Candice Lill (left) and Tyler Jacobs (right) wrapped up their third FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay title in as many editions of the race on Sunday, 2 November 2025. Photo by Dom Barnardt.
For the third time in three years, Candice Lill and Tyler Jacobs stood atop the Chardonnay race podium at FNB Wines2Whales.
The Liv Sabi-Sabi Seattle Coffee e-Fort team’s 2025 margin of victory was 12 minutes and 10 seconds over Margot Moschetti and Claudia Peretti of e-Fort MB Race. Sarah Hill and Robyn de Grood finished fourth on Stage 3, but controlled the gap to the Safari Essence Titan Racing team, who crossed the Lourensford finish line in third, to ensure that Efficient Infiniti Insure completed the elite women’s podium places.
After three fun, fast, and fiercely competitive days of women’s mountain bike racing came to a fitting conclusion on the fields of Lourensford Wine Estate on Sunday, 2 November. The focus at the Chardonnay Race at FNB Wines2Whales is firmly on the women’s participants, be they competitive or social. As South Africa’s top-performing women’s mountain bikers on a global stage, it was only fitting that Candice Lill and Tyler Jacobs wrapped up the 2025 title with a perfect clean sweep of stage victories.
Having won Stage 1, after taking a wrong turn and losing the lead on the trails, Lill and Jacobs powered through the trails of the Oak Valley and Paul Clüver Wine Estates on Stage 2, taking their advantage from 53 seconds to 6 minutes and 18 seconds. On Stage 3, Jacobs’s love for the Gantouw Pass portage ensured that she was eagerly anticipating a fast run from the Elgin plateau to the Helderberg basin below, where Idiom Wines, Vergelegen, and finally Lourensford awaited after 63 scintillating kilometres.
Tyler Jacobs has now won three FNB Wines2Whales titles, drawing her level with Jenny Stenerhag in the overall winners’ list. Photo by Dom Barnardt.
It was not all downhill to Somerset West and the final finish line. There was 1 250 metres of climbing to conquer too, which helped the women in the Orange CIOVITA jerseys distance their rivals while climbing the A to Z trails from the Eikenhof Dam to the summit of the Gantouw Pass. Lill and Jacobs used their singletrack speed to create separation between themselves and their nearest rivals, Margot Moschetti and Claudia Peretti. Sarah Hill and Robyn de Groot had been distanced around the 15-kilometre mark already and were focusing on conserving their podium position.
“We needed to take it a bit easy today,” Hill punned. “Robyn [de Groot] bashed her knee yesterday, and it was a bit swollen this morning, so she couldn’t push as hard as she had on the previous days. Fortunately, we had a good buffer to Danielle [du Toit] and Bianca [Haw] so we could ride conservatively today.”
Margot Moschetti (leading) was, alongside Claudia Perettie, Candice Lill and Tyler Jacobs’ closest competition during the 2025 Chardonnay race. Photo by Sam Clark.
While Efficient Infiniti Insure defended their position, the leaders attacked. Lill and Jacobs were on the charge. Jacobs led her mentor and teammate down the Gantouw Pass portage with mountain goat fineness, then remounted and powered through Idiom Wine Estate with a 3-minute advantage over the chasers. The Liv Sabi-Sabi Seattle Coffee e-Fort team did not slow to take in the wildlife in the Vergelegen Game Reserve, or to marvel at the show being presented in the Cowboy Town film set on Lourensford. They only had eyes for the finish line and the conclusion of their 2025 seasons.
“It’s very special to take the victory at FNB Wines2Whales,” Jacobs grinned. In 2023, the Kwa-Zulu Natal native became the youngest winner, at only 19 years old. In 2025, she became the fastest to three titles and is tied in third on the all-time winners’ list alongside Jennie Stenerhag. Only Robyn de Groot and her teammate, Candice Lill, have won more FNB Wines2Whales crowns than Tyler Jacobs.
“To win is always special… to win a race like this, and finish off a season in style is extra special,” Lill smiled. “It’s always great to be here at FNB Wines2Whales and to race with Tyler [Jacobs]. I had a lot of fun and I learnt from her too, especially following her in the singletracks.”
Candice Lill (leading) and Tyler Jacobs were not only the strongest climbers of the race, but also proved themselves the quickest through the many singletracks of the FNB Wines2Whales route. Photo by Sam Clark.
“FNB Wines2Whales is a very special race,” Lill praised. “End of the year… back home, surrounded by the South African mountain biking community… It’s really special. It’s not the same racing overseas; everything is very serious. Nobody loves mountain biking like South Africans, and to celebrate that love of the sport at a race like this is amazing.”
Moschetti and Peretti wrapped up their runner-up spot on the general classification standings with a third third-place finish of the race. The French and Italian combination enjoyed their time on the South African trails too, with Peretti having gushed about the quality of the riding in Elgin in particular. Behind the e-Fort MB Race team, Safari Essence Titan Racing completed the stage podium. Bianca Haw and Danielle du Toit had to be content with fourth overall however, as Hill and De Groot had done enough on the first two days to secure the final general classification podium place.
