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Sani2C: Stedman and Terloux Secure Title

Looser and Sanders take home women's overall title

BICYCLING STAFF |
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 The final stage 3 of the 2026 KAP sani2c ‘OG’ delivered exactly what the route profile promised – a brutally fast final day from Jolivet Farm to Scottburgh Golf Club. At 86km, with 1042m of climbing and 1703m of descending, the stage encouraged aggressive racing from the start.

Toyota Specialized Imbuko 2’s Travis Stedman and Jaedon Terlouw sealed overall victory, while two teams fought intensely for the remaining GC podium positions. Efficient Infiniti Insure’s Samantha Sanders and Vera Looser completed a dominant week with another stage victory to become the women’s champions.

Men’s Race
Toyota Specialized Imbuko’s first team, Tristan Nortje and Marco Joubert, launched an all-in assault from the start to claw their way back onto the final podium after yesterday’s mechanical setbacks, while Insect Science Safari Essence’s Arno du Toit and Wessel Botha were also ready for the vital first breakaway that secured them second overall on GC.

We wanted to put the other teams under pressure immediately and fortunately it worked. Once the front group formed, everyone committed fully.”

The decisive moves came early, and on Clint’s Climb the elite men’s front teams split, with the three teams of Toyota Specialized Imbuko 1 and 2 and Insect Science Safari Essence getting away. They then worked well together over the next 70km, and no one was able to break away from the fast-moving group of six riders.

“We basically went full gas from the start because we had nothing to lose; we were fifth on GC,” said Nortje. “We wanted to put the other teams under pressure immediately and fortunately it worked. Once the front group formed, everyone committed fully.”

“It was really, really hard for the guys behind to come back once the split happened,” said Terlouw. “A couple of times I was almost dropped on the flats, the pace was incredibly high. Every time we looked back and saw no one there, it gave us extra motivation to keep pushing even harder. Just before water point two (58km), Tristan had a crash on a slippery district road corner. Fortunately the whole group had been working really well together, so everyone sat up and waited for him to get back. Once he rejoined, the adrenaline clearly kicked in because he was absolutely flying afterwards.”

“That’s why you never give up in mountain biking. After the chain break yesterday it would have been easy to think the race was over, but if we had given up then, there would have been no chance of fighting back today,” said Nortje. “Our philosophy as a team has always been to race all-out no matter what happens.”

“It feels really good to pull this race off,” said Stedman. “Last year we had a lot of bad luck here, so to come back this year with a partner like Jaedon and support from the team made it a really special week.”

Women’s Race
While Efficient Infiniti Insure’s win was decisive, the final stage saw the three top teams together for most of the day, but Sanders and Looser did not want a sprint finish and chose to get away 15km from the finish.

The exciting racing between the second and third-placed teams continued: Frances Swanepoel and Rachel Seaman of Cycle Nation Enza Construction, produced a surge up the fairway of Scottburgh golf course to seal second for the stage. Cherise Willeit and Ila Stow of Fortress Toyota, who came third on the stage, retained their second place on the General Classification due to the time banked by their other strong stage performances.

“The first 20 kilometres were raced incredibly hard by such classy riders,” said Willeit. “t one stage we thought we had dropped Frances and Rachel, but they just kept fighting back and absolutely deserved second place on the stage. Sam and Vera were unbelievably strong all week – whenever they decided to raise the pace they simply rode away.”

“We went really hard early on Clint’s Climb and only Cherise and Ila could stay with us,” said Willeit. “At one point we actually backed off slightly because it didn’t make sense for us to tow everyone all the way to the finish. Then, with around 15 kilometres to go, Sam put the hammer down and we committed fully because none of us wanted the race to come down to a sprint on that final grassy climb.”

“The final half hour back towards the ocean was absolutely brutal.”

“Cherise made things really hard in the final kilometre, but luckily I still had a bit left in the legs,” said Stow. “She positioned us perfectly going into the singletrack and over the bridge. I honestly didn’t realise how long that final open road to the finish would feel after four days of racing. I definitely felt like the weakest rider in that front group, especially with so many strong road riders there, but it was such a beautiful day and an amazing race.”

Sanders says: “sani2c is one of the most prestigious stage races around, so winning it means a huge amount both personally and for our sponsors. It’s also really exciting to see how much the level of women’s racing has grown. The competition this week was seriously strong.”

The 22nd edition of the sani2c not only provided exciting racing in the UCI races, but riders in both the ‘OG’ and Adventure versions of the sani2c enjoyed three days of incredible trails, spectacular scenery and race village hospitality provided by the local communities.

Stage 3 Results

Men

Women

General Classification

Men

Women

For full results, visit www.sani2c.co.za

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