Hatherly and Preen Open Their 2026 Seasons with Victories at the Hell of the South
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 […]
Double World Champion and Defending Champ Returns to Attakwas
On Saturday, the 17th of January, the South African and global mountain biking season gets underway at the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen. Dubbed the Hell of the South, it challenges riders to an infamously tough, 120-kilometre course from Chandelier Game Lodge, near Oudtshoorn, to the Pine Creek Resort, in Great Brak. […]
Route Tweaks Likely to Produce Faster Attakwas Extreme
The 20th anniversary edition of the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, will challenge mountain bikers with an infamously tough course from the Klein Karoo to Great Brak on the coast, but the tweaked route may well prove faster. A return to the original approach to the Attakwaskloof removes two rocky climbs, along […]
Hatherly Opens 2025 Season with a Victory at the Hell of the South
The pre-race favourite Alan Hatherly surged away from Tristan Nortje, with 40 kilometres to race in the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, to win the 2025 Hell of the South title; on Saturday, 18 January. The cross-country World Champion’s first outing for Giant Factory Off Road Racing was a resounding success, as […]
South African World Champion Headlines 2025 Attakwas Field
South Africa’s homegrown cross-country World Champion, Alan Hatherly, will start his 2025 season off-road at the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen. Having signed for Jayco–AlUla the Olympic Bronze medallist is expected to split his time between the road and the XCO circuit this year. His unexpected entry into the Hell of the […]
Miller and Sanders Crowned King and Queen of the Attakwas Extreme
Namibian champion Alex Miller and, former South African marathon champion, Samantha Sanders conquered the Attakwaskloof and temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius to win the 2024 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen. The race, which took place on Saturday, 20 January, from Chandelier Game Lodge, near Oudtshoorn, to Pine Creek Resort, in […]
Heat Management at the Attakwas Extreme
With temperatures at the Attakwas Extreme predicted to be in the mid-forties this weekend, staying fuelled and hydrated is going to be key to a safe and successful ride. We had a quick phonecall with coach and Sport Performance specialist Prof Mike Posthumus to cover the key points on staying fuelled, hydrated and heat management. […]
Who to Watch at the 2023 Attakwas Extreme
The traditional mountain biking season opener, the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, will once again feature a stellar elite field. Headlined by the record holder, Wessel Botha, and the 2020 winner, Matt Beers, the men’s race is sure to be fiercely contested. The women’s race is likely to be a battle between […]
Defending Champions Face Stern Test at 2022 Attakwas
The Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, is set to take place on Saturday, 15 January 2022. The 16th edition of the race will see South Africa’s top mountain bikers go head-to-head in a battle to raise a stone from the Attakwakloof above their heads. In so doing they will get their 2022 […]
Beers and Stenerhag battle muddy conditions to win Attakwas
NAD Pro MTB’s Matt Beers and Fairtree Capital’s Jennie Stenerhag started the 2020 mountain biking season in the best possible way on Saturday, 18 January. The pair overcame formidable elite, men’s and women’s, fields to win the Momentum Health Attakwas Extreme presented by Biogen. Depth of competition and the famously difficult course were made more […]
Attakwas Extreme: The Season Starts Here
The South African mountain biking season starts on Saturday, 18 January, with the Momentum Health Attakwas Extreme presented by Biogen. Known as the Hell of the South, it is a 121-kilometre-long traverse of the Klein Karoo, fabled Attakwaskloof and the rolling roads through the Outeniqua Mountain foothills. It is also the traditional season opener for […]
Tough Enough for the Attakwas
Having become accustomed to racing aboard high-end dual suspension mountain bikes, Oli ‘Pinner’ Munnik accepted a challenge to ride this year’s Attakwas Extreme on a sub R20k alloy hardtail … would he survive?! If you’ve ever ridden the Attakwas Extreme, revered as the ‘Hell of the South’, you’ll know it is more of a survival […]