Stage 3 saw a third new team taking fifth on the stage results. Veronika Weiss and Daniela Höfler, of the MTB Ladies by R-Suspension team, had their strongest day of the event, holding off Ila Stow and Steph Wohlters. Yet, the Fortress Real Estate Investments Efficient Infiniti team remained fifth on the final time sheets.
The CIOVIA jersey winners (from left to right): Monet van Rooyen and Jana-Mart van der Merwe (Open Category | White), Jenny Close and Maureen Jordaan (NTT Grand Masters | Blue), Tyler Jacobs and Candice Lill (FNB Wines2Whales Champions | Orange), and Martha Koekemoer and Jenny Rönngren (GIC Grand Masters | Purple). Photo by Sam Clark.
In the age-group categories, the GIC Grand Masters competition saw ten friends and rivals from years of South African mountain biking racing for the Purple CIOVITA jerseys. Having taken the lead on Stage 1, Martha Koekemoer and Jenny Rönngren never ceded a second to Hanlie Booyens and Michelle Lombardi, or Louise Ferreira and Marleen Lourens, nor Jane Fisher and Collette Bastard, or Hannele Steyn and Lisa Czepek. All five of the top GIC Grand Masters teams posted fast enough times to make it onto the NTT Masters’ and Open category podiums. In fact, Koekemoer and Rönngren would have won the Open category even if they were eligible to compete in it. The NTT Masters’ winners, Jenny Close and Maureen Jordaan, needed a concerted effort to beat the Commspace combination.
“There’s a lot of intra-category competition between us and the GIC Grand Masters’ teams,” Close confessed. “We had to work hard today to make sure we beat Martha [Koekemoer] and Jenny [Rönngren].” Close and Jordaan’s winning margin within their own NTT Masters’ category might have been significant, but they were only 2 minutes and 47 seconds ahead of the 50-and-older division.
The fiercely contested GIC Grand Masters’ Category podium (from left to right): Hanlie Booyens, Michelle Lombardi, Jenny Rönngren, Martha Koekemoer, Marleen Lourens, and Louise Ferreira. Photo by Sam Clark.
Open category champions Monet van Rooyen and Jana-Mart van der Merwe were surprised and elated to take the victory. “It’s our first stage race together and we really loved it,” Van der Merwe said. “The trails were epic, the weather was perfect, and the gees was amazing. Riding with all the women’s teams was incredible. FNB Wines2Whales will be among the highlights of my year!”
With the Chardonnay race over, the attention now shifts to fun riding and full gas E-Bike racing in the mid-week Pinotage race. Mountain biking fans can continue to indulge in all the action from FNB Wines2Whales when the Pinotage gets underway, from Benguela Cove, on Monday morning. Follow @wines_2_whales on Instagram or like the Wines2Whales Facebook page to stay updated, as Pieter du Toit brings the racing from the trails to your phone via Instagram and Facebook stories.
All the highlights from the 2025 FNB Wines2Whales events can be watched on the Epic Series YouTube channel. So, tune in there. For more information, visit www.epic-series.com/races/wines2whales.
Elite women’s general classification podium after Stage 3 of the 2025 FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay (from left to right): Margot Moschetti, Claudia Peretti, Tyler Jacobs, Candice Lill, Sarah Hill, and Robyn de Groot. Photo by Sam Clark.
2025 FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay Results
Elite Women’s Stage 3 Results:
- Liv Sabi-Sabi Seattle Coffee e-Fort: Candice Lill & Tyler Jacobs (2:55:03)
- e-Fort MB Race: Margot Moschetti & Claudia Peretti (3:00:54 | +5:51)
- Safari Essence Titan Racing: Bianca Haw & Danielle du Toit (3:06:23 | +11:19)
- Efficient Infiniti Insure: Sarah Hill & Robyn de Groot (3:07:10 | +12:07)
- MTB Ladies by R-Suspension: Veronika Weiss & Daniela Höfler (3:07:15 | +12:12)
Elite Women’s General Classification after Stage 3:
- Liv Sabi-Sabi Seattle Coffee e-Fort: Candice Lill & Tyler Jacobs (8:33:34)
- e-Fort MB Race: Margot Moschetti & Claudia Peretti (8:45:44 | +12:10)
- Efficient Infiniti Insure: Sarah Hill & Robyn de Groot (9:03:53 | +30:19)
- Safari Essence Titan Racing: Bianca Haw & Danielle du Toit (9:15:00 | +41:26)
- Fortress Real Estate Efficient Infiniti: Ila Stow & Steph Wohlters (9:27:27 | +53:53)
For the full results from the FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay, please click here.
Finish line Devils Peak beers to celebrate completing the FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay. Photo by Sam Clark.
