Shows
Diverge#11: Becking’s Back to his BestIn this week’s episode of the Diverge Podcast we look back at the 4Islands Epic on the Kvarner Islands, in the Adriatic off Croatia. The race was won by the Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport teams, both of whom notched up a perfect five-from-five stage victories. Then, we look ahead at the Tankwa Trail, a three-day trail run hosted by Dryland Event Management in the Koue Bokkeveld near Op-Die-Berg. Last week, we covered the first three stages of 4IslandsEpic and discussed how Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas’s lead of 1 minute and 29 seconds, in the wome...2025-04-2413 min
Diverge#10: Moir Cracks the World Series CodeIn Episode 10 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast looks back at Luke Moir’s breakthrough performance at the UCI MTB World Series. During the second race in Araxá, Brazil, the 22-year-old notched up his first top 5 placing and heralded his arrival as a force to be reckoned with on the biggest stage. Candice Lill had a rare off day, finishing 17th, while Tyler Jacobs showed remarkable consistency with an 11th and a 6th place finish in the XCC and XCO. Alongside the cross-country and cross-country eliminator coverage, we also reflected on the first three days of the 4Islands Epic racing in...2025-04-1716 min
Diverge#9: SAFFAS Fly in Brazil and SA Gravel Champs RecapIn Episode 9 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast looks backon the stellar performances of Candice Lill, Tyler Jacobs, and Luke Moir inRound 1 of the UCI MTB World Series. The trio collected 5th, 6th,and 19th, respectively, in Araxá, Brazil. And will go again thisweekend at the same venue. Back home, Marco Joubert and Hayley Preen werecrowned the King and Queen of South African gravel racing in 2025 when they wonthe national titles in a muddy Karkloof. The opening round of the UCI MTB World Series saw victories for Chris Blevins and Evie Richards in the sh...2025-04-1022 min
Diverge#8: World Series Build-Up and Gravel Goes BigIn Episode 8 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast looks aheadto the UCI MTB World Series, which gets underway in Brazil on the 5th of April. South Africans Candice Lill, Tyler Jacobs, and Luke Moir will be in action. Then on the gravel front, Nedbank Gravel Burn continues to release information on new partners, which augurs well for the first edition in October this year. The first event of the 2025 UCI MTB World Series takesplace in Araxá, which is inland and to the north of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It rained heavily on the tra...2025-04-0311 min
Diverge#7: Cape Epic Reflections & Die Groot SwemIn Episode 7 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast is back toregular weekly programming after super micro daily pods from the Absa Cape Epic. And as you can expect we are looking back at the 21st edition of the race, chatting about how Scott SRAM and Toyota Specialized secured their victories. Then we dive into the cold waters of Table Bay to discuss the 2025 Groot Swem, a 7.5 kilometre Robben Island crossing to raise funds for the StartWell Foundation’s bid to prevent childhood stunting. Starting with the Cape Epic the race was the closest ever in the UCI Men’s ca...2025-03-2840 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 7Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast's vlogs. In the Stage 7 episode Seamus Allardice looks ahead at the Grand Finale, with at the time of recording was still set to start at 08:00. Within moments of recording the start had been postponed to 10:30 and the route amended to a 40 kilometre course in Lourensford. The absence of the climb to The Neck and the circumnavigation of the Helderberg will certainly limit the likes of Willier Vittoria and Cannondale ISB Sport’s ability to change the general classification outcome. ...2025-03-2303 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 6Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast's vlogs. In the Stage 6 episode Seamus Allardice on the Queen Stage and looks ahead at what could be a very exciting penultimate stage. Going into the 88 kilometre, 2 550 metres of climbing, Stage 6 the general classification battles might be crystalised – but there are opportunities for stage honours. In the UCI Men’s race Scott SRAM’s stage win, by 1 minute 10,more than doubled their general classification advantage over Willier Vittoria after Stage 5. Having distanced Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto on the fin...2025-03-2206 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 5Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast's vlogs. In the Stage 5 episode Seamus Allardice reflects on a day when the race reset, paused, and