At the FNB Wines2Whales, the story begins long before the finish line. It’s in the grind up a switchback where lungs burn but legs must keep turning. It’s in the reward of sweeping through a perfectly carved berm. It’s in the dust (or mud) settling on your skin like a badge of honour. Not yet entered the 2025 edition? Here’s a reminder why you should…
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For three days, riders trade office chairs for saddles, tarmac for singletrack, and the ordinary for a journey that celebrates everything mountain biking was meant to be: beautiful views, flowing trails and the shared gees that carries you from Lourensford to Hermanus. Or in this Switchback edition, the other way around.
No two corners are the same. The route is never static – it evolves, fine-tuned each year by the dedicated hands of local trail builders. Every twist of dirt, every rock garden, every bridge is crafted for mountain bikers, not cars. This is racing on trails where flow, rhythm, surprise and reward rule the day.
The Makers of the Trail
Behind the race’s character lies Cape Trails, a crew of riders turned master trail builders. Since 2011, Ashwell ‘Fakie’ Swartz, Brenden ‘Pikkie’ Boysen, Denzel ‘Max’ Scheepers and Keenan Cupido have carved more than 150km of singletrack into the Cape landscape (see more here). They’ve built iconic sections of trail including Poffadder, the Witklippies Bridges and the sweeping Rietvlei Magic Bridge.
Their office? Fynbos valleys alive with caracal, snakes, and sunbirds. Their craft? Shaping trails that thrill, challenge, and leave riders smiling. They know that a trail is never just dirt – it’s rhythm, it’s spice, it’s the difference between forgettable and unforgettable.
As race founder Johan Kriegler puts it: “The winning recipe is adding flavour and spice. Eliminate the boring, explore and find the hidden gem. Improve the combinations, change the slope, the views and fascinate the mind into a smile. That’s the never-ending recipe.”
The FNB Wines2Whales is unapologetically built for mountain bikes. It honours the sport’s purest essence – the bite of wide tyres on dirt, the pull of gravity urging you forward, the freedom to explore. Gravel bikes and road bikes have their place, but here the mountain bike reigns supreme.
As rider Henrico Burger puts it: “A gravel bike can do anything a road bike can and more. But a mountain bike can do anything a gravel bike can do, and much more.”
For a detailed look at the stunning 2025 edition route, click here.
Whether you’re chasing a podium or chasing the sunset, FNB Wines2Whales is more than a race. It’s a celebration of trails, of friendship, of grit and joy. It’s proof that mountain biking isn’t just a sport – it’s a unique way of experiencing the world, one singletrack at a time.
Entries for the 2025 FNB Wines2Whales close on 15 October 2025. So book your spot now to ensure you don’ t miss out. Find all the information and the entry portal here.
