During the past few years, pro-elite mountain-bike racing in South Africa was dominated by only a handful of riders.

Burry Stander, Kevin Evans, David George, Max Knox and Philip Buys won about 90% of the major races among them.

However, this domination seems to be about to end.

The two riders, Brandon Stewart and Jacques Rossouw (Fedgroup/Itec Connect) might just begin to gate-crash on the others’ victory parties.

They teamed up in October and since then Rossouw finished second in the MTN Ride Crater Cruise and then they combined to win the Three Towers Tour in the Lowveld.

Their next goal will be to win the four-day Sabie Experience in the Lowveld. Stewart, who won the tour with Max Knox the past three years, is determined to continue with his winning streak.

“I really enjoy the Sabie Experience.  Because the tour is organized by people who are passionate about what they are doing, the riders are guaranteed four days of exciting mountain biking.

“The Sabie Experience is ideal preparation for the Cape Epic. It provides an opportunity for the riders to test their equipment while they also do some hard kilometres.”

According to Stewart he took a ‘sabbatical’ this year.

“I did some racing, but I was not really result driven. I needed time to rediscover the reasons why I decided to become a mountain biker. I did that and I think I am now ready to focus on winning races again.”

When asked why he decided to persuade Rossouw to make a comeback, Stewart said he had always admired the way Rossouw raced.

“With Jacques there are never any half measures when he is racing. He is always prepared to take the racing to his rivals. That is why I am really looking forward to race with him.”