Terlouw and Le Court Crowned 2025 Ride Joburg Champions
Jaedon Terlouw sprinted to victory in the 28th edition of Ride Joburg on Sunday, 26 October 2025. The PYGA Euro Steel rider turned his attention from mountain biking to the road, intending to win the massive R200 000 prize, the richest in South African cycling, and did so in style, outsprinting two of the pre-race favourites, Ryan Gibbons and Marc Pritzen. In the women’s race, Kim le Court proved her pedigree, climbing away from her rivals to solo to a stellar victory alongside the mighty FNB Stadium in Soweto.
“This is the biggest win of my career!”
In both the men’s and women’s races, it was the difficult return leg – which climbs from the lowest point of the 97-kilometre circuit to the finish line – where the race-winning moves were made. Before the start, Gibbons had suggested that the first 44 kilometres to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit would be relatively easy, but that it would get “spicy” as the course climbed back to Soweto. A tailwind in the finale added to the technicality of the run-in, though with a highly select group coming to the line in the men’s race, no team dynamics came into play. It was mano a mano, rather, between Gibbons, Pritzen, and Terlouw.
Earlier, on the run north through Johannesburg, several small attacks did little to reduce the size of the massive men’s peloton. High speeds and the large group made it tense, and a crash 16 kilometres in did nothing to ease the stress. Team Honeycomb 226ERS and Tshenolo Pro Cycling used their strength in depth to ramp up the pressure, sending Jaco van Dyk and Thokozani Mahlangu up the road with Chris Jooste in a three-man break. Jooste then dropped back to the peloton, leaving Van Dyk and Mahlangu to lead by 33 seconds when the race reached Kyalami, with Keanan Roodt pulling a 94-rider-strong peloton onto the famous race track.
Roodt’s Fly Cool Collective were working for Kent Main and were obliged to do the lion’s share of the chasing behind the two-rider break. Their efforts meant that when the cyclists left the car racing circuit five kilometres later and started the tougher second half of the Ride Joburg course, the gap was down to just 12 seconds. This effectively reset the battle for victory. Van Dyk and Mahlangu were caught on the climb up Main Road, which offered Ryno Schutte the opportunity to sprint from the bunch to claim the King of the Mountain hotspot 58 kilometres into the race.
By this stage, the peloton had been reduced to around 50 riders, but the key protagonists were present at the front. Though they had yet to put their noses in the wind, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Gustav Basson, Brandon Downes, as well as Terlouw, Pritzen, Gibbons, and Main, were in that group. The next 20 kilometres ground uphill, thinning the peloton and setting the strongest few up for a stinging attack.
This came at the 76-kilometre mark on Jan Smuts Avenue, when Felix Stehli went clear with Gustav Roller, Gibbons, Janse van Rensburg, Terlouw, Main, Pritzen, and Schutte. The speed at which those eight riders went away suggested that, while some might still be caught, the race winner was likely in that group. So it proved when the eight split down to four. Janse van Rensburg, Stehli, Roller, and Schutte could not follow the climbing tempo of Pritzen, Gibbons, Terlouw, and Main.
Main was the next to crack, leaving three at the front. The danger in that situation was that a lack of unity between Pritzen, Gibbons, and Terlouw could let the chasers back into the race – but to their credit, the three men worked well together to extend their advantage over the final 10 kilometres.
“This is the biggest win of my career!” Terlouw grinned at the finish line. “It was a crazy race! The first half of the race was pretty much as usual, then on that climb that just keeps ramping up – I’m not sure what it’s called – everyone started going ham. At the top, there were just three of us left, and we worked well through the last ten kays.”
“It came down to a sprint, and it was a super technical finish,” Terlouw added. “I don’t know if it was a bit of a dodgy move that I pulled when I sent it on the inside of Ryan [Gibbons]. I was bouncing on these half-cobbles, and I almost had to use the curb as a berm to get around the corner. But I guess it was a good move. If I knew that I was going to do that, I probably wouldn’t have… but it worked out really well.”
Gibbons did not protest the move, allowing Terlouw’s bravery to earn a career-defining victory. The young PYGA Euro Steel man thus takes home a R200 000 prize, while Gibbons and Pritzen depart Ride Joburg R75 000 and R25 000 richer, respectively. Sixty seconds behind the podium places, Main finished fourth.