prepared for the Queen Stage. Stage 4 followed the searing heat of Stage 3 and preceded the 2 850 metres of climbing in 98 kilometres on Stage 5. As such there was a little lull in the action. For the UCI Men this allowed 4 teams to head into the finalewith chances of a stage victory, but as on Stage 3 Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje were outboxed by S...2025-03-2108 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 4Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast's vlogs. In the Stage 4 episode Seamus Allardice reflects on a day when the sun blazed down and the heat affected the event. At the sharp end; even the UCI Men, who started at 06:45 on Stage 3, were exposed to extreme heat. The stage winners, Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto held off Nino Schurter and Filipo Colombo in a sprint finish, but the tale of the day for the South Africans was the 3rd place and stellar performance of Imbuko ChemChamp. 2025-03-2009 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 3Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast's vlogs. In the Stage 3 episode Seamus Allardice looks back at the Stage 2 time trial and looks ahead at a shortened route for the first day on the Paarl Trails. With the mercury set to rise into the high 30s in Paarl the temperatures on the mountain could hit 45 degrees centigrade. As such the race organisation shortened the route from 90 to 78 kilometres and reduced the climbing from 2 600 metres to 2450. Going into Stage 3 Scott SRAM lead the generalclassification b...2025-03-1905 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 2Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with the Diverge Podcast's vlogs. In the Stage 2 episode Seamus Allardice looks back at Stage 1 and reflects on what may unfold on the longest time trial in the race’s 21 edition history. On Stage 1 we were somewhat surprised to see how Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto took the fight to Nino Schurter and Filipo Colombo right to the line, but Scott SRAM emerged victorious and seized the yellow jerseys with a stage win by 31 seconds. It will not be the last we see of WI...2025-03-1808 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights – Stage 1Tune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the2025 Absa Cape Epic with daily the Diverge Podcast's daily vlogs. In the Stage 1 episode Seamus Allardice looks back on a dramatic Prologue with saw WILIER-VITTORIA’s Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto win the first yellow jerseys of the race. Annika Langvad Sofia and Gomez Villafane, of Toyota Specialized, won the opening stage by just 3 seconds in the UCI Women’s race; which bodes well for a competitive edition, after fears of a Langvad domination dominated the pre-race speculation. Read the daily stories from the race on w...2025-03-1704 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights - Candice LillCandice Lill might not be riding the Absa Cape Epic this year but she popped in to commentate on the Prologue, sharing her insights with the fans around the world. After her commentary session we has a chat about her plans for 2025, her thoughts on the stellar performance of Margot Moschetti and Samara Sheppard, and manifesting goals by speaking them out loud. Read all about the 2025 Absa Cape Epic on www.diverge.info. 2025-03-1604 min
Diverge2025 Epic Insights - PrologueTune in for daily insights from inside the media team at the 2025 Absa Cape Epic with daily the Diverge Podcast's daily vlogs. This is the pre-race preview as the Prologue, on 16 March, gets underway in Meerendal. Read the daily stories from the race on www.diverge.info. 2025-03-1602 min
Diverge#6: CTCT & Champions Race ReflectionsIn Episode 6 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast we look backat trilling editions of Cape Town Cycle Tour and the songo.info Champions Race, presented by fibertime. The world’s largest timed bicycle race played out in near perfect weather conditions on Sunday, 9 March, and this helped both the elite men and women to new course records. Pia Grünewald went on a 53 kilometre solo break to win the 78 kilometre women’s race in an entirely new way. In so doing she knocked over 2 minutes off Cherise Willeit’s 2020 previous best time. Tyler Lange followed in his father, Malcolm’s, footsteps...2025-03-1423 min
Diverge#5: Building Up to the Epic and CTCTIn Episode 5 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast we look ahead at the 2025 Absa Cape Epic and Cape Town Cycle Tour. March is silly season in South African cycling with the country’s biggest mountain bike and road events taking place within 7 days of each other. The CTCT might kick the racing off on Sunday, 9 March, but we start with the Untamed African Mountain Bike Race and its UCI fields. In the men’s race Matt Beers, starts alongside Keegen Swenson and takes on Scott SRAM, ORBEA Leatt Speed Company, and 46 other UCI teams, which include the big all-South African hope...2025-03-0631 min
