#12: Back At It After the Winter Lull

In Episode 12 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast is back after an extended winter break. The mountain biking action has continued through the depths of winter, with the Ford Trailseeker series. On the 1st of August, the racing truly resumed in earnest, though with the Glacier Storms River Traverse, followed by the Trans Baviaans, and the SPAR Swiss Epic over the subsequent 17 days. In this episode, we’ll look back at August’s racing thus far and feature interviews from the 2025 Trans Baviaans winners. In June, Marco Joubert punctured at the Bosveld leg of the Trailseeker series, losing out on contesting for victory and thereby falling out of contention for a Million Rand performance bonus. With his perfect streak over, Imbuko ChemChamp skipped the Van Gaalen race in July, where Marc Pritzen emerged victorious. The final event of the 2025 series takes place in Wellington on the 13th of September and should see a stacked field of South African talent on the start line. Also in July, Klimatiza Orbea won their first Epic Series event at the Andorra Epic, where Marc Stutzmann and Sebastian Gesche claimed victory over Singer KTM’s Simon Stiebjahn and Martin Frey. In the UCI Women’s race, Buff Megamo dominated, winning three of the four stages en route to victory. More recently, the Storms River Traverse mixed socialriding and competitive racing for three days in the Tsitsikamma forests. As ever, there was mud to be avoided and water points that lured riders into remaining for far too long. Travis Rademan-Ludeke and Jordan Boshoff were the speediest of the racers, winning the men’s team event, while Sarah Hill and Steph Wohlters tested their Cape Pioneer partnership in Storms River.  The following weekend, the Trans Baviaans saw Hill on thestart line again, returning to the Baviaanskloof for the first time since 2019. She was able to win the 2025 title alongside Stacey Paul and Ricci-Lee Brookstone, but they could not challenge Hill’s own course record, which she set with Theresa Ralph in 2018. Insect Science did, however, better their own record, which Arno du Toit and Keagan Bontekoning had set in 2024. Racing aboard gravel bikes, with 2.3-inch mountain bike tyres, they took 3:44 off the previous best. A busy three weeks of non-stop action wrapped up in Davoson Sunday, 17 August, when the twelfth Swiss Epic reached its conclusion. For Southern African fans, the success of Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda was the highlight of the race. The Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM team won four of the five stages and the overall title. In the men’s race, Swiss XCM Champion Casey South won his first Swiss Epic title and helped Fabian Rabensteiner join Lukas Flückiger on three victories after two stage wins and a mature management of the racing situation.To read more about the news covered in this episode by Diverge.info:Sondela Shakes Up the Series as Ford Trailseeker Enters Final StretchPritzen and Jacobs Top the Podium at Ford Trailseeker Van GaalenBuff Megamo and Klimatiza Orbea Wrap Up the 2025 Andorra Epic TitlesAnniversaries Aplenty at the Glacier Storms River TraverseInsect Science Better Their Own Trans Baviaans Field Course RecordCelebrations on the Final Stage of the SPAR Swiss Epic Follow Diverge on social media: @diverge.info on Instagram, Diverge on Facebook, @Diverge_info on X, and Diverge on YouTube. And subscribe on Spotify.