Thursday, 23 January, 2025
Canetsfontein Wine Estate
Set in the mighty Hawequa mountains surrounding the Western Cape town of Wellington, The Imbuko Big 5 in partnership with Canetsfontein is a mountain bike marathon that challenges riders like no other with 3000m of elevation gain across the technical 80 km course.
The climbs are gruelling yet they reward you with descents that are beyond spectacular. This is World Class mountain bike racing unlike you’ll find anywhere else in South Africa, as confirmed by comments from the visiting international riders. “The downhills are amazing, it is one of the nicest marathon races that I’ve ever ridden.” said Filipo Colombo of Scott-SRAM MTB Racing while Cannondale Factory Racing’s Mona Mitterwallner echoed, “I think it was one of the coolest marathons I have done.”
The 2024 event attracted a talented field of riders from across the globe including the likes of Mona Mitterwallner, Alan Hatherly, Andri Frischknecht, Candice Lill, Filippo Colombo, and riders of the Bulls Bikes Team along with a strong showing of local pros of which the Imbuko Pro Cycling boys were certainly favourites for a good result at their home race. The stage was set. The big question now was, who would come out on top?