Article

E-Charged Ecstasy at FNB Wines2Whales Pinotage

Sponsored by FNB

E-Bike racing is tactical! E-Bike racing levels the playing field! E-Bike racing is hard! E-Bike racing is fun! Four key takeaways from the E-Powered Pinotage race highlight how views, E-MTB technology, and the race rules have evolved since the inaugural E-Bike race in the Pinotage event at FNB Wines2Whales in 2021. 5 years on, there is no doubt that it adds to the overall excitement, especially when World Champions and Enduro World Series campaigners headline the field.

The tactics, team members’ individual strengths, and the characteristics of each manufacturer’s E-Mountain Bikes all played their part in determining the champions of the FNB Wines2Whales Pinotage race. Matt Lombardi and Jason Boulle were overmatched by the Specialized Factory Racing pairing of Joris Ryf and Sofia Wiedenroth on the dual tracks, but were able to utilize their superior speed through the trails as well as intelligent battery management to defeat the former E-MTB World Champions. Such was the quality and equality of the battle that the Men’s category champions were joined on the final all-categories podium by the top Mixed category team. The fastest Women’s category team consisted of two-time Cross-Country Eliminator World Champion Kathrin Stirnemann and the reigning E-MTB World Champion, Anna Spielmann. The Haibike / Thömus pairing was the third fastest team overall, after three fiercely contested days of e-powered racing on the trails from Benguela Cove to Lourensford Wine Estate.

Looking back on the first two days of the Pinotage race, the action got underway on Monday, 3 November. After Stage 1, it was clear that there would be a gigantic tussle between the Trek-equipped Unbound Uncles and the Specialized Factory Racing duo, Ryf and Wiedenroth. Despite starting in the batch behind the stage winners, the Specialized Factory Racing team posted a time just 2 minutes slower than that of Lombardi and Boulle. Stirnemann and Spielmann were sixth fastest on the day, but were within touching distance of the men’s teams just ahead of them on the time sheets.

Play Day on Tuesday, 4 November, saw the top 25 E-Bike teams, regardless of their category, start together. This ensured that Ryf and Weidenroth could put their superior top speed to use on the vineyard roads of Oak Valley and establish an advantage on Lombardi and Boulle before reaching the singletracks. “The Specialized E-Bikes can be tuned to a maximum of 45 kilometres per hour,” Mixed category runner-up Lukas Dennda explained. “But they can only do 45 on open roads; the bikes’ software automatically limits them back down to 32 kilometres per hour on the trails. So, to race the teams on Specialized bikes, you have to limit your losses on the open roads and then make up time on the trails.”

Making up time on the 2023 E-MTB World Champion and his 2024 E-MTB World Champion teammate is no easy feat, however. By the mid-point of Stage 2, it looked as if doing so would be impossible for Unbound Uncles. Yet as Ryf and Weidenroth’s batteries started to run low, the overall race leaders were able to close the gap and put pressure on the Mixed category team. Riding on the full-power Boost mode exhausted Weidenroth’s battery as they neared Oak Valley. This forced Ryf into sacrificing his battery to balance the strengths of the team for the final 6-kilometre push to the finish line. While stopping to swap batteries between their bikes, the Specialized Factory Racing team was passed by Lombardi and Boulle.

This allowed the Men’s leaders to add 2 more minutes to their overall advantage over the Mixed category challengers. Behind the fight for first, Stirnemann and Spielmann moved up quietly from sixth to fourth, with a fourth-place finish on Stage 2. They would start the final stage just 42 seconds off the podium places, while the Impact Foundation and ACEPAK teams traded places on the Men’s general classification.

Going into Stage 3 on Wednesday, 5 November, the Unbound Uncles held a 4-minute and 5-second advantage over the Specialized Factory Racing team. ACEPAK was 1 minute and 54 seconds ahead of Impact Foundation, with Haibike / Thömus just 42 seconds behind Matthew Grobler and Christoff van Heerden. The final stage of the Pinotage, like the Chardonnay before it and the Shiraz to come, features a 63-kilometre route from Oak Valley to Lourensford. The primary feature of the day is the Gantouw Pass portage, though the A to Z Trails, on the banks of the Eikenhof Dam, proved pivotal in determining the day’s winners.

As had been the case on the previous stage, Ryf and Wiedenroth established an early advantage. Unlike on Stage 2, when vineyard roads had provided them with a 15-kilometre launch pad, on Stage 3, the first singletrack came just 7 kilometres into the stage. As such, Lombardi and Boulle were able to better limit their early time losses and entered the A to Z Trails, 15 kilometres into the stage, just 40 seconds down.

“I thought we might have the advantage in the A to Z Trails, leading into Gantouw,” Boulle revealed. “I hoped that if we could keep the gap as small as possible leading into that section, we’d be able to regain contact with Joris [Ryf] and Sofia [Wiedenroth] there. On the steepest section, there we caught them. We had to dig really, really deep to do so, but Matt [Lombardi] is a fierce competitor, and when he can smell an opportunity, there’s no stopping him.”

“We clawed our way in front of them on the singletrack and put them under pressure a bit, I think, and led down Gantouw,” he concluded. Experience on the portage seemed to play a role, too. It was Wiedenroth’s first time on the old wagon trail, and she was the most cautious of the four on run down Gantouw Pass. By Idiom Wines, 5 kilometres after the pass, the Unbound Uncles held a 4-and-a-half-minute lead.

Hauling through Vergelegen and Lourensford, Lombardi and Boulle maintained their advantage, then extended it in the final singletracks. Behind Ryf and Wiedenroth were being sucked into a battle for second on the stage. Having raced faster and faster on every successive stage, the Haibike / Thömus team was in the mix for a podium place on the stage and overall, on Gantouw Pass.

“We caught them on the portage,” Stirnemann revealed when asked where she reeled in her partner, Ryf. “Then they dropped us again. But we caught them on the last few trails again. We’re always battling each other in training, so it was super fun to get to race against him here at FNB Wines2Whales!”

Having retired from cross-country racing, Stirnemann now races on the World E-Bike Series and was second to her FNB Wines2Whales teammate, Spielmann, at the World Championships in Switzerland in September. “I can tell you E-Bike racing is exciting and it’s growing, but it’s still f*cking hard!” she emphasised. “Today I was suffering a lot because there was a strong headwind on the gravel road. But I love it. I love to see so many E-Bikers out here at FNB Wines2Whales Pinotage, enjoying every minute, enjoying the trails, and enjoying this relatively new discipline of cycling.”

Stirnemann and Spielmann crossed the line second on the day and completed a remarkable all-categories podium. The Haibike / Thömus stood on the third step, alongside the overall race winners, Lombardi and Boulle, with Ryf and Wiedenroth on the left of the Unbound Uncles. This is quite possibly the first time Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed category teams have all shared a final general classification podium at a major stage race. In the Men’s category, Pieter Malan and Matt Venn did enough to leapfrog Grobler and Van Heerden into second. Dennda and Santina Malacarne joined Frankie du Toit and Dewald Oosthuizen on either side of the Specialized Factory Racing squad on the Mixed category podium. Stirnemann and Spielmann were the only Women’s team eligible for prizes, as the other women’s teams all made use of the battery transport service.

In total, there were 310 riders, in 155 teams, who started the Pinotage on an E-Bike. Some opted to tour, rather than race, starting in the last batch on every stage and riding at a leisurely pace through the trails. Those who chose to race had the option to make use of the battery transport service, which took riders’ second batteries to the second water point on each stage. The teams that made use of this service were ineligible for stage and general classification awards in the Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed categories.

“Only having one battery each, this year, definitely made the racing more tactical,” Du Toit said. “You had to be intelligent with where you expended your battery life, and you certainly couldn’t ride on Boost mode throughout! Because I’m lighter and a bit fitter than Dewald [Oosthuizen], we came up with the plan to switch batteries between ourselves. That way, when Dewald’s battery reached 2 bars, we’d swap and then still be able to keep putting the power down. The battery management of two E-Bikes adds another dimension to team racing, and rewards the combinations with the best overall skills, both technical skills on the trails and tactical skills in how you choose to use your batteries. I think it’s been an exciting addition to the race.”

The FNB Wines2Whales action is still far from over. With Candice Lill and Tyler Jacobs crowned Chardonnay champions, and the e-powered Pinotage victors celebrating their titles, the attention now turns to the elite men in the Shiraz race. Starting at Benguela Cove at 07:00 on Friday, 7 November, the racing will be lightning fast. Tune in to @wines_2_whales on Instagram or like the Wines2Whales Facebook page to stay updated, as professional mountain biker and social media star, Pieter du Toit, broadcasts the excitement from the Switchback route.

Mountain biking fans can tune in to the Epic Series YouTube channel to recap on the highlights thus far, too, or to view the daily news reports from the weekend’s race. For more information, please visit www.epic-series.com/races/wines2whales.