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 [...]
The 2026 FNB Wiens2wWhales returns to the original Lourensford to Hermanus route. Racing east over the Hottentots-Holland Mountains from the Somerset West Winelands into the Elgin Valley, home to some of the best singletracks in South Africa, and down the Katpas into the Overberg, where wheatfields ripen in the warm sunshine, and the finish line [...]
In the first episode of the new year, we look ahead at what’s to come on the bike in 2026. From the Attakwas Extreme, which kicks off the South African racing season through the Tankwa Trek, Cape Epic, Garden Route Giro, and on into the World Series calendar, which gets underway in South [...]
Over the last decade, we at Diverge have covered around 25 events per year across MTB, Gravel, Road, and Trail Running. With that experience in hand, we'll be bringing you more insights in 2026. Some of it will be on the ground, on the job for the event, while we will be covering other races [...]
Marc Pritzen and Felix Stehli’s two stage wins and 4-minute and 38-second margin of victory on the final FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz general classification meant that the Honeycomb 226ers completed a near-perfect race to the 2025 title. After Friday’s powerful performance, they missed out on winning Stage 2 when Stehli crashed on the finishing straight. On [...]
After strong winds made for a chaotic start to the opening stage on Friday, Stage 2, on Saturday, concluded in chaos when three riders crashed from a six-rider group contesting the sprint finish. Tristan Nortje and Marco Joubert were the least affected and managed to cross the line just ahead of the Honeycomb 226ers team. [...]
A windy and at times chaotic opening stage of the Shiraz race at FNB Wines2Whales saw the Honeycomb 226ers seize the initiative and establish a 126-second advantage on PYGA Euro Steel and Insect Science. Marc Pritzen and Felix Stehli combined fresh legs with course knowledge to attack at a key moment and leave the chasers [...]
The Shiraz race at FNB Wines2Whales is not just the final race of the Epic Series and FNB Wines2Whales calendar; it is also the final major mountain biking event of the South African season. Thus, the battle for the final Yellow CIOVITA jerseys of the season could be decided by who is fresher, physically and [...]
E-Bike racing is tactical! E-Bike racing levels the playing field! E-Bike racing is hard! E-Bike racing is fun! Four key takeaways from the E-Powered Pinotage race highlight how views, E-MTB technology, and the race rules have evolved since the inaugural E-Bike race in the Pinotage event at FNB Wines2Whales in 2021. 5 years on, there [...]
Battery management was the main concern for the E-Bike racers heading of Stage 2 of the Pinotage event at FNB Wines2Whales. 6 kilometres longer than Stage 1, with 200 more metres of climbing, meant that anyone who finished on the edge of their battery life would be at risk on Stage 2. After 2 hours [...]