Diverge#4: Big 5 ReflectionsIn Episode 4 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast we rope in Jason Boulle and Jess Menier to reflect a dramatic day of racing at the Big 5 by Imbuko Wines and Canetsfontein. The men’s and women’s races were won by the defendingchampions, Filipo Colombo and Candice Lill, but those facts tell so little of the story. Tristan Nortje claimed the R20 000 King of the Mountain prize before leading Colombo and Nino Schurter astray, Matt Beers destroyed a rear wheel and did not finish the race after leading in the finale, and in the women’s race there were position changes...2025-02-2020 min
Diverge#3: Big 5 MTB ChallengeIn Episode 3 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast we feature apreview of the Big 5 by Imbuko Wines and Canetsfontein, as well as the Groot Swem from Robben Island to Big Bay. The Big 5 MTB Challenge has grown into one of the country’s premier one-day mountain bike events, and this year it boasts not only a stellar elite field by R25 000 for the winning man and woman, plus R20 000 for the King and Queen of the Mountain winners. The race to the summit of the Cliffhanger will thus be as exciting as the race to the finish line on Imbuko Wine...2025-02-1415 min
Diverge#2: 2025 Tankwa TrekIn Episode 2 of Season 2 the Diverge Podcast dives deepinto the 2025 Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen. The twelfth edition proved a dramatic one with punctures, crashes and illness all taking their toll. While there was plenty misfortune to go around, it did notaffect the victors at all as Imbuko ChemChamp and She Sends stormed to commanding wins in the UCI Men’s and Women’s categories respectively. Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje controlled from the front and avoided any issues ontheir way to the yellow jerseys, while Candice Lill and Kate Courtney won all four stages and the...2025-02-121h 40
Diverge#1: Kicking off 20252025 is already 30 days young and so much has happened. Join the Diverge Podcast as Seamus Allardice looks back on how the mountain biking season started at the Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, on the 18th of January and at what happened at the first Ford Trailseeker of the year on the 25th of January. Plus there’s some chat about Alan Hatherly’s enthusiasm for the year ahead on the road and MTB, as well as a look at how he’s going in the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia – where he finished 3rd behind Tom Pidcock...2025-01-3120 min
Diverge#7 An Epic Route ReflectionIn Episode 7 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast Seamus
Allardice talks you through the 2025 Absa Cape Epic route, after riding the route recce. As is usually the way of it, he didn’t complete every stage – because he came in unfit and exhausted – but if you’d like to avoid withdrawing from the race you should probably listen up and start training, hard. Without long passes, aside from the final climb of the Queen Stage, the route is punctuated by 2-3 kilometre long 10% average gradient challenges. These along with the amount of singletrack sap not just the legs but your whole bo...2024-12-0920 min
Diverge#6 Zane Schmahl - Die Hel Chats in GamkaskloofIn Episode 6 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast Seamus
Allardice chats to EcoBound and To Hell and Back’s Zane Schmahl about the oldest mountain bike stage race in the country. Over beers in Gamkaskloof – as Die Hel is actually known – they spoke about the history of the event, the difficulties of staging a MTB race in such remote places, and the future of the 30-year-old event.
Remember you can read all the news covered in the Diverge
Podcast on www.diverge.info:
Sanlam Cape Town Marathon Passes Stage 1 of Abbott World Marathon Majors Candidacy
Garden Route Giro...2024-11-2111 min
Diverge#5 Beers for Toyota Specialized at Wines2Whales
In Episode 5 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast Seamus Allardice reflects on a stellar edition of the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz race. Toyota Specialized dominated the final event in the Epic Series’ 2024 calendar, winning all three stages, despite Alex Miller crashing heavily on Day 2. With serious stage race season now completed we then pivot to the Garden Route Giro and the launch of Dryland Event Management’s gravel stage race. Seamus joined the team from Oudtshoorn on a three-day media recce and got to see, first hand, some of the groads the race will take in, in 2026.
