The stage is set for one of the biggest gravel cycling events ever hosted in Namibia, with more than 400 cyclists from 14 countries confirmed for the 2026 Khomas100 this Saturday, 22 August.
This year’s Khomas100 carries major international significance as it hosts both the CAC African Continental Gravel Championships and a round of the UCI Gravel World Series, giving elite and age-group riders the opportunity to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships.
The event has attracted approximately 140 riders for the long-distance race, 200 for the 84km race and 70 for the 44km event, making it one of the largest fields assembled for the Khomas100.
Excluding Namibia with the most entries, South Africa leads the international contingent with an impressive 70 riders, while cyclists from across Africa and further abroad will line up alongside Namibia’s best.
World class field
The quality of the elite field is equally impressive, with some of Africa’s most accomplished gravel, mountain bike and road cyclists making their way to Namibia.
Among the headline names is defending women’s African Gravel Champion Hayley Preen of South Africa, who produced a dominant performance at the 2025 Khomas100 to claim the continental title.
Preen returns to Namibia in outstanding form. She is the 2026 South African Gravel Champion, won the women’s elite race at the UCI Gravel World Series event The Ceder in February and finished an impressive eighth at the 2026 Unbound Gravel 200 in the United States.
She will face a formidable women’s field. Namibia’s Anri Greeff arrives as the newly crowned 2026 Namibian Gravel champion, having taken the national title at N/a’ankusê in July after finishing second overall behind South Africa’s Catherine Kruger. Greeff was also runner-up to Preen at the 2025 Khomas100 African Gravel Championships.
Catherine Kruger, who won the women’s 145km race at the 2026 Namibian Gravel Championships ahead of Greeff, adds further strength to the international challenge.
Namibian cycling star Vera Looser will add another dimension to an exceptionally strong women’s field. A former Olympian and multiple Namibian road and time-trial champion, Looser has also established herself among the world’s leading marathon mountain bikers. Her recent results include victory at the 2025 Spar Swiss Epic, fourth at the 2025 UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup in Girona and second at the 2026 Tankwa Trek.
Other notable women’s entries include Monique du Plessis, Louise Breed and Belinda van Rhyn, adding considerable depth to the Namibian challenge. Du Plessis was second in the 2026 Namibian individual time trial championship, while Van Rhyn took bronze in both the 2026 Namibian road race and individual time trial championships.
Strong men’s race expected
The men’s race promises to be equally competitive.
Defending African Gravel champion and Namibian Olympian Alex Miller returns after winning the 2025 Khomas100 with a decisive solo attack in the closing kilometres. Miller became Namibia’s inaugural national gravel champion at the Khomas100 in 2024 before going on to claim the African title on the same event in 2025.
South Africa brings significant firepower to the men’s field. Travis Stedman arrives with an established gravel and mountain-bike racing pedigree, while his Toyota Specialized Imbuko teammate Marco Joubert has been one of South Africa’s prominent off-road racers and finished second at the 2025 Karoo to Coast.
Rogan Smart adds another serious gravel contender to the South African challenge and has been competing internationally, including at Unbound Gravel.
South African Daniel van der Watt also knows the Namibian course, having finished eighth in the 2025 UCI Gravel World Series Khomas100.
Namibia will counter with a strong group of riders, including Jaques Hanekom, who finished third in the inaugural Namibian Gravel Championships at the 2024 Khomas100 and is the 2026 national individual time trial silver medallist.
With riders such as Lood Goosen, Simon Johannes and Maruen Kleopas also among the entries, and international riders including Joel Kyaviro, Jordan Schleck Ssekanwagi, Prince Shoko, Pressmore Musundi and Rodrick Shumba, the battle for the African jerseys is expected to produce exciting racing.
A new challenge for 2026
The long-distance race will take riders from the western side of Windhoek through Namibia’s spectacular gravel terrain before finishing at the NWR Gross Barmen Resort.
The Khomas100 is a mixture of fast plains and challenging climbs through rugged Namibian terrain, with the finish at Gross Barmen providing the final destination after a demanding day in the saddle.
The 2026 event will also offer 84km and 44km distances, ensuring that the Khomas100 remains accessible to recreational riders and mountain bikers while the elite field battles for continental honours and UCI Gravel World Championship qualification.
More than just a race
Khomas100 race director Johan Pretorius said the growth of the event and particularly the quality and international diversity of this year’s field demonstrate how quickly gravel cycling is developing in Namibia.
“To have more than 400 riders representing 14 countries on our start lists is something we are extremely proud of. But what excites us even more is the quality of the field. We have African champions, national champions, Olympians and riders who are competing successfully at some of the biggest gravel and mountain-bike races in the world coming to race on Namibian soil.”
Pretorius said the event’s combination of elite international competition and mass participation remained central to the Khomas100 philosophy.
“At the front we are going to see serious racing for the Khomas100 title, African Championship jerseys and UCI World Championship qualification. From Gross Barmen we have hundreds of riders taking on their own personal challenge over 84km or 44km and the 140km group from Windhoek. That combination is what makes the Khomas100 special.”
He added that hosting the official CAC African Continental Gravel Championships alongside the UCI Gravel World Series represents another important step for Namibian cycling.
“Namibia has the terrain, the scenery and the cycling community to host world-class gravel racing. Our aim is not only to organise a great bicycle race, but to showcase Namibia as one of the most exciting gravel cycling destinations in Africa.”
Sponsors make it possible
Pretorius thanked Hollard Namibia, the principal sponsor of the event, for its continued investment in cycling and its role in helping grow the Khomas100 into an internationally recognised event.
Special appreciation was also extended to DHL, NWR and Standard Bank Namibia for their significant support of the 2026 Khomas100.
“An event of this magnitude simply cannot happen without committed partners. Hollard has played an enormous role in the development of cycling through the Hollard Grand Prix Series, while the support from DHL and Standard Bank Namibia has enabled us to continue raising the standard of the Khomas100.”
Pretorius also thanked the numerous supporting sponsors, partners, volunteers, officials, landowners and service providers involved in staging the event.
With the entries closed, routes prepared and more than 400 riders ready to race, attention now turns to Saturday.
Africa’s gravel champions are coming to Namibia.
The dust is waiting. It is time to conquer the Khomas.
