With two days of racing in the bag the New Africa Developments (NAD) Pro Team, of Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck, lead the men’s race while Mariske Strauss and Cherie Vale, racing for the OMX Pro Team, lead the women’s race at the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek. But aside for the high octane racing there’s been drama aplenty with spectacular crashes, implosions of race leaders and close encounters with some big African wildlife.

Now you can experience the best of the Cape Pioneer Trek from the comfort of your home as the race broadcasts live at 18:15 (Central African Time). Join in the action and the conversation by watching Chapter 1 of the #PioneerSpirit live wrap-up show on www.capepioneer.co.za or on Facebook at Cape Pioneer Trek.

The #PioneerSpirit show kicks off with highlights from Stage 1 of the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek. Dubbed the #GondwanaGlory the stage was won by Bell and Combrinck as the overnight leader Erik Kleinhans has a terrible day on the bike. Kleinhans dropped like a rock out of the lead bunch as he hit the proverbial wall, eventually he and Full Sus teammate Matt Beers finished in tenth on the day, losing 17 minutes to the new race leaders.

The show then takes on an international flavour, as host Gerald de Kock speaks to Norwegian/Australian (it’s rather complicated) Greg Saw and Katja Steenkamp – a  German rider who fell in love with South Africa, and never left, during her post-graduate studies at the University of Cape Town. From the international to the local #PioneerSpirit showcases the beauty of the Mossel Bay area and its wildlife, including great white sharks and a close call for Bram Rood and Lukas Islitzer as a giraffe burst into the singletrack between them. There’s also a catch-up with Albert van der Berg after his spectacular crash on the #PointPursuit prologue, which could so easily have forced him out of the race as he went plummeting off the cliff-top trail.

Chapter 1 of #PioneerSpirit will be broadcast live at 18:15 via www.capepioneer.co.za and the Cape Pioneer Trek Facebook page, but if you miss the live broadcast you can still watch it online after the live screenings on the same platforms. To join the conversation tweet your views to @CapePioneerTrek.