The Old Mutual Wealth Double Century is not a typical bicycle race. The 12-person team time trial format rewards the strongest teams and the most intelligent strategy. Knowing when to push and when to conserve is key to crossing the line in the best possible time. Individual strengths are essential too, but the strongest rider on the day may very well not end up atop the podium at the Swellendam Showgrounds on Saturday, 22 November 2025.
The 202-kilometre route starts and finishes in Swellendam, taking in 2 200 metres of climbing. From the start, the first 65 kilometres trend uphill, as the teams conquer the Tradouw and Op de Tradouw passes, en route to the first Team Support Zone 115 kilometres into the race, in Ashton. After 50 kilometres of high-speed descending from Ashton, the second phase of the race is a flat and fast segment along the R60 to Robertson and tracing the Breede River to Bonnievale. Leaving the Bonnivale Team Support Zone, with 160 kilometres in their legs, the riders will climb towards Swellendam. The three sisters stand between the teams and the finish line, and have been known to reduce well-drilled teams to a scattering of individuals struggling through the closing kilometres. The Old Mutual Wealth Double Century is a race which cannot be won in the first half, but the groundwork for victory can be laid there…
Depending on the group strength of each squad, they could choose to expend their energy on the flats or to power up the climbs. The lack of a visible rival to chase makes the task of racing the team time trial format a mental as well as a physical challenge. Thus, the motivational abilities of each team’s road captain and their support crew’s aptitude for calculating the rival’s time splits are very much part of the day’s teamwork.
The defending champions, RH77 Factory Racing, were the most organised and unified team in 2024. Marshalled by Rene Haselbacher and with the formidable firepower of Johnny Hoogerland, Daniel Loubser, Byron Munton, Felix Ritzinger, and Christøff Van Heerden to call upon, they have experience and a race-winning pedigree. Philipp Ludescher, David George, Miguel Heidemann, Reto Hollenstein, Matthias Krizek, and Jean-Pierre Lloyd complete a stellar line-up who appear favourites to challenge the course record of 4 hours, 30 minutes, and 12 seconds, which has stood since 2017.
RH77 Factory Racing’s most likely challengers are the Realty Dynamix and Stars Racing teams, who were second and third in 2024. Other men’s squads to watch include ASAP CYCLING team, who feature the reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour champion Tyler Lange, as well as the Rouleur Tritans, and the Road Warriors. The 226ers also boast an exceptionally strong team, packed with both talent and experience. Christiaan Janse van Rensburg, Casper Kruger, Marc Pritzen, and Jaco van Dyk anchor the team, which also includes Kyle Mitchell, Kai Pritzen, Luca Stermin, Ruan Swanepoel, and DuToit van den Bergh.
In the women’s race, the ASAP Ladies are targeting a third successive title. Team captain, Tarryn Povey, may be out with a fractured clavicle, but the team, which raced as Paceline in 2023 and 2024, remains the women to beat. Corli de Bruyn, Almari de Milander, Nicola Freitas, Michelle George, Ila Stow, Kylie Hanekom, Chanel Hannah, Tiffany Keep, Layla Schwellnus, Megan Scribante, Erin Shillaw, and Kate Slegrova complete the line-up. 8 of the 12 have won the Old Mutual Wealth Double Century together before, with 7 of the 2024 winning team returning, and Schwellnus reuniting with the team after anchoring them to victory in 2023.
ChemChamp Ladies4CANSA Racing and CHALK-AIR WC / CMC LADIES are two of the other women’s outfits to watch. Though the Nana Cycling Club and Tiletoria teams are the more likely challengers for the ASAP Ladies’ crown. In 2024, Nana Cycling Club were bold newcomers to the sharp end of the race, finishing just off the podium after a crash within their team reduced their collective strength. With experience banked, Chloe Bishop, Jess Boardman, Charlotte Bruce, Bianca Burton, Jen Cleary, Ali Erskine, Kyla Hansen, Ashleigh Irvine-Smith, Simone Kallis, Nicola Poulos, Kristina Renner, and Michaela Surtees will almost certainly be both wiser and stronger in 2025.
In the mixed category, the defending champions also return, though ChemChamp Pro-Mixed will have a harder task of keeping tabs on their rivals than the top men’s and women’s contenders. Cronje Beukes, Bruce Campbell, Dean de Coning, Simon Ferreira, Herman Fourie, Juanita Mackenzie, Tristan Nortje, Ruan Portwig, Karlise Scheepers, Keegan Tullis, and Cherise Willeit start at 07:05, one minute after the fancied Pink Pony Club team, two minutes after Pretty Casual, and four after STS Racing, but the UCT team will be on the road for nearly an hour before the ChemChamp Pro-Mixed squad rolls off the line. This could give the University of Cape Town students an advantage of racing in cooler conditions and perhaps even into a lighter wind in the closing kilometres back to Swellendam.
The Giant/LIV setup will start 16 minutes after the cluster of mixed category favourites. The experience of Oliver Munnik and James Tennant should see the team well drilled, while the class of artistic swimmer turned IRONMAN 70.3 champion, Jessica Hayes-Hill makes them a danger to the aspirations of the other teams in the category.
In the race beyond the categories, for the ultimate bragging rights of the unofficial Kings of the Atlantic Seaboard title, will see new champions in 2025. Having won by just 21 seconds last time out, the MOTHER AMATEUR Bicycle Club has surprisingly opted not to defend their crown. Some, including the team they defeated in 2024, will say that it was fear rather than life commitments that prompted this decision. The three-team race is thus between the long-time rivals: Pure Savage, East City Cycles, and LPC. Expect Pure Savage to race smart; East City Cycles to be motivated by revenge, having plummeted from first to third last time out; and for the La Perla Classic team to rely on the prowess of Jasper Stuyven and Nicolas Roche. 2025 will be the Belgian Classics specialist’s third Old Mutual Wealth Double Century, and the two-time La Vuelta a España stage winner turned commentator and gravel racer’s first. The question the other 10 members of the LPC squad will be asking themselves is which other 4 riders will need to stick with Stuyven and Roche to stop the team time trial clock.
Light rain is predicted overnight and into the early hours of Saturday morning in Swellendam, but the day should warm as the teams make their way into the Klein Karoo and back to the Overberg via the Breede River Valley. A high of 24 is expected in both Ashton and Bonnievale, along with a moderate southeasterly breeze. Team captains will be checking the wind forecast more closely than the temperature in the lead-up to race day, as the southeaster is a headwind for the final stretch from Bonnievale to Swellendam.
To share in the action on race day, follow @oldmutualwealthdc on Instagram and like the Old Mutual Wealth Double Century Facebook page. For more information, visit www.doublecentury.co.za.
