Marc Pritzen and Sarah Maré are poised to ride away each R100 000 richer on Saturday, 12 September. The sixth and final round of the 2026 Ford Trailseeker Series is hosted by Bosman Family Vineyards and will boast a singletrack-packed route on the famous Wellington trails. The elite men’s and women’s titles come down to the final race of the season, with Pritzen 35 points ahead of Jaedon Terlouw, and Maré 26 points ahead of her teammate Samantha Sanders.

“I love Sam [Sanders], and she’s a great teammate, but I know she’s not going to gift me a victory,” Maré predicted. “I’ll have to go out there and fight for the points on Saturday.”

Ford Trailseeker Series race director, JP Nortje, crunched the numbers and investigated the permutations ahead of the final round. “Sarah Maré needs to finish 7^th or better to win the overall, if Sam [Sanders] wins the race,” Nortje revealed. “If Sarah finishes 8^th and Sam wins, they will be tied on 150 points, and it will go to a countback, in which case Sam would take the title because she will have won three events to Sarah’s one.”

Maré is the defending Ford Trailseeker Series Wellington champion, having held off Nicolette Griffioen in 2025. 2026 will present a tougher challenge, however, as the final podium place, and the R15 000 associated with it, is still on the line. Just 8 points separate Frances Swanepoel [née Janse van Rensburg] in 3^rd from Sanchia Malan in 6^th. Sadly for Swanepoel, a road bike accident has put her out of action for this weekend and out of the running for the series podium. This leaves Roxanne Kemp, on 79 points, Tania Bugarin Ortiz, on 74 points, and Malan, on 73 points, all in the hunt for third overall.

Maré will thus need to get ahead of that battle. Though it is likely that she will get sucked into a fight for positions with Lilian Baber, for whom the steep and relatively technical Wellington course is perfectly suited. Kylie Hanekom and 11-time South African Downhill and Enduro champion Frankie du Toit are two more riders who will love all the Wellington trails. Du Toit last raced a cross-country event at the opening round of the Ford Trailseeker Series in January, but could nonetheless surprise some of the marathon specialists.

Danielle du Toit, Karlise Scheepers, Lianke Fourie, Chloe Hopf, and Ila Stow are contenders for a top five result too, and could further complicate matters for the Efficient Infiniti Insure team of Maré and Sanders. Efficient Infiniti Insure laid down a marker as the premier women’s team in South Africa early in the Ford Trailseeker Series, and at one point had three riders on the overall podium. Vera Looser’s iliac artery surgery may have prevented them from claiming a clean sweep in 2026, but 1^st and 2^nd are wrapped up.

“It’s been a long season,” Maré allowed. “Looking back, I’m proud of my consistency now, but it wasn’t easy. The Cradle round of the Ford Trailseeker Series was a real low point for me. I was so sick and really battled through that day, wondering why I was racing in that state. Now those 22 points, for finishing 4^th, are basically the difference between Sam and me.”

Pritzen’s advantage over Terlouw is such that the Honeycomb 226ers man has only to finish 16^th or better. “For Jaedon [Terlouw] to win the overall, he would need to win the Wellington round of the Ford Trailseeker Series and hope for Marc [Pritzen] to finish 17^th or lower,” Nortje explained. “If Marc finishes 16^th and Jaedon wins, they will be tied on 167 points, and will have both won two events. The countback will then go to the second part of our tie-breaker rule, giving Marc the win based on his result, a victory, at Die Bosveld last time out.”

Terlouw comes into the final round of the Ford Trailseeker Series brimming with confidence after his King Price Race to the Sea victory on Saturday, 5 September. Pritzen was 5^th at the 100-Miler gravel race, but his fans will fear that he is starting to feel the effects of a jam-packed race schedule. While many of his rivals have competed sparingly in 2026, Pritzen added Unbound Gravel in the US and the Swiss Epic to his local race calendar. Despite this, he has yet to finish lower than 4^th in a Ford Trailseeker Series even this year.

Pritzen is thus the favourite for the overall title, but is not the favourite for Saturday’s race. The presence of Alan Hatherly, the double cross-country World Champion, on the start list shakes up the usual order. As does 2025 series champion Marco Joubert’s first start since the opening round in January. Pritzen’s teammate, Felix Stehli, is also in fine form, while Arno du Toit is fresh and rearing to race after recovering from a broken wrist.

Terlouw’s Toyota Specialized Imbuko team will have a numerical advantage in their favour, with Joubert and Terlouw being joined by Ignatius du Preez, Lood Goosen, and 2025 Ford Trailseeker Series Wellington winner, Travis Stedman, on the start line. The event is also their home race, as the squad is based in Wellington, though so are Insect Science’s Wessel Botha and Johan van Zyl. Their teammate, Keagan Bontekoning, lives and trains in Stellenbosch, but is no stranger to Wellington’s singletracks. Home trail advantage could well be important.

Having travelled down from Gauteng, Jan Withaar is 3^rd overall heading into the final race of the series, with a 15-point buffer over Du Preez. Withaar will thus be highly motivated to finish ahead of Du Preez to underline his consistency over the course of the season.

Consistency was exactly what the Ford Trailseeker Series sought to reward when the organisers, Faces, changed the elite point scoring system. “We wanted to reward the riders who compete in every round of the series,” Nortje stated. “This year Sarah, Marc, Jaedon, and Jan have been ever-present. It’s great to see them at the top of the standings and fighting it out for the overall prize purse. The R100 000 prizes will go to the most consistent riders, who have maintained form from January to September. It’s not an easy feat, and it deserves a significant reward, as well as praise from the cycling community.”

To watch how the final round of the Ford Trailseeker Series plays out on Saturday 12 September, mountain biking fans can follow @trailseekerseriesmtb on Instagram and the Ford Trailseeker MTB Series Facebook page for regular updates. Highlights from the series thus far can be viewed on the Ford Trailseeker Series YouTube channel. Fans on site, at Bosman Family Vineyards, will be able to view a livestream from the course, too, providing another reason to come support loved ones while they race. For more information, visit www.trailseeker.co.za.

2026 Ford Trailseeker Series Leaderboard

Elite Men’s Standings after Round #5 of 6:

1. Marc Pritzen: Honeycomb 226ers (162 points)
2. Jaedon Terlouw: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (127 | -35 points)
3. Jan Withaar: Insect Science (102 | -60 points)
4. Ignatius du Preez: Toyota Specialized Imbuko (87 | -75 points)
5. Wessel Botha: Insect Science (69 | -93 points)
6. Philip Buys: Ford Prime Bunch (68 | -94 points)
7. Travis Rademan-Ludeke: Project Dream SA (44 | -118 points)
8. Arno du Toit: Insect Science (41 | -121 points)
9. Matthew Beers: Toyota Specialized (40 | -122 points)
10. Stephan Aldum: Demacon Canyon Racing (35 | -127 points)

Elite Women’s Standings after Round #5 of 6:

1. Sarah Maré: Efficient Infiniti Insure (136 points)
2. Samantha Sanders: Efficient Infiniti Insure (110 | -26 points)
3. Frances Swanepoel: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (81 | -55 points)
4. Roxanne Kemp: Safari Essence Titan Racing (79 | -57 points)
5. Tania Bugarin Ortiz: Tshenolo Pro Cycling (74 | -62 points)
6. Sanchia Malan: Index Property Solutions (73 | -63 points)
7. Vera Looser: Efficient Infiniti Insure (62 | -74 points)
8. Danielle du Toit: Safari Essence Titan Racing (57 | -79 points)
9. Lilian Baber: Summerplace (50 | -86 points)
10. Rachel Seaman: Cycle Nation Enza Construction (45 | -91 points)

To view the full standings from the 2026 Ford Trailseeker Series, click here.