2024-11-1419 min
Diverge#4 Getting a Tow at Wines2WhalesIn Episode 4 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast Seamus
Allardice looks back on the first two races in the 2024 FNB Wines2Whales series, reflecting on Candice Lill and Tyler Jacobs victory in the Chardonnay as well as the excitement of E-Bike racing in the Pinotage. The Pinotage ended with the Swiss team of Santina Malacarne and Lukas Dennda having to resort to Malacarne towing and pushing her partner after his engine cut-out. Meanwhile in the Klein Karoo the Dryland Traverse wrapped up and Nicola Freitas provided a recap of the action from her perspective.
Then we l...2024-11-0727 minDiverge#3 Building Up to FNB Wines2WhalesIn Episode 3 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast Seamus Allardice looks ahead at the 2024 FNB Wines2Whales with the insights of Tiffany Keep, Bianca Haw and Sarah Hill. Meanwhile in the Klein Karoo the Dryland Traverse got underway today, 31 October, and Nicola Freitas provides some on the ground reflections from the Prologue which takes in a run through the Cango Cave – a world heritage site. To read more about the events and news covered in this episode click through to the website www.diverge.info:
Chardonnay
Field Shines for 2024 FNB Wines2Whales
Follow Diverge on social media...2024-11-0116 minDiverge#2 Marathon Records TumbleIn Episode 2 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast Seamus
Allardice looks back at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, as well as the Cape Town Trail Marathon, and the Prince George Monumental 100 Miler. Then casts his gaze ahead at the 2024 FNB Wines2Whales and finds out from Zane Schmahl what the route conditions are like on the Road to Hell. To read more about the events and news covered in this episode click through to the website www.diverge.info:
Hendricks
and Kavanagh Power to Peace Run Victories
Williamson
and Kanyimo win Cape Town Trail Marathon Titles
Glenrose
Xaba Shatters...2024-10-2422 min
Diverge#1 Relaunching as a MicroPodTune in for Episode 1 of the rebooted Diverge Podcast. The
relaunched pod will be a shortcast/micro pod of between 10 and 20 minutes in length, focusing on the events and sports host, Seamus Allardice, covers on www.diverge.info. To read more about the events and news covered in this episode click through to the website:
Build-Up
to the 2024 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon
Why
To Hell and Back is the OG MTB Stage Race
There’s
a Comotion in the Klein Karoo
Kevin
Vermaak Launches Gravel Burn, 7 Day Gravel Stage Race
Dryland
Introduce 6 Day Gravel Stage Race, the Garden Route Giro
20...2024-10-1719 min
Focal TrailsFocal Trails_Ep3 - Seamus AllardiceSeamus Allardice is a freelance journalist who spends most his time covering mountain bike races. He first covered the Trans Baviaans in 2016 and has ridden two editions too. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter at @seamusallardice.
For more content follow us on instagram
@lloyd_since_1992 or find the Focal Trails vlog on Youtube2023-04-0538 min
The Ridiculously Human PodcastMbulelo Thinta, Ultra-trail Runner, Interlocutor and Host of BleachersInterlocutor. Maverick. Man of nature. Dynamic Human. Emcee. Humanitarian. Ultra Trail Runner. Brother. Umbe is of a fine breed. Today he tells us his powerful story Growing up as a black man in South Africa with an ‘adopted’ white family and having a mom who goes to work as a nurse in Saudi Arabia, are not normal occurrences but then this is no ordinary man or story. Our guest oozes with undeniable optimism and hope for the future and as he tells us “The future is not a place we are going, it’s a place we...2017-12-042h 05