On the Friday morning 4 November 2022, six local cyclists took their positions in the starting line-up of the FNB Wines2Whales event with hopes of achieving more than one type of win. They set out to take on the trails of the Cape Winelands in support of the disadvantaged children living on the very farms through which the race route meanders. Crossing the finish line that Sunday afternoon, they secured a win in the form of a top podium position, but most importantly, a significant win for the rural children of Raithby Primary School.
For the second year running, riders Linus van Onselen, Eben Espach, Carel Vosloo, Tobie Van Heerden, Pierre-Henri Olivier, and Hannes Hannekom came together to take on the 3-stage mountain biking race in support of the Anna Foundation – a Winelands-based charity that works to support the holistic development of farm children through education, sports and life-skills programmes facilitated on farms or at rural schools.
In the 2021 edition of the event, the riders were able to raise seed-funding for the Foundation to open a new after-school project at Raithby Primary, a farm school located in the small rural community of Raithby. In this year’s event, they set out to raise funds to further enhance this new project.
While Linus van Onselen and Eben Espach – with a combined age of 131 years – secured an impressive victory in the Great Grandmasters category, the combined fundraising efforts of all riders ensured that the Foundation would be able to continue their newly founded project into 2023. And as in previous years, children involved in the Foundation’s projects on nearby farms were able to see these heroes reach the finish line – an experience which continues to be a huge inspiration for them!
Anna Foundation founder and director Anna Brom says, "As an official charity of the FNB Wines2Whales, we are absolutely delighted to be able to use this prestigious event as a platform to raise awareness for the work that we do in rural and farming communities. It is fantastic to see the commitment towards community development from such events as the FNB Wines2Whales and we honoured to partner with them towards this goal."