The new event, with a course delivering more than 90% gravel, runs as second South African round of 2026 qualifying series
Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje as winning teammates at Cape Epic in 2026, before the two took the top steps at Around the Pot(Image credit: Cape Epic / Nick Muzik)
It was a tight sprint win for Matthew Beers (Specialized Racing) at Around the Pot on Saturday, while Lisa Bone (Cycle Nation) delivered a clear cut solo victory at the second South African round of the 2026 UCI Gravel World Series.
The 100 mile (161km) race, with 1,760 metres of elevation gain, was a new introduction to the calendar as it started and finished in Swellendam and played out on a course which delivered more than 90% gravel.
It was a tight battle for Beers in the elite men's race as he headed to the line with his teammate from the latest winning effort at Cape Epic, Tristan Nortje (Toyota Specialized Imbuko). Beers won the sprint while African gravel champion Alexander Miller took third just over three minutes later.
In the women's elite race Bone was in a league of her own, carving out a gap of more than 15 minutes as she rode across the line ahead of second-placed Chloe Bishop and Catherine Kruger, who crossed the line with Bishop.
Around the Pot was one of three qualifying events for the UCI Gravel World Championships taking place over the weekend, with the Gravel Tour Hlinsko in Czechoslovakia also on Saturday and Gravel Bogota in Colombia on Sunday. The top 25% of finishers and podium placers in each category qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships on October 10 and 11.
Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.
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