The 2026 Garden Route Giro was praised as a stellar first edition. A gravel stage race where the racing thrilled, and every rider was treated to six days of ever-changing scenery, proper gravel, and the terrain upon which to write their narratives. To build a tale of adventure and endurance, of personal highs, moments of [...]
The final stage of the inaugural Garden Route Giro saw the overnight leaders stretch their legs and exert their dominance on the event one last time on Saturday, 18 April. Mariëlle Trouwborst and Cronje Beukes both used their climbing prowess to ascend into early leads. Both the women’s and men’s champions raced to commanding Stage [...]
The Queen Stage of the Garden Route Giro on Friday, 17 April, saw 127 kilometres of close racing in the men’s competition. In the elite women’s race, Mariëlle Trouwborst surged away solo but almost fell short when a puncture slowed her progress in the final 37 kilometres. Behind the battle for stage victory, second in [...]
The northern route up Swartberg Pass from Prince Albert, where Stage 4 of the Garden Route Giro started, is steeper in places than the southern side. Regardless of the gradient or the distance, Cronje Beukes and Mariëlle Trouwborst were once again the strongest climbers in the race. The story of their stage victories on Thursday, [...]
Cloaked in clouds and doused in drizzle, the Swartberg Pass proved pivotal on Stage 3 of the Garden Route Giro on Wednesday, 15 April 2026. Cronje Beukes once again proved himself to be the strongest climber in the men’s race, putting time into his nearest rivals, Wessel Botha and Marco Joubert, over the summit and [...]
The second stage of the Garden Route Giro saw dramatic racing in both the men’s and women’s categories on Tuesday, 14 April 2026. Stage winner Cronje Beukes climbed to an unassailable advantage on Rooiberg Pass, while Lisa Bone used the day’s biggest climb to build a buffer over the best descender in the women’s field, [...]
In both the men’s and women’s races on Stage 1 of the all-new Garden Route Giro, a trio of aggressive riders escaped off the front and established healthy advantages, despite the opening day of the inaugural race featuring a relatively short 73-kilometre-long route. Marco Joubert hoovered up the Sprint and King of the Mountain points [...]
The first edition of the Garden Route Giro begins on Monday, 13 April, with R700 000 in total prize money up for grabs. The men’s and women’s elite winners will each receive R100 000. In the men’s elite race, established gravel racers like Marco Joubert, Travis Stedman, Jaques Hanekom, Daniel Loubser, and Jan Withaar face off [...]
The cornerstone of any bike race is a route that can entertain and excite in equal measure; with the Garden Route Giro, all angles are covered. From the start at Jakkalsvlei Private Cellar to the final finish line at ANEW Resort Wilderness, gravel racers will traverse multiple biomes, climb and descend iconic passes, and visit [...]
In 2026’s third episode of the Diverge Podcast, we look back at victories on their season debuts by Matt Beers and Candice Lill at the Banhoek leg of the Ford Trailseeker Series. Lill dominated the women’s race, capitalising on her Cape Epic partner, Alessandra Keller, suffering a puncture to go solo and win [...]
