Racy race with soul coming up

The Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer, presented by Biogen, is far more than the standard mountain bike stage race. It is the Race with Soul.

An event that blends highly competitive UCI and age-category racing with a relaxed race village atmosphere. Even for the elite men and women lining up to fight it out over the five days of the 2025 event, from 30 September to 4 October, there are reasons to look forward to both the racing and the off-the-bike time. It is for this reason that two of the defending champions are so eager to return to the Garden Route, Langkloof, and Klein Karoo.

The fifteenth edition starts in Wilderness for the first time, crossing the Outeniqua Mountain Range to Louvain, with an 84-kilometre opening stage that includes 2 250 metres of climbing. Stage 2 loops out and back from Louvain, taking in 1 800 metres of climbing, on an 88-kilometre course.

The mid-point of the race comes on the trails from Louvain to Oudtshoorn during a 96-kilometre transition stage. Die Top, at the summit of the Swartberg Pass, hosts the only mountain top finish in South African mountain biking after a 93-kilometre-long Stage 4. Then the Race with Soul concludes with 64 kilometres of pure Klein Karoo mountain biking in Chandelier Game Reserve and a finish in front of the Oudtshoorn Civic Centre.