The Roof, the mother of hard enduro and a race that we hold deeply in our hearts just as any South African would. James returned this year looking to defend his title but the rest of the South African boys had much to prove to show that they too are able to take the title at a race close to home. Heading into this race it was assumed that the European riders would struggle but that wasn’t quite how it went down. We chat to Mike to get some insight from on the ground.

This was the first year we saw a bit of a change with the format of the event. Time trial on da one and a long off-road day 2 were consistent with what you’d expect but a multi-lap format for Day 3 was something that catered more to the international riders and evened the playing field. Talking about international riders there were some noteworthy names missing this year. We also chat about how it works logistically for some of the team to race in Lesotho.

Day one saw Mitch make an impressive run but due to GPS issues it would be James taking the number 1 spot along with a boost of confidence. We of course touch on the topic of another noteworthy South African rider, Wade Young who appeared to approach this race slightly differently this year with a welcoming spirit. Day 2 would be a tough pill to swallow for some of the top riders which would open opportunities for unexpected name to float to the top and keep the win open to the final day.

Day 3 would bring out the best in most of the riders at the Roof. James made an impressive charge to set the fastest time of the day by 5 minutes, Matt green would have a lot of GPS issues but still finish with an impressive result. Thence had the top 3… Teodor taking his first ever FIM win, on the Sherco. A rider who’s been chasing a win for a long time finally gets to celebrate with his Shercota. Mani keeping consistent as usual taking 2nd and then only 1 SECOND behind we have Wade finishing the podium in P3. A solid performance and a great result for the South African

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:35 The 2026 edition

02:05 Track overview

03:00 What makes Lesotho so special

07:04 Who wasn't there and why

08:13 Bike logistics

09:30 Day 1 time trial

16:39 Time trial results

17:55 Day 2

19:04 James Moore's mousse disaster

31:09 How navigation racing works

35:12 Day 2 results

39:25 Day 3: The first ever multi-lap format

43:55 Overall results

44:38 A tenth of a second

46:06 Wade Young back on the podium

49:22 Standout rides

51:28 Championship implications

10 hours of racing came down to 0.1 of a second between Mani and Wade. What did you think of the result? Have you ever been to Roof of Africa … to race, spectate or just experience it? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

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