De Marchi and Laing storm to victories on Stage 1

Mattia De Marchi (The Grip) and Nele Laing (Canyon DT Swiss ATR) claimed opening stage wins of Nedbank Gravel Burn on Sunday.

The Karoo wasted no time showing its teeth. Stage 1 sent more than 400 riders from 33 countries out of Union High School in Robert Sobukwe Town / Graaff-Reinet and into 90 kilometres of unrelenting gravel and 1 450 metres of climbing on the road to Blaauwater Farm.

Under endless blue skies and the blazing Karoo sun, the opening stage laid down a clear marker for the week ahead: there would be no easy days.

For much of the field, the goal was to soak up the unique, remote beauty of the region and savour the experience, even beyond the finish. At the front, however, the ambition was singular: to stake a claim on the race on the first day.

Eventually a five-man break stuck: De Marchi, Jaedon Terlouw, Luca Dreßler, Rick Ottema and Johan van Zyl. On the long drag towards Conical Peak they built a lead of three minutes, but the climb took its toll.

WORLD CHAMPS LAGS

By the summit only De Marchi, Dreßler and Terlouw remained, and their advantage had been cut to 90 seconds. Behind them the groups were swelling and the chase was on. Further back, Hugo Drechou put in a strong effort, setting the fastest time on the Toyota Power Climb section.

Noticeably absent from the action were Simon Pellaud, the 2025 runner-up, and current Marathon World Champion Andreas Seewald, both over two minutes back.

The chase took shape with riders including Marco Joubert, Tristan Nortje, Travis Stedman, Hugo Drechou, Filippo Colombo, Henrique Avancini, Cole Davis and Matt Beers sharing the work to reel in the leaders.

The catch was eventually made with 30 kilometres to go, and the front group grew, with South Africa holding the numbers. Crucially for De Marchi, among them was his teammate Eddy Le Huitouze.

Shortly after, Henrique Avancini suffered an untimely sidewall cut that forced him to ride home on his rim, eventually losing 11:30 to De Marchi.

With five kilometres remaining, De Marchi put in a stealthy surge and the group behind hesitated. Inside the final kilometre he went again, and this time nobody could follow. He rode in alone to take Stage 1 by 13 seconds ahead of Marco Joubert and Travis Stedman.

“The feeling wasn’t there at the beginning,” explained De Marchi of his start. “Because I knew the route from last year, I knew it would be important to get a gap before the big climb. I got into a break with four other guys and we forced a gap.

“On the climb I still wasn’t feeling great but from there I started to feel better and better; with about 30 kilometres to go, a big group caught us and my teammate Eddy [Le Huitouze] was there too, which helped me. At 5 kilometres to go I decided to push and the guys behind me just stopped; at 1 kilometre to go I pushed harder and I won. A nice start, huh!”

LAING LEADS LADIES

The Pro Women’s field is deep with talented racers from across the globe. On Stage 1 it was Germany’s Nele Laing who proved strongest, attacking on Conical Peak and then out-sprinting American Alexis Skarda to the line to claim the stage, the Toyota Power Climber jersey, and the Orange Jersey that the leader on GC wears at Nedbank Gravel Burn.

For the opening kilometres of Stage 1, the women’s field remained tight-knit, patient, and on full alert for early attacks as the route trended upwards.

As the gradient steepened on the slopes of Conical Peak, the group began to spread out, and Laing spotted her opportunity to get away. By the technical descent she had built a lead of around 40 seconds over a chasing group of Skarda, Hayley Preen, Clara Koppenburg, Elena Hartmann and Nathalie Eklund.

After the main river crossing, noticeably deeper than on the same stage last year, Skarda bridged across to Laing, and with around 14 kilometres to go the pair were together at the front, with Koppenburg, Eklund and Preen giving chase.

Just before the culvert passing under the national road, Preen launched a bid of her own. She slowly prised open a gap and the elastic snapped as she rode clear of her group. However, she could not close on the leading pair.

Laing and Skarda worked together all the way to the finish, and the stage came down to a two-up sprint. Laing had the stronger finish, crossing the line three seconds ahead of Skarda, with Preen holding on for third, 1:18 down.

“It was tough to see the actual finish,” explained Skarda. “That made it hard to know how to pace it. I knew she [Laing] would be hard to sprint, but at the end of the day I just didn’t have the legs.”

“I was excited from the start, and I anticipated a great day for me with the climb in the middle of the stage,” said Laing.

“I went pretty hard on the main climb and managed to get away. In the sprint I was concerned Alexis was going to beat me as I was pretty cooked. I’m not used to the heat anymore and she’s pretty strong. I waited for her to make a move but then decided I needed to go. It was pretty cool to win!”

Results: After the opening stage, the Stage 1 results and the General Classification standings are identical.

Pro Men: