Hayley Preen turned a puddle into a launchpad on Stage 2 of Nedbank Gravel Burn 2026 on 26 October, soloing to victory at Blaauwater Farm after a crash-hit women’s race across a 105km Karoo gravel loop. Filippo Colombo won the men’s stage in a two-up finish with Matt Beers, while Nele Laing and Beers pulled on the Orange jerseys after another properly spicy day in the Eastern Cape.
The stage sent a 400-plus field on an anticlockwise loop from Blaauwater Farm, with 1,450m of climbing, all of it on gravel, beneath Compassberg and through the Sneeuberg Nature Reserve. Tafelkop arrived early, Leeukop carried the Toyota Power Climb, and Kom Pass topped out at 1,894m — the highest point of both the stage and the race. Add rocky roads, river crossings and the Karoo wind, and this was not a day for delicate feelings.
Preen, riding for ChemChamp Honeycomb, won the pro women’s stage in 3:41:52. Elena Hartmann of OPEN Schwalbe finished second, 28 seconds back, with Olivia Hottinger of SCOTT-SRAM third at 29 seconds. The result moves Preen to second overall, 39 seconds behind Canyon DT Swiss ATR’s Nele Laing, who kept the women’s Orange jersey despite crashing and losing contact with the front group.
Preen pounces as Laing keeps orange
The women’s race was already sharp in the first 50km. The lead group crossed Tafelkop and the Toyota Power Climb up Leeukop together, with Maddie le Roux of Tshenolo Women’s Cycling climbing strongly at the front and Hottinger repeatedly pushing the pace. On the rough descent off Leeukop, Alexis Skarda of SCOTT-SRAM punctured, and the repair time ultimately cost her more than 30 minutes on GC.
Carolin Schiff of Canyon DT Swiss ATR then attacked at the first of two Padstals, building a lead of 1:50 by the time the road began climbing towards Kom Pass at around 45km. With Schiff up the road, Laing was tactically well placed and did not have to chase her own teammate.
Behind, Preen, Hartmann, Hottinger and Clara Marie Koppenburg of Tudor Pro Cycling worked together over Kom Pass and down towards Nieu-Bethesda, gradually bringing Schiff back. Laing later crashed and lost touch with the leaders. By the time the race left Nieu-Bethesda, Schiff had also been dropped, leaving Preen, Hartmann, Hottinger and Koppenburg out front.
The winning move came at a wide puddle stretching across the road. Preen, riding at the front, found the cleanest line, emerged with a small gap and immediately accelerated. That was enough: she rode clear to take her maiden Nedbank Gravel Burn stage win.
“I came so close on this stage last year so it’s amazing to win,” Preen said. “Such an exciting stage.” Looking ahead, she added: “Tomorrow is a massive day, maybe not the best day for me, but I will fight. I’m going to race every day as hard as I can, go for stage wins, and with that try to close the gap to the lead.”
In the women’s general classification after Stage 2, Laing leads in 6:50:38, Preen is second at 0:39, and Koppenburg is third at 1:29. Laing also extended her lead in the Toyota Power Climb competition on Leeukop, while Hugo Drechou did the same in the men’s competition.
Beers takes GC lead, Colombo takes the stage
In the men’s race, Beers of Toyota Specialized made the start hard, stretching the front group over the rise towards Tafelkop. Colombo of SCOTT-SRAM was initially caught out but bridged back quickly, and by the top of Leeukop the two were clear.
Their gap grew on the long rolling drop through Sneeuberg Nature Reserve and continued to open on the drag towards Kom Pass. Behind, the chase reorganised into a group of more than 20 riders before later splitting, with Marc Pritzen of Honeycomb 226ers, Tristan Nortje and Marco Willie Joubert of Toyota Specialized Imbuko getting away from the larger group.
Colombo and Beers reached the finish together, with Colombo using his cross-country kick to take the stage in 2:56:36. Beers finished on the same time and moved into the men’s Orange jersey, four seconds ahead of Colombo on GC. Nortje took third on the stage in 2:57:57, 1:21 down.
“There are limited opportunities to gain time on anyone on this route,” Beers said. “I had to take this stage by the horns. The plan was always to go hard from the start, but hoped for more company. Filippo helped where he could, but my weight and power suited the stage. Now it’s up to me and Filippo to figure out how to get rid of each other.”
After Stage 2, Beers leads the men’s GC in 5:33:44, Colombo is second at 0:04, and Joubert is third at 1:15. Stage winner Colombo had earlier credited Beers’ workload, saying: “Matt pulled like only he can do.”
Stage 2 results and GC
Stage 2 pro women: 1) Hayley Preen, ChemChamp Honeycomb, 3:41:52; 2) Elena Hartmann, OPEN Schwalbe, 3:42:20 (+0:28); 3) Olivia Hottinger, SCOTT-SRAM, 3:42:21 (+0:29).
Stage 2 pro men: 1) Filippo Colombo, SCOTT-SRAM, 2:56:36; 2) Matthew Beers, Toyota Specialized, 2:56:36 (+0:00); 3) Tristan Nortje, Toyota Specialized Imbuko, 2:57:57 (+1:21).
General classification after Stage 2, pro women: 1) Nele Laing, Canyon DT Swiss ATR, 6:50:38; 2) Hayley Preen, ChemChamp Honeycomb, 6:51:17 (+0:39); 3) Clara Marie Koppenburg, Tudor Pro Cycling, 6:52:07 (+1:29).
General classification after Stage 2, pro men: 1) Matthew Beers, Toyota Specialized, 5:33:44; 2) Filippo Colombo, SCOTT-SRAM, 5:33:48 (+0:04); 3) Marco Willie Joubert, Toyota Specialized Imbuko, 5:34:59 (+1:15).
Next up: Swaershoek summit finish
Stage 3 takes the race from Blaauwater Farm to Merino over 137km with 1,550m of climbing, much of it packed into the final 18km. A little over half the stage is on paved roads, so the opening kilometres are expected to be fast before Wapadsberg Pass, at 1,730m, gives the first major selection point.
From there, the route crosses the Spekboomberg and passes through Nxuba before the railway crossing signals the start of the main challenge: Swaershoek Pass and a summit finish. The Toyota Power Climb section sits on the final 5km, where gradients top 14%. In other words, the Orange jerseys may be warm, but nobody should get too comfy.
Nedbank Gravel Burn is a seven-day, 750km gravel stage race in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. It starts in Robert Sobukwe Town / Graaff-Reinet, travels through the Great Karoo with riders staying in purpose-built Burn Camps, and finishes at Shamwari Private Game Reserve.