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CYCLING NEWS - Alan Hatherly and Hayley Preen started their 2026 seasons with stellar victories in the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen.
The 120-kilometre race from Chandelier Game Lodge, near Oudtshoorn, to the Pine Creek Resort, in Great Brak, featured a revised route that lent itself to faster times. As did the cool weather on Saturday, 17 January.
Dryland Event Management had estimated that removing two infamously rocky climbs, within the first 40 kilometres, would keep riders on their bikes rather than forcing them into running and speed up the course.
For the UCI Men, the best guess was that it would be 15 minutes faster, though that proved conservative. Or perhaps Hatherly and Co. simply put in the best traverse of the Attakwaskloof in the event’s 20-year history.
“I think the smoother opening kilometres helped us stay fresh longer,” Marc Pritzen, who played a key role in the race, speculated. “Last year we went hard on the climbs and then sat up; this year we kept a consistent pace all the way to the start of the King of the Mountain climb,” Hatherly noted.
This led to a very fast 40 kilometres. “Normally, if we went hard, it would take us 1 hour 45 to 1:50 to the first feed zone,” Tristan Nortje added. “This year, we were there in under 90 minutes, and it didn’t feel like we were going that hard.”
That water point was 10 kilometres earlier, at the 40-kilometre mark, and just before it, Nortje endured a puncture.
“I felt my front wheel going slowly soft, then knocked the rim on a corner, and I knew I had to stop. Initially, I couldn’t find the hole; I had to bomb it, then plug it, and then stop at the feed zone for a new wheel.”
Nortje left the feed zone 2 minutes behind the rest of the contenders and would never see the front of the race again. “Before I knew it, we were nearing the top of the climb into the Attakwaskloof,” Pritzen recalled.
“I had told myself I wouldn’t sprint for the King of the Mountain Hotspot, but when I accelerated, and nobody came with me, I decided to go for it. It didn’t seem like we had a gap, but over the top, there were suddenly only four of us in the lead group.”
Hayley Preen, of ChemChamp Honeycomb, won the 2026 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, ahead of Samantha Sanders and Bianca Haw. Photo by Oakpics.
Part of the reason for that could have been due to punctures behind. Andreas Seewald punctured as the descent began, but was able to minimise his time losses. “It was a first race of the year mistake,” the European Marathon Champion confessed. “But fortunately, it didn’t cost me too much energy, and I was able to catch the leaders again.”
Pritzen had led Hatherly, Wessel Botha, and Travis Stedman into the Attakwaskloof, but a crash put Stedman out of the group.
The African Marathon Champion suffered a lapse in concentration, taking a feed at an inopportune moment and crashing hard. The Toyota Specialized Imbuko man was able to continue, though he would eventually finish 13th.
Once out of the Kloof, the road surfaces improved, and Seewald bridged back to the leading trio. Nortje had ridden through the chase groups, but remained 2 minutes off the lead with 50 kilometres to race. From that point, it was clear that the winner would be one of Pritzen, Hatherly, Botha, and Seewald.
“I’d been rolling through but not putting too much into my turns on the front, because I knew exactly what was coming,” Botha grimaced. “When Alan [Hatherly] attacked on the second last climb, I couldn’t go with him. But Marc [Pritzen], Andreas [Seewald], and I were able to hold the gap steady over the top. We could just not bring him back, though.”
Hatherly’s attack with 20 kilometres to go took him 30 seconds clear, but he was not entirely confident either. “I know how hard it is to close a gap, but I was starting to feel a bit flat in the last 10 kilometres… that corrugated road section into the headwind was very hard,” Hatherly allowed. “Winning here is a great way to start the season. Last year, it set me up well for the AlUla Tour, and I hope that will be the case this year too.”
Hatherly’s winning time was 4 hours, 25 minutes, and 10 seconds, 21 minutes and 11 seconds faster than Botha’s 2021 course record.
Route amendments for the 2026 edition led to a fast first 40 kilometres, which the top UCI Men ticked off in under 90 minutes. Photo by Oakpics.
The changes to the route mean that the Giant Factory Off Road Racing rider’s time is a new benchmark rather than a new outright record. Pritzen crossed the line in second, just 23 seconds back, with Botha coming home inside a minute behind Hatherly. Seewald finished fourth, with Nortje completing the top five.
In the UCI Women’s race, an efficient race through the opening 40 kilometres saw a group of 10 riders start the climb to the Queen of the Mountain Hotspot. “I liked the new opening to the race,” Samantha Sanders stated. The woman who dethroned her as the Hell of the South champion echoed those sentiments. “It was exciting, and the bunch stayed together for longer, so it was faster, which was good.”
Once the climbing began, Preen came into her own. “I had planned to attack on the Queen of the Mountain climb,” she said. “I had hoped to go over the top solo and then take the descent more cautiously. And it worked out perfectly, they [Sanders and Bianca Haw] caught me as I turned onto the gravel road again, so I had company for the rolling roads into the headwind.”
Preen, Sanders, and Bianca Haw worked together for nearly 30 kilometres before Preen attacked again.
“I had confidence in my climbing from the main climb earlier, so on a steep climb with around 30 kilometres to go, I attacked again and was able to get away solo,” Preen reported.
Once in the lead for the second time, there was no stopping the ChemChamp Honeycomb rider. “Last year I died a million deaths in the closing kilometres, this year I felt really strong, and that’s probably the biggest reason why my time is so much better this year than last.”
Her winning time was 5 hours, 33 minutes, and 7 seconds, a time 50 minutes better than her 2025 effort. It is also within 7 minutes of Annika Langvad’s course record, which has stood since 2017. Sanders was second across the Pine Creek finish line, 3 minutes and 29 seconds after Preen. Haw was third, ahead of Felicitas Geiger and Malena Seer.
Marc Pritzen took the King of the Mountain Hotspot prize in a move that provided the decisive split in the peloton. Photo by Oakpics.
For more news, photos, and videos from the race, mountain biking fans can follow @attakwasmtb on Instagram or like the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, Facebook page. For more information, visit www.atta.co.za.
2026 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, Results
UCI Men’s Results:
- Alan Hatherly: Giant Factory MTB Racing (4:25:10)
- ?Marc Pritzen: Honeycomb 226ers (4:25:33 | +23)
- ?Wessel Botha: Insect Science (4:26:07 | +57)
- ?Andreas Seewald: Singer KTM (04:27:09 | +1:59)
- ?Tristan Nortje: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (04:34:04 | +8:06)
UCI Women’s Results:
- 1. Hayley Preen: ChemChamp Honeycomb (05:33:07)
- 2. ?Samantha Sanders: Efficient Infiniti Insure (05:36:36 | + 3:29)
- 3. ?Bianca Haw: Leatt (05:38:41 | +5:34)
- 4. ?Felicitas Geiger: Privateer (05:45:21 | +12:14)
- 5. ?Malena Seer: 1OF1 Cycling (05:49:36 | +16:29)
For the full results from the 2026 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, click here.
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