Kevin Benkenstein won the first battle of the Rhino Run, South Africa's new ultra-endurance race, and has completed the first 726km leg of this challenging bikepacking event, but will have to fight to maintain that lead through the remaining 2000km. He will be forced to fight to maintain that lead throughout the remaining 2,000km.

Benkenstein, who won South Africa's 700km self-supported Freedom Circuit race in 2021 and the 1000km mountain bike race, The Munga, in 2019, and was runner-up in Australia's Race to the Rock in 2017, has and completed the first section of his country's race in just over 38 hours.

"I was stunned by how fast it was. It was a tremendous tailwind," Benkenstein said on the race's Instagram (opens in new tab) live feed after finishing the first section.

He was about 50 km ahead of Melbourne-based rider Abdullah Zeinab when he finished his entry on the modified Cross Cape cycling route; third was South Australia's Jimmy Ashby, who set out on his round-the-world bicycle journey at age 18, completing 39 ,100 km solo.

The race started at 6:22 a.m. on Friday, October 21 in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, with riders from all over the world.

The first section took the riders through rough pothole roads, gravel passes, and the Rusty Gate Pass, the final challenge to Stellenbosch.

"We just tried to stay steady ...... I tried not to kill myself on all the climbs except Rusty Gate.

"I rode the whole way on a 23 kg bike.

Others at the starting line included this year's Tour Divide winner Sofiane Cechli, 2015 Transcontinental Race winner Josh Yvette, and three