The third round of the 2026 Ford Trailseeker Series saw a first-time winner and a new leader in the overall standings, as Ignatius du Preez and Samantha Sanders claimed the Van Gaalen victories on Saturday, 6 June. Du Preez required fortune to smile upon him twice, including a finish line crash with Jan Withaar to claim his maiden title. While Samantha Sanders avoided any drama with a commanding conquest of the elite women’s race, leapfrogging from sixth to first on the general classification standings as a result.
A classic Highveld winter’s day, where crisp temperatures and blue skies provided a stunning backdrop, welcomed the Ford Trailseeker Series participants to Van Gaalen, in Hartbeespoort. The Cheese Farm’s fabled trails were muddy in places, but it was not the conditions under-wheel that served as the source of the excitement. Though the front-loaded course, which featured the vast majority of the 1 200 metres of climbing within the first 45 kilometres of the 67.7-kilometre route, certainly played its part.
Marc Pritzen (leading) and Jaedon Terlouw were the early leaders, but ceded their advantage with a wrong turn 40 kilometres into the course. Photo by Michael Nieuwoudt.
“The profile didn’t lie!” Jan Withaar puffed in his post-race interview. “The first half of the route was exceptionally tough, and I was wishing for many a hill to come to an end there.”
That mountainous first half allowed the form riders, Marc Pritzen and Jaedon Terlouw, to establish an early lead. Within the first 10 kilometres, the pair, who went into the Van Gaalen leg of the series in first and second on the overall log, had a 30-second buffer on Withaar, Ignatius du Preez, and Philip Buys. With a Toyota Specialized Imbuko teammate up the road, Du Preez was leaving the chasing to Withaar and Buys.
“With Jadeon [Terlouw] ahead, I didn’t want to be chasing down a teammate, so I sat on,” Du Preez explained. 40 kilometres into the Marathon course, a split indicating one way for the 45-kilometre Half-Marathon riders and the other for the long-course racers proved decisive. Pritzen and Terlouw took the wrong turn and, in so doing, lost their lead.
Ignatius du Preez ensured the final hour was exceptionally tough as he, Philip Buys, and Jan Withaar battled for victory. Photo by Michael Nieuwoudt.
“You don’t want to win like that, but at least one of us [from the Toyota Specialized Imbuko team] could win the race,” Du Preez allowed. Though there was lots of racing to do for Du Preez, Withaar, and Buys when they inherited the lead with 27 kilometres to go.
“It feels a bit silly to race so hard for victory when circumstances have played out like that,” Withaar noted. “But we’re racers, and you have to go all-out. Which is what we did. Inus and I took turns driving the pace, and then in the last singletrack, I saw Phil [Buys] was slipping back slightly. I thought he was playing games and would take a flier on the gravel road, but when he kept losing seconds, I realised he wasn’t bluffing.”
Ignatius du Preez (left) and Jan Withaar (right) slid into the barriers rounding the final bend, before Du Preez rose first to win his first Ford Trailseeker Series race. Photo by Dom Barnardt.
“Coming into the finish, Inus left a little gap, and if you don’t go for the gap you’re no longer racing,” Withaar said of the finish line crash. Du Preez led around the last corner, but carrying too much speed, he slid across into the barriers. Withaar followed Du Preez into the Ford branding, and the pair went down in a tangle of limbs and bikes.
Having fallen on top of Withaar, Du Preez was able to untangle himself first and limp across the line. Withaar rose to finish second, just 16 seconds before Buys completed the podium places.
Samantha Sanders’ race to victory, in the elite women’s category, was serene. “It was fast from the off today,” Sarah Maré revealed. “Sam [Sanders] went out hard, and though we stuck together for a bit, she dropped me pretty early, and from there it was a solo time trial to the finish.”
Samantha Sanders’s victory at Van Gaalen was built on a nearly 60-kilometre solo raid. Photo by Arnon George van der Spuy.
“It was mentally tough,” Sanders confirmed. “With the climbing in the first half of the route, I knew I had to get a gap early, but then I ended up solo for a long time. Fortunately, I’m pretty experienced so I was able to keep my tempo high and bring it home.”
Sanders victory is her first of the season in the Ford Trailseeker Series and comes off the back of a strong second-place finish in the Cradle round and a win on her gravel bike at the King Price Race to the Sun. Maré finished the Van Gaalen round in second. Our sponsors put so much into the sport and support us tremendously,” Sanders thanked. “Any results we can achieve are a nice thank you to them, and today is pretty special for the Efficient Infiniti Insure team with Sarah [Maré] and me securing a one-two result.”
Roxanne Kemp (leading) and Tania Bugarin Ortiz were inseparable throughout the Van Gaalen leg of the Ford Trailseeker Series, including while taking a wrong turn. Photo by Arnon George van der Spuy.
Behind the dominant Efficient Infiniti Insure riders, the final spot on the podium was determined by the Cycling South Africa commissaire. Tania Bugarin Ortiz and Roxanne Kemp had spent the entire race fighting each other for supremacy on the trail, and Bugarin Ortiz eventually prevailed by just 6 seconds. Unfortunately, both she and Kemp, it transpired, had missed a marker and inadvertently taken a shortcut.
Bugarin Ortiz and Kemp’s transgression saw them receive a 10-minute time penalty, which promoted Lilian Baber into the top three. The Summerplace racer thus joined Sanders and Maré on the Van Gaalen podium.
Samantha Sanders now leads the 2026 Ford Trailseeker Series with three races to go. The next event takes place in Sondela Private Game Reserve on the 27th of June. Photo by Michael Nieuwoudt.
The ongoing battle for the R100 000 grand prize continues at Sondela on the 27th of June. With a significant end-of-season bonus on the line, the remaining Ford Trailseeker Series races are sure be fiercely contested in the coming months. “R100 000 will cover racing expenses for half a season,” Maré pointed out. “It could mean going to a real bucket list race next year, which honestly would be life-changing.”
All eyes will be on the trails through the Limpopo bushveld in three weeks. In the meantime, mountain biking fans can relive the highlights and the drama of the Van Gaalen leg of the Ford Trailseeker Series by following @trailseekerseriesmtb on Instagram, liking the Ford Trailseeker MTB Series Facebook page, and subscribing to the Ford Trailseeker Series YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.trailseeker.co.za.
Van Gaalen champion, Ignatius du Preez. Photo by Michael Nieuwoudt.
Ford Trailseeker Series Van Gaalen
Elite Men’s Results:
- Ignatius du Preez: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (2:29:06)
- Jan Withaar: Insect Science (2:29:12 | +6)
- Philip Buys: Ford Prime Bunch (2:29:28 | +22)
A stacked elite women’s field was comprehensively beaten by Samatha Sanders with an early, definitive attack. Photo by Arnon George van der Spuy.
Elite Women’s Results:
- Samantha Sanders: Efficient Infiniti Insure (2:55:00)
- Sarah Maré: Efficient Infiniti Insure (3:00:12 | +5:12)
- Lilian Baber: Summerplace (3:12:02 | +17:02)
For the full results from the Van Gaalen leg of the Ford Trailseeker Series, please click here.
Using all her experience, Samantha Sanders was able to judge her efforts to perfection and win by 5 minutes and 12 seconds over her teammate, Sarah Maré. Photo by Arnon George van der Spuy.