Roller brought home a chasing group of four, 1 minute 39 seconds off the victor. The 18-year-old’s performance augurs well for the future – as the first Junior (the category for 17- and 18-year-old cyclists) across the line – and because he managed to beat the first Under-23 man, Schutte, in a sprint for fifth. Both Gustav Roller and Ryno Schutte are certainly names to remember – and riders to watch – in future editions of Ride Joburg.
The Women’s Race
In the women’s race, an early break battled the headwind towards Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit before the big guns came out swinging. Tania Bester, Alexandra Classen, and Cashandra Oosthuizen formed an early group of three off the front before Oosthuizen was swallowed up by the chasing peloton on the Kyalami circuit. Heading south and climbing, the leading duo were soon swallowed up, too, allowing Lisa Bone to go on the offensive.
The Mzansi League points leader, Bone, was the first woman through the Queen of the Mountain hotspot 58 kilometres in. Her attack would also come to nothing, however. Primarily because of the aggression of Magda Nieuwoudt. “This is my first big road race,” Nieuwoudt explained. “I’ve done one other small one before, and I’m actually a triathlete. So, I thought my best chance would be to attack and go solo. The speed in the early kilometres was too high, and the other women were really strong. But on the climbs in the second half of the course, I could make a difference.”
Having seized the lead with 30 kilometres to go, Nieuwoudt exploited a lack of cohesion in the chase group behind. “I was getting time gaps and heard that my advantage was going from 30 seconds, to a minute, to 1:50… but then Kim [le Court] caught me,” she noted.
Le Court worked to whittle down the chase group to Bone, Lucy Young, Taneal Otto, Maude le Roux, Candice Lill, Sonica Klopper, Kelsey van Schoor, Tyler Jacobs, and Vera Looser. Then Le Court launched in pursuit of Nieuwoudt on her own. “When Kim [Le Court] came past me, I thought I could stick with her. But she was just too fast!” Nieuwoudt praised. “I’ve been watching her on TV, and it was special to get to race alongside her.”
Once the Mauritian champion went solo, the result was no longer in question. In the final 15 kilometres, Le Court established a 79-second buffer to underline her status as Africa’s top road cyclist. Nieuwoudt faded over the final 10 kilometres to slip from second on the road to third across the line, as Young finished strongly. Looser, the 2022 Ride Joburg winner, brought home the group contesting fourth. The Namibian outsprinted the South African short track mountain biking champion, Jacobs, for fourth. Bone, Le Roux, Lill, Otto, and Klopper rounded out the top ten from the Looser group.
“I hope I can inspire more girls to have the courage to chase their dreams.”
“I didn’t know what to expect coming into Ride Joburg,” Le Court said after wrapping up the victory. “I came to the race to honour the event and my South African support, but also to ride with the girls and race with people I haven’t competed against in a couple of years. I think it’s important to reconnect with the country and the people who have always supported me, and to try to inspire the young girls. There’s some great talent in this field, and I’m really impressed with some of the girls. The standard has definitely lifted since I last raced in South Africa. I hope I can inspire more girls to have the courage to chase their dreams, because it is possible if you don’t give up!”
2025 Ride Joburg Results
Elite Men:
- Jaedon Terlouw: PYGA Euro Steel (2:09:56)
- Ryan Gibbons: Lidl Trek (2:09:57 | +1)
- Marc Pritzen: Honeycomb 226ers (2:09:57 | +1)
- Kent Main: Fly Cool Collective (2:10:55 | +1:00)
- Gustav Roller: Crabbé-dstny (Junior | 2:11:34 | +1:39)
Elite Women:
- Kim le Court: AG Insurance Soudal (2:37:26)
- Lucy Young: Tshenolo Pro Cycling (2:38:44 | +1:19)
- Magda Nieuwoudt: We Buy Cars (2:39:08 | +1:42)
- Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (2:40:37 | +3:12)
- Tyler Jacobs: Liv Factory Racing (U-23 | 2:40:39 | +3:13)
For the full results from the 2025 Ride Joburg, click here or visit www.ridejoburg.co.za.
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