The Race · New in 2026
Teams Classification
A race within the race for Pro Men and Pro Women, running alongside the individual race across all stages.
- Team size3 or 4 ridersPlus optional support staff
- CountingBest 3 per stageTheir times make the team’s stage time
- ScoringPoints per stageAdded up across all stages
- ClassificationsMen and womenSeparate men’s and women’s team rankings
How it works
The individual race comes first. The Teams Classification adds a second contest on top of it.
After each stage, the times of each team's three fastest riders are added together to give the team's stage time. Teams are ranked on that time, men's teams and women's teams separately, and score points for their position.
Points add up over all the stages, and the team with the most points wins. A team needs three riders in the official rankings: if it falls below three on any stage, it is out of the Teams Classification from that stage on.
Team riders don't have to ride together. The riders of the leading team each carry a unique race number.
Points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 20 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Who can enter a team
- A team is three or four riders, all Pro Men or all Pro Women.
- Trade teams, and teams formed just for this race: privateers can join forces and enter a team.
- Riders declare their team at registration. No team changes after registration closes.
The winners
The winning men's and women's teams are honoured at the podium ceremony of the Burn Celebration at Shamwari, after Stage 7.
Every rider in a winning team, and up to two of the team's support staff, receives a Nedbank Gravel Burn teams medal and a premium VIP game-viewing experience at Shamwari Private Game Reserve after the race.
Questions
Why is there a Teams Classification?
Professional gravel teams play a growing role in the sport. The Teams Classification gives teams that send several riders, with their support staff, a structure to race in, and more opportunities for promotion and media coverage.
The individual race comes first: Nedbank Gravel Burn remains a solo race, and all the prize money goes to individual riders.
Why a maximum of four riders per team?
Teams matter in stage-race tactics, so the limit keeps a large team’s advantage over a team of three small. It also makes it easy to form a team just for this race.
Larger trade teams can enter two teams instead of one team of six or seven riders. Support staff can be shared between teams.
Why is the Teams Classification decided on points, not total time?
Points keep the competition close. If one rider loses a lot of time to a mechanical problem, the team drops a few places on that stage, not out of contention for the week.
And if a team of four loses a rider, its other three can still compete for the overall Teams Classification.
Must every rider finish for the team to be ranked?
No, but three must. A team of four can lose one rider and carry on.
If fewer than three of a team’s riders are in the official rankings for a stage, the team is out of the Teams Classification from that stage on, whatever points it has already scored. See Rule 26 of the race rules.
Can riders get help from riders outside their team?
Yes. The team rules only cover how teams are formed and how their results are calculated; everything on the route falls under the race rules.
Riders may give and receive technical and tactical support only within their own race category, Pro Men or Pro Women.