THE TRAILBLAZER

HENDRICO BURGER, MTB EVENTS GURU, ROUTE BUILDER & RACE COMMISSAIRE

- DAVID MOSELEY

HENDRICO BURGER IS TOO POLITE and too unassuming to label himself a South African mountain-biking pioneer. But that’s exactly what he is. The man behind the routes of the Absa Cape Epic and FNB Wines2Whales – and up to his ears in behind-the-scenes work on multiple other events over the years – was such an early adopter of the sport, he could tell who was riding trails based on tyre tread alone. Literally; he’s been involved in mountain biking for so long that in his earliest riding days, there were only a handful of people hitting the trails in Stellenbosch, and he knew them all by their tyres.

Burger grew up in the Karoo – in Murraysburg and De Aar – before matriculating in Durbanville, Cape Town. Dreams of a pro riding career were dashed when he realised he “just wasn’t good enough”. He figured that being involved in events was the best way to stay in the sport; and the rest is history.