Double Century: Road Warriors Chalk Up Stunning Victory

Having assembled a super team, the Road Warriors team flew through the first 115 kilometres of the 202-kilometre Old Mutual Wealth Double Century course to lay the foundations for the victory. Ryan Gibbons, Sascha Weber, Lukas Baum, Gustav Basson, Stefan de Bod, Willie Smit, and Callum Ormiston brought the winners home on Saturday, 22 November 2025, in a time just 27 seconds slower than the course record. They were joined atop the podium by the Chalk Air WC CMC women’s team, the ChemChamp Pro-Mixed squad, and the winners of the coveted Kings of the Atlantic Seaboard title, La Perla Classic.

“Our plan was to win,” Gibbons laughed. “We didn’t really have a detailed plan, but we knew that the first leg to Ashton, being the longest of the race, was where we could make up the most time. And fortunately, that’s what we were able to do. I think we were nearly ten minutes up on the course record at the 115-kilometre mark.”

Ryan Gibbons was one of the final seven, who secured the Road Warriors their 2025 Old Mutual Wealth Double Century title. Photo by Kevin Sawyer.

From Ashton to the finish line in Swellendam, the defending champions RH77 Factory fought back but could only reduce the Road Warriors’ initial advantage from 4 minutes and 22 seconds to 2 minutes and 55 seconds. “To be honest, they are a phenomenal bunch of riders,” Christøff Van Heerden noted. “It would have taken a hell of a ride to beat The Road Warriors. We went 6 minutes faster than our winning time last year, in tougher conditions. So, the best team definitely won.”

The RH77 Factory team came up short in their title defence. Photo by Volume Photography / Tobias Ginsberg.

Along with Gibbons, Weber, Baum, Basson, De Bod, Smit, and Ormiston, the other members of the Road Warrior squad were Travis Stedman, Jose Kleinsmit, Jaco Venter, Kent Main, and Blaine Kieck. “Everyone played massive roles today,” Gibbons praised. “I was quite worried when we were shelling riders on Tradouw Pass, already, but all of those riders came back in the Team Support Zones and did ‘death pulls’ before dropping for good to launch us to victory.”

The 226ers completed the men’s podium, alongside the Road Warriors and RH77 Factory. ASAP CYCLING and Stars Racing were fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Chalk Air WC CMC team lead throughout the race, and saw off the late charge of the defending champions to secure the 2025 victory. Photo by Kevin Sawyer.

In the women’s race, Chalk Air WC CMC also used the climbs in the first stage of the race to establish what proved to be an unassailable lead. “Our strategy had been to go out hard on the climbs and then regroup in the first Team Support Zone,” Chalk Air WC CMC team spokeswoman, Liesel Prentis, said. “The final part of the race was so hard! But we all have our personal reasons for riding and racing, so we all had reasons to dig deep.”

Having built a 1-minute and 53-second buffer over the double defending champions, Prentis and her teammates could not afford to rest on their laurels over the final 87 kilometres. Nana Cycling Club had been just 52 seconds down at Ashton, but faded to 2 minutes back by Bonnievale. “We were rolling with six riders from Tradouw Pass,” Ashleigh Irvine-Smith stated. “Fortunately, one of the other six was able to stick with us after Ashton, but then one of the original six dropped off. It was a long, hard day.”

Having been down to the minimum of six riders required to post times the Nana Cycling Club team faded through the final 40 kilometres, despite Chloe Bishop’s best efforts. Photo by Kevin Sawyer.

Nana Cycling Club faded from second to third over the final 40 kilometres as ASAP Ladies finished strong, but not strong enough to reel in the Chalk Air WC CMC team. Victory in the 2025 Old Mutual Wealth Double Century is the club’s first in the event and caps a remarkable ride by Jani Jordaan, Lelani Swart, Melissa Hinz, Angenita Potgieter, Erika Potgieter, Liesel Prentis, Jenna Borrill, Bronwyn Timm, Tandi Kitching, Nina van der Berg, Ina Midgley, and Storm Middleton.

In the mixed category race, the defending champions, ChemChamp Pro-Mixed, led from start to finish. Even four punctures for their strongest rider on paper, Tristan Nortje, could not prevent the squad from racing to a dominant victory.

ChemChamp supported a social and racing mixed team, as well as a racing women’s team who finished the day in fourth. Photo by Kevin Sawyer.

The hotly contested, on social media in particular, crown of Kings of the Atlantic Seaboard was claimed by the La Perla Classic squad. Their victory will undoubtedly be viewed as slightly controversial by their rivals, East City Cycles and Pure Savage, due to the presence of Jasper Stuyven and Nico Roche in the La Perla Classic squad. The Belgian classics specialist and the former Irish professional turned age-group Gravel World Champion put in big turns, without which their 48-second winning margin would not have been possible.

Banter rumbling on into 2026 is arguably the best outcome for the race within a race, which began as a joke and concluded in 2025 with La Perala Classic being anointed with inflatable crowns on the podium.

Having assembled a super squad, the Road Warriors came within 27 seconds of the course record, which has stood since 2017. Photo by Volume Photography / Tobias Ginsberg.

2025 Old Mutual Wealth Double Century Results

Men’s Teams:

Road Warriors (4:30:39)
RH77 Factory (4:33:34 | +2:55)
226ers (4:57:02 | +26:23)
ASAP CYCLING (5:00:54 | +30:15)
Stars Racing (5:03:23 | +32:44)

The Chalk Air WC CMC squad established an early lead which they never surrendered in the women’s category. Photo by Volume Photography / Tobias Ginsberg.

Women’s Teams:

Chalk Air WC CMC (6:04:06)
ASAP Ladies (6:05:34 | +1:28)
Nana Cycling Club (6:10:47 | +6:41)
ChemChamp Ladies4CANSA (6:24:50 | +20:44)
Tiletoria (6:52:19 | +48:13)

La Perla Classic will take their Kings of the Atlantic Seaboard crowns back to Cape Town to lord over East City Cycles and Pure Savage for a full 12 months, until the 2026 Old Mutual Wealth Double Century. Photo by Volume Photography / Tobias Ginsberg.

Kings of the Atlantic Seaboard: