In both the men and women’s races on Stage 1 of the all-new Garden Route Giro, a trio of aggressive riders escaped off the front and established healthy advantages, despite the opening day of the inaugural race featuring a relatively short 73-kilometre-long route.
Marco Joubert hoovered up the Sprint and King of the Mountain points before outfoxing Wessel Botha and Cronje Beukes to win on Monday, 13 April 2026. Stage 1 elite women’s winner Mariëlle Trouwborst saved her efforts for the day’s finale, allowing Vera Looser to take the Sprint points and Lisa Bone the Queen of the Mountain points. KMC rider Trouwborst worked with Bone to distance Looser in the run-in to the finish, then outsprinted her rival to take the first yellow jersey of the race.
An undulating course allowed newcomers to gravel racing terrain to ease into the Garden Route Giro, while 950 metres of climbing posed no problem for the fastest men and women. As such, the opening day was raced aggressively as the route wound its way through the pastures of the Hessequa region. From the start at Jakkalsvlei Private Cellar, the race traced the Langeberg west to Oakdale Agricultural High School, outside Riversdale.
After a brief neutral zone, the action kicked off with a fast descent on smooth tar. Riders reached 90 kilometres per hour, and with the group tightly bunched, the first gravel segment brought danger and near disaster for Travis Stedman. The Specialized Toyota Imbuko star was caught out by a pinch point in the road and went down at high speed. His teammate, Ignatius du Preez, dropped back to help reduce the time losses, but Stedman would never see the front of the race again.
Stedman’s crash did not cause the pace to pause. Dan Loubser drove the group onto the first climb and strung the favourites group out to single file. “Dan [Loubser] set a fast pace on the first climb, then Marco [Joubert] attacked over the top,” Botha explained.
“There were eight or so of us over the summit of the first climb, but Wessel [Botha] had two teammates, so I thought I had to drill it there,” Joubert elaborated. This move pulled Botha and Beukes clear with the South African gravel champion Joubert. “I was happy to see we were all mountain bikers in the group,” Joubert said. “We like to work, and we worked together well to stay away (from the others).”
Thanks to a tailwind – and a lack of cohesion, with Jan Withaar and Keagan Bontekoning unwilling to close a gap to their Insect Science teammate up the road – the leading trio gradually extend their advantage. After 59 minutes and 36 kilometres of racing, they flew through the Sprint hotspot, with Joubert crossing the intermediate point first. Twenty-eight kilometres later, Joubert was first to summit the King of the Mountain climb, claiming the only points on the day for that jersey competition, too.
The final nine kilometres, after that ascent, provided little opportunity to attack. Yet Joubert still eked out a small advantage over his breakaway companions. “I misjudged the finish and thought the second-to-last corner was the last, actually,” he confessed. “But I just kept going, and I’m happy we will take a good advantage over the others into tomorrow, and that I’ve got a bit of a gap on Wessel [Botha] and Cronje [Beukes].”
Like Joubert, Trouwborst also initiated the stage-winning move in the women’s race. “I was in a group of women and thought if I could get up the road, I could find a faster group of men and make up time,” Bone stated. “I jumped, and Vera [Looser] jumped with me. When we got to the group ahead, Mariëlle Trouwborst was already there! Fortunately, we went when we did, or we would have never seen her again today.”
Once away together, Trouwborst, Bone, and Looser worked together to gradually extend their advantage. Behind them, despite sharing chasing duties with men in their group, Cherise Willeit, Yolande de Villiers, Bianca Haw, and Danielle du Toit could not bring the leaders back. After Looser edged out Bone for the Sprint points, after 36 kilometres of racing, the gap was clearly too big for Willeit and company to fight their way into contention for victory.
On the last climb, within the final 10 kilometres, Bone accelerated, and only Trouwborst could follow. The pair then collaborated to the finish to gain time on Looser, who should prove dangerous on the long days to come.
“I managed to lead into the second-to-last corner and then just went full gas for the finish,” Trouwborst said. “I was happy to hold Lisa [Bone] off and take the stage win. But tomorrow the real climbing starts…”
Stage 2, on Tuesday 14 April, features a much longer and far more challenging course. At 119 kilometres in length, with 2 000 metres of climbing, it mixes the best gravel of the entire Garden Route Giro with sections of tarmac and the rougher roads of the Rooiberg Pass. The highest point of the day comes 92 kilometres in, but the 10-kilometre climb is far from the only point where a difference could be made.
“I think Rooiberg Pass will be interesting,” Looser predicted. “The climb is obviously very tough, and you could make up lots of time there. But the descent to Calitzdorp is pretty technical, and a puncture there could cost you lots of time, too.”
To follow the action, on Stage 2, 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. The action gets underway on Tuesday, 14 April, at 09:00 [South African Time | GMT +2].
Watch the Stage 1 highlights here!
2026 Garden Route Giro Results
Men’s Stage 1 Results:
- Marco Joubert: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (1:57:01)
- Wessel Botha: Insect Science (1:57:09 | +8)
- Cronje Beukes: Specialized George Coimbra (1:57:10 | +9)
- Ignatius du Preez: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (2:00:50 | +3:49)
- Jan Withaar: Insect Science (2:00:50 | +3:49)
Women’s Stage 1 Results:
- Mariëlle Trouwborst: KMC (2:14:39)
- Lisa Bone: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (2:14:39 | ST)
- Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (2:15:50 | +1:11)
- Cherise Willeit: Toyota Specialized (2:18:26 | 3:47)
- Bianca Haw: sani2c (2:19:17 | +4:38)
