South Africa's biggest marathon mountain-bike series reached its midpoint at Sondela, with a R100,000 overall prize keeping the elite men's and women's general classifications on a knife-edge.
For South African marathon racers, the Ford Trailseeker Series is one of the most accessible ways to line up against the country's best off-road talent — a national series that pairs mass-participation field racing with a properly contested elite general classification. With a R100,000 purse riding on the overall standings, the back half of the 2026 season is where the season-long maths starts to bite, and Sondela's fourth round marked the official halfway turn.
Going into Sondela the closest contest was in the elite women's race, and unusually it was an intra-team affair: Samantha Sanders, Sarah Maré and Vera Looser — all Efficient Infiniti Insure riders — sat first, second and third on the GC, separated by single-figure points. That makes round-by-round consistency, not one breakaway win, the lever that decides the R100,000. On the men's side Marc Pritzen of Honeycomb 226ers had built a healthy buffer over the Toyota Specialized Imbuko duo of Ignatius du Preez and Jaedon Terlouw, leaving the chasers needing Pritzen to slip up over the remaining rounds.
Sondela itself suited aggressive, tactical racing. At 66.7km with just 588m of climbing, the Limpopo course offered none of the long grinds that usually let the strongest climber ride away solo — flatter, faster terrain where bunch tactics and teammates can shape the result. With Efficient Infiniti Insure stacking the top three of the women's standings, those team dynamics were always going to matter most where the gaps were smallest.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ford Trailseeker Series? +
It's a six-round South African marathon mountain-bike series that combines mass-participation racing with a contested elite general classification across the season.
What's at stake overall? +
R100,000 goes to the overall elite series winner, which makes season-long consistency across the six rounds decisive.
Where and when was the Sondela round? +
Round 4 was held at Sondela Nature Reserve in Limpopo on 27 June 2026, over a fast 66.7km marathon course with only 588m of climbing.
Who led the standings going into Sondela? +
After three rounds Samantha Sanders led the elite women ahead of Efficient Infiniti Insure teammates Sarah Maré and Vera Looser, while Marc Pritzen led the elite men ahead of Ignatius du Preez and Jaedon Terlouw.
