kemp slipped to 59 minutes down, but still hold a 32-minute buffer over Seaman and Botha. Sadly, Luzaan Durand was forced to withdraw from the race during the stage, leaving Silke Bester as the lone Absolute Motion team member to finish. They are thus out of the running for the general classification standings.
Stage 3 could provide an opportunity for the standings to be shaken up, though more likely as a result of a puncture or a mechanical, rather than from the strength of any particular combination’s legs. The 92-kilometre trek from Louvain to Langenhoven Gimnasium, in Oudtshoorn, includes 1 400 metres of climbing with the start of the stage once again looking to be the most challenging. Ascending out of Louvain, over a foothill of the Kammanassie Mountains, the toughest climb of the day tops out just 11 kilometres into the piece. Undulating dual tracks, littered with rocks and river crossings, could derail even the best prepared with an untimely puncture. The stage could be one defined by psychological rather than physical stress.
Overall Standings
Elite Women
- Efficient Infinity Insure: Samantha Sanders & Sarah Maré (7:26:15)
- Hollard Summerplace Racing: Chloé Hopf & Lilian Baber (7:51:09 | +24:54)
- Safari Essence Titan Racing: Danielle du Toit & Roxanne Kemp (8:25:17 | +59:02)
- Cycle Nation Enza Construction: Rachel Seaman & Bianca Botha (8:57:46 | +01:31:31)
Elite Men
- Honeycomb 226ers: Marc Pritzen & Felix Stehli (5:50:43)
- Insect Science Safari Essence: Jan Withaar & Wessel Botha (5:58:49 | +8:06)
- Toyota Specialized Imbuko: Ignatius du Perez & Lood Goosen (6:00:35 | +9:52)
- Insect Science: Arno du Toit & Keagan Bontekoning (6:02:13 | +11:30)
- Pump for Peace Abashovi: Unathi Nxumalo & Thabiso Zindela (6:04:46 | +14:03)
| Full results here | Images: Oakpics |