Candice Lill and Kate Courtney will be partners in Tankwa Trek Fields 2025

The Tankwa Trek Fields stage mountain bike test, South Africa, is considered as the prelude to the Cape Epic and some teams use it to finalize their preparations. This year, the test will feature a very special pair formed by one of the great revelations of XCO last year, South African Candice Lill, and American Kate Courtney.

She Sends and Speed Company lead the Tankwa Trek 2025

With four days of competition, 270 km of route, and 5,400 meters of accumulated elevation gain, the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek 2025 promises great moments of competition from February 6 to 9.

Among the favorites for victory, this edition all eyes will be on the She Sends team, formed by American Kate Courtney and South African Candice Lill, the reigning champion of the test.

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Lill was one of the great revelations of XCO in 2024 and it seems that this year she will continue competing as an independent cyclist in the World Cup. The South African has won the Tankwa Trek four times with three different partners and this time, alongside Kate Courtney and her newly formed team She Sends, she will seek to defend her title in this UCI SHC category race. It remains to be seen if this pair will also be present at the next Cape Epic 2025.

However, they will not have it easy. Teams like GHOST-LIV Racing, composed of Tyler Jacobs and Sara Cortinovis, or the Italian duo Greta Seiwald and Martina Berta, under the name Spaghetti M&G, promise to put up a fight. Also standing out are Sarah Hill and Vera Looser, with more experience in stage races, as well as the new pair of Bianca Haw and Danielle Strydom representing Safari Essence Titan Racing.

In the men's category, the Germans from ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company, Lukas Baum and Georg Egger, top the list of favorites. But they will have tough rivals, such as the European teams Team Bulls, with Simon Schneller and Frenchman Axel Roudil-Cortinat, or Singer KTM Racing, with Simon Stiebjahn and Martin Frey. Among the South African formations, Toyota Specialized Racing stands out with the current champions, Matt Beers and Johan van Zyl. Or Imbuko ChemChamp, with Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje.

The test can be followed through the race's social media where there will be live updates from the route.