GARDEN ROUTE GIRO: BEUKES, TROUWBORST REIGN SUPREME ON QUEEN STAGE

The Queen Stage of the Garden Route Giro on Friday, 17 April, saw 127 kilometres of close racing in the men’s competition. In the elite women’s race, Mariëlle Trouwborst surged away solo but almost fell short when a puncture slowed her progress in the final 37 kilometres. Behind the battle for stage victory, second in the general classification, Lisa Bone needed to rely on friends in the peloton to nurse her home.

On paper, Stage 5 looked to be the toughest of the race, but the front-runners made short work of the 2 040 metres of climbing. Prince Alfred’s Pass was the highlight of the day; it provided Trouwborst with the terrain to gain time, but also nearly proved her undoing.

Earlier in the stage, Trouwborst’s fierce tempo put Bone in trouble. While Vera Looser and Catherine Kruger could follow, the woman in the First Ascent Velo Purple Jersey, as the Intermediate Sprint classification leader, found herself in no-man’s-land between groups.

“I’ll be honest, that was the toughest day I’ve had on the bike,” Bone admitted. “I was flat from the start and wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for the group I found myself in. Having Cherise [Willeit] there really helped. She’s a good friend off the bike, and she really motivated me and kept me going today.”

Bone was then able to stabilise her time losses to Looser and Kruger, but at the front, Trouwborst kept gaining on the women’s field. She went through the first Queen of the Mountain hotspot, 51 kilometres into the course, with a four-minute lead on Looser and Kruger. She then extended that advantage to 10 minutes over the next 40 kilometres. Just when it looked like she would be riding away to a dominant stage victory, Trouwborst punctured.

“I had to plug it, then bomb it twice, but it still kept losing air,” Trouwborst said. “It made the final kilometres nerve-wracking, because I’d been on my own for 65 kilometres and I didn’t know how far behind the other women were. I just knew I was going slow and losing time!”

Trouwborst hung on to win the stage, just 34 seconds ahead of Looser. Having sensed that she would be able to gain time on Bone, Looser rode hard throughout the stage, thinking of moving up on the overall standings, but very nearly securing a stage win too.

Cherise Willeit and Bone crossed the line in third and fourth, five minutes and 15 seconds after Looser. Kruger was fifth. The Stage 5 results mean that Trouwborst takes a 12-minute and 10-second lead into the final stage. More importantly, perhaps, 10 minutes and 38 seconds separate Looser from second place overall, currently held by Bone.

“Ten minutes sounds like a lot. Especially on a 75-kilometre stage, but feeling like I feel right now, it really isn’t much,” Bone grimaced after the Queen Stage.

For the men, the final stage will also be a last-chance showdown after a stalemate of sorts on Stage 5. Herman Fourie and Keagan Bontekoning tried to animate the racing, but were reeled in. Fourie claimed the early sprint points, then faded, while Bontekoning went to work for Wessel Botha.

“We tried about 100 times to get away,” Botha said. “But the race kept coming back together. Eventually, in the last hour, Marco [Joubert], Cronje [Beukes], and I got a gap.”

The three strongest men in the race were effectively inseparable, though each tried repeatedly to distance the other two. In the final kilometre, Beukes surged from the back of the group into the second-to-last corner and carried enough speed to steal a march on Joubert and Botha. Turning onto the Knysna High School fields, the overall race leader was five metres ahead of Joubert. A last acceleration earned Beukes a fourth stage victory.

Joubert and Botha had to settle for second and third. One minute later, Ignatius du Preez and Keegan Tullis thundered down the finish line in a sprint for fourth, which Du Preez edged.

Heading into the final day of the 2026 Garden Route Giro, Beukes leads Joubert by four minutes and 23 seconds. Just 13 seconds separate Joubert and Botha, making the battle for second the fight to watch on Stage 6. Further down the general classification, Tullis holds fourth, while Bontekoning, in fifth, has just 16 seconds in hand over Dan Loubser.

The final stage features an undulating 75-kilometre course from Knysna to Wilderness; the 1 100 metres of climbing on the Seven Passes Road offer limited opportunities for anyone to gain significant time, without a rival cracking dramatically. In the men’s race, that seems unlikely, but the seconds Botha and Loubser need could be won with intelligent racing. The final women’s podium could be determined by how Bone recovers overnight.

To follow the final day’s action, like the Garden Route Giro Facebook page and follow @gardenroutegiro on Instagram. Cycling fans can also tune in for daily highlights on the Dryland Event Management YouTube channel and read the daily news releases on their favourite cycling platform.

For more information, visit www.gardenroutegiro.co.za.

2026 Garden Route Giro Results

Men’s Stage 5 Results:

1. Cronje Beukes: Specialized George Coimbra (3:37:26)
2. Marco Joubert: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (3:37:27| +1)
3. Wessel Botha: Insect Science (3:37:28 | +2)
4. Ignatius du Preez: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (3:38:27 | +1:01)
5. Keegan Tullis: Cape Vulture Nature Reserve (3:38:27 | +1:01)

Women’s Stage 5 Results:

1. Mariëlle Trouwborst: KMC (4:05:27)
2. Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (4:06:01 | +34)
3. Cherise Willeit: Toyota Specialized (4:11:14 | +5:47)
4. Lisa Bone: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (4:11:16 | +5:49)
5. Catherine Kruger: Hollard (4:13:15 | +7:48)

Men’s General Classification after Stage 5:

1. Cronje Beukes: Specialized George Coimbra (14:30:44)
2. Marco Joubert: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (14:35:07 | +4:23)
3. Wessel Botha: Insect Science (14:35:20 | +4:36)
4. Keegan Tullis: Cape Vulture Nature Reserve (14:53:05 | +22:21)
5. Keagan Bontekoning: Insect Science (14:55:36 | +24:52)

Women’s General Classification after Stage 5:

1. Mariëlle Trouwborst: KMC (16:34:13)
2. Lisa Bone: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (16:46:23 | +12:10)
3. Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (16:57:21 | +22:48)
4. Cherise Willeit: Toyota Specialized (17:18:06 | +43:53)
5. Catherine Kruger: Hollard (17:34:36 | +1:00:23)

Garden Route Giro Points Competitions

Men’s KOM Points after Stage 5:

1. Cronje Beukes: Specialized George Coimbra (51 points)
2. Marco Joubert: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (37 points)
3. Wessel Botha: Insect Science (22 points)

Men’s Sprint Points after Stage 5:

1. Ignatius du Preez: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (30 Points)
2. Herman Fourie: Cape Vulture Nature Reserve (22 Points)
3. Dan Loubser: Freewheel Cycology (8 points)

Women’s KOM Points after Stage 5:

1. Mariëlle Trouwborst: KMC (51 points)
2. Lisa Bone: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (33 points)
3. Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (22 points)

Women’s Sprint Points after Stage 5:

1. Lisa Bone: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (26 Points)
2. Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (24 Points)
3. Mariëlle Trouwborst: KMC (20 Points)

For the full results from the Garden Route Giro, click here.