Gravel Burn sends competitors across the Great Karoo of South Africa past dazzles of zebras and towers of giraffes - Gallery

Nele Laing (Canyon DT Swiss ATR) held the pro women's orange leader's jersey from start to finish at Nedbank Gravel Burn and Matt Beers (Toyota Specialized) held off a tight battle in the pro men's GC to capture back-to-back titles at his home off-road stage race.

The seven-day, 750-kilometre gravel adventure across the Great Karoo in the Eastern Cape of South Africa concluded Saturday, October 30, with five women earning stage victories and six men taking daily honours at the finish lines marked each day by a giant orange windmill placed along the rugged terrain.

The Great Karoo is a vast landscape with mountains, savannah, grasslands and desert that spans all three capes of the African nation. A very arid region, the name translates to 'land of thirst', which was evident by the dusty conditions all week.

Stages progress across the Great Karoo from north to south, starting in South Africa's fourth-oldest town, Graaff-Reinet and finishing at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve. The journey covered 8,500 metres of elevation gain, multiple water crossings, encounters with wildlife including towering giraffes.

Once the general classification was set early in the week, opportunities for aggressive riding to shake the standings were throttled on the final two days, with a trio of pro women's riders relegated in a sprint and the course shortened due to washed out roads.

“The racing was a lot more intense and tactical this year. Filippo [Colombo] made my life properly difficult and gave it everything,” Beers, who didn't win a stage but won the overall with consistent results, told organisers at the end. “I had a really lucky week and it was such a close race.”

Beers took the orange leader's jersey on stage 2 but Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM) and Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) remained in striking distance each day. The final results proved Laing the best for pro women, though Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb) made a charge.

“Finishing my first gravel season with a win at Gravel Burn is more than I could have ever imagined at the beginning of the year. None of this would have been possible without this team, @canyon_atr," Laing posted to Instagram about her Canyon x DT Swiss All Terrain Racing squad.

Daily podiums were up for grabs as riders encountered an abundance of equipment struggles, uncertain stream crossings and unpredictable wildlife. Words just aren't enough to describe the challenging terrain of the Great Karoo, so we have assembled a gallery of images from Gravel Burn photographers to showcase each day of the event.

Stage 1 - 90km from Graaff-Reinet to Blaauwater

Mattia De Marchi (The Grip) opened with the men's victory on stage 1, but his time in the orange jersey lasted only one day as he relented in the fierce battle between Beers and Colombo the rest of the way.

Laing accelerated away from the women's field at the Conical Peak climb half-way through hilly stage 1, the 90km route packed 1,450 metres of elevation gain. In the rest of the stages, she kept the attacks in check to hold her lead.

Stage 2 - 105km on Blaauwater Loop

The Kom Pass, at 1,894 metres of elevation, was the long climb of the day on stage 2 at kilometre 50, and riders described the terrain as 'brutal'.

On the long drag towards Kom Pass, Colombo and Beers took off. While a group of 20-plus chasers could see them now and then in the distance, the leaders never dropped their pace, until Colombo won the stage in the two-up sprint.

In the women's division, Alexis Skarda (SCOTT-SRAM) punctured and the resulting repair time ultimately cost her over 30 minutes on GC. After a group caught a breakaway by Carolin Schiff (Canyon DT Swiss ATR), Laing crashed on the back-half of the descent into Nieu-Bethesda. That left four riders at the front. When a wide puddle extending across the whole road proved treacherous, Preen cleared the obstacle and rode away for the stage win.

Stage 3 - 137km from Blaauwater to Merino

Eddy Le Huitouze (The Grip) was the first to reach the summit on Swaershoek Pass and claim stage 3, outclimbing Simon Pellaud (Cervélo Assos Maxxis) and his teammate Jordy Bouts.

Laing continued her dominance, finishing ahead of Preen and Skarda. It was the longest stage of the week, with 1,550 metres of elevation gain.

Stage 4 - 61km on Merino Loop

The middle day of racing was one of the shortest, at 61km, and was relatively flat. Travis Stedman (Toyota Specialized Imbuko) launched early from a select group, catching the GC riders off guard with the surprise move. Ryan Gibbons (RoadCover SunGod) and Cole Davis (Speed Studio) finished second and third, respectively.

2023 Paris-Roubaix champion Alison Jackson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) used her skills in a 12-rider bunch approach the finish line and won the sprint. Larissa Hartog (Canyon DT Swiss ATR) and Nathalie Eklund (58&fam) completed the stage podium.

Stage 5 - 128km from Merino to Gwanishi

The 128km stage followed the Great Fish River basin for 1,050 metres of elevation gain on relentless rolling roads. Stedman sprinted to his second stage win of the week ahead of teammate Jaedon Terlouw (Toyota Specialized Imbuko), with Colombo third.

Preen claimed her second stage win of the race, outsprinting rivals Laing and Koppenburg.

Stage 6 - 76km from Gwanishi to Shamwari

Friday's race was only 76km into Shamwari, and offered more descending than climbing to spark attacks if riders weren't too distracted with the local wildlife.

“Riding through Shamwari was amazing. We saw a few giraffes, and they ran beside us for a kilometre or so. They’re fast! If they had turned towards us, especially with how my legs felt, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. But it was pretty cool,” said Henrique Avancini (Swift Pro Cycling).

The men's early breakaway contained Alex Miller (Swatt Club x KingPrice), Griffin Easter (OpiCure), Georg Egger (Orbea Speed Company), Hugo Drechou (Gravel Nation), De Marchi, Blane Kiek (RoadCover SunGod), Cronje Beukes (ChemChamp) and Juri Hollman (Canyon DT Swiss ATR). Easter crossed the line first, with Miller one second behind in second and Drechou third.

Nine riders came to the line in the pro women's contest, and Preen used her raw power to win the sprint. However, following a protest and a review of race footage, the commissaires relegated the front three riders for failing to heed a safety warning issued by a race official in the run-in to the sprint.

Preen, Koppenburg and Carolin Schiff (Canyon DT Swiss ATR) were moved to the back of the group for seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Nathalie Eklund (58&fam) was awarded the Pro Women’s stage victory, and the back trio were credited with the same time, three seconds off the pace, which did not alter the general classification.

Stage 7 - 59.5km Shamwari Loop

The route on stage 7 was abbreviated by 34km due to recent heavy rainfall damaging coastal roads in the region, so the compact day of just 59.5km left little territory and reduced climbing for major moves. In the end, Drechou and Skarda each took prestigious final stage victories for the week, the Frenchman and the US rider finishing 13th and sixth, respectively, in GC standings.

Beers was in the front group for sixth on the final day and secured his second consecutive Nedbank Gravel Burn title. He held on for a 32-second gap over second-placed Colombo after 17 hours, 47 minutes and 42 seconds, while Nortje finished third overall, 59 seconds back.

Laing finished second on the stage and retained the orange jersey, which she never relented all week. She posted a time of 21 hours, 41 minutes, 50 seconds, including two stages victories. Last year's third-placed finisher Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb) improved to second overall, 1:05 off the pace of the German rider. Clara Koppenburg (Tudor Pro) was 4:28 back for third.