Launched in 2004 and despite its tough routes, the Lourensford MTB Classic has always been a favourite on the Western Cape MTB calendar. The 2025 edition of the Lourensford MTB Classic on Saturday, 20 September, will be a celebration of mountain biking eras.
The location and local geography of Lourensford Estate make it an ideal place to race mountain bikes.
“The Helderberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains form an L-shaped basin that is 12km long and 600m high, creating the ideal mountain biking amphitheatre,” said Johan Kriegler, event organiser and Western Cape mountain bike racing pioneer.
“The upper part of the basin used to be pine plantations with gravel roads, the main roads being the N1 & N2, each 18km long and the N3 & N4 each 9km long. These are now the foundation of the very modern and well-managed mountain bike trails network,” he added.
Fritz Pienaar and Hanlie Booyens were the winners of the first edition of the Lourensford MTB Classic, which formed part of Mazda Drifter Series, a precursor to the current Ford Trailseeker Series, which was launched by Pienaar himself after he retired from racing.
The bikes used by Pienaar, Booyens and all the other participants in 2004 had either steel or aluminium frames (all hardtails), 26-inch wheels, v-brakes, 3×9 drivetrains and 80mm travel suspension forks (either with single coil or hydra coil damping).
“We had to squirt water from our bottles on the brakes and rims to cool them down. Just to restore some braking power. Arm pump and sore fingers were part of descending in those days,” recalled Kriegler.
“The routes had no flowing downhill trails with berms. Mostly they were just raked footpaths through the pine plantations. The first race had three distances: 70km with 2200m ascent; 50km with 1600m ascent and 30km with 1170m ascent and you had to fax your entry forms!” said Kriegler.
Over the past 21 years, there have been many changes as the sport of mountain biking moved through different eras. At Lourensford Estate itself, the pine plantations were replaced by indigenous forests and fynbos and the mountain bike trails are now managed by a club with a limit of only 100 members. The trails can’t just be ridden by anyone at any time.
Since 2022, with the support of Clay Pigeon Adventures, Epic Series, Rola and Specialized Somerset West, four flowing downhill trails have been built, each between 6-8km in length – Ultimate, Endless, Rola Coaster and Timeless. There’s also now a network of shorter link trails and the 9km long Contour Trail at the base.
These features have significantly enhanced Lourensford Estate to suit the modern mountain biker and events like the FNB Wines2Whales has established Lourensford Estate as its start or finish venue. The Absa Cape Epic also frequently visits Lourensford Estate.
The 2025 edition of the Lourensford MTB Classic gives all mountain bikers an opportunity to experience the challenges and rewards of a world-class trails network. Unlike that first edition in 2004, no faxed entries are required, but online entries can be done via this link.
There are three distance options:
- Classic – 56km with 1350m ascent
- Maxi – 36km with 830m ascent
- Fun ride – 21km
Entry numbers are limited to 500.
