MARK ETHERIDGE: Nortjé and Joubert’s mission is to turn red jersey to yellow

First SA team and third overall in the ABSA Cape Epic multi-stage mountain bike race and most recently winners of May’s KAP sani2c race, Tristan Nortjé and Marco Joubert are maturing like a fine red wine.

The winners of the prestigious red jersey (first African team) category in the Epic, it’s fitting that the very existence of their team came to fruition with a bottle of Imbuko wine a decade ago.

Team principal and co-founder/MD of Imbuko wines Theunis van Zijl explains: “Quite a few years back I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and, being a hugely active guy, it was recommended I take up mountain-biking to burn off energy.

“About 8-10 years ago I was doing my first Cape Pioneer stage race and I saw a bottle of our wine at the BnB where we were staying. It turned out that pro cyclist at the time, Chris Wolhuter, had bought it and he ended up telling me the background to pro cycling. I was hooked, fell even more in love with the sport, and eventually started up my very own team.”

That team is now known as Imbuko ChemChamp and has been very much (or should be) in the sporting headlines around the country.

The actual riders are fully immersed in training and racing and it took weeks before they put their bikes to one side and share a bit of their background.

Says Nortjé, 23, who hails from George: “I started cycling when I was about 12. My parents were both runners. But when my mom had two knee ops they both started cycling. It looked super-nice so I downloaded the Strava training app, and was lucky to get sponsors from a young age.

“I’ve always watched the Epic and it was a dream and now I’ve done four or five.”

On teaming up with Joubert. “I always used to race again him and the last few years I could see he was getting very strong. So I went back to Imbuko ChemChamp and they’re like a family to me, such good people. Franko [Van Zijl’s son and team manager] is my best friend, while Marco and I share a house here in Wellington.”

The sense of unity has to be strong in the brutal arena of team stage racing: “Communication is so key but the fact that we stay together, train together, race together and relax together means we don’t need to talk much, we know who’s suffering and when.”

Joubert, 27, grew up further up the coast from Nortjé in Gqeberha: “My parents were big outdoor enthusiasts and we’d go on lots of adventures. Bikes were always involved and I’d try to race the older guys. My dad was good and raced at quite a high level.

“I joined Kargo Pro and Alan Hatherly [current MTB world champion] was part of the team. I started training a bit more seriously, to go to junior world champs in Andorra and just never looked back. I have studied though — a B Comm and nutrition course — both online, but I just couldn’t imagine sitting on a laptop behind a desk all day.

“For the youngsters out there, there’s definitely a future in pro cycling. I get a monthly salary and there’s a bonus structure in play and obviously prize money from events etc. But you have to be fully invested if you want to be at the top. You have to wake up every day and not see it as a job but just be stoked to get on the bike every day.”

Joubert says it was always their dream to do well at the Epic. “And we made it happen, our eyes are set on the overall win now, and it’s human nature to want to do better the following year... the world champs are in SA in 2028 so it would be nice to build up to that with our current momentum.”

Back to the man who started it all and Van Zijl says there’s so much talent in SA but they need a runway. “I learnt so much from watching the Epic and talking to the international guys. I ‘stole’ a whole lot with my eyes.

“We’ve had structures in place for more than four years now and over the years the mindset has changed. If we only have winning the red jersey on our minds we’ll only focus on red. We need to aim as high as possible and that’s the yellow jersey”

Their recent successes at the Epic and sani2c have reaped rewards. “A lot of people want to buy in and I think a lot of good things are going to happen in the next year or so, I’m really excited. Of course our main goal is to get that yellow jersey in the Epic as it really is the Tour de France of mountain biking but everyone has the same mindset.”

Van Zijl says Imbuko exports wine to around 46 countries and has also been focusing on the local market recently. “It’s a nice synergy for me. I love mountain biking and mountain bikers like wine.”

If his current and future crop of cyclists grow to plan it might soon be them who are shining in 46 countries or more around the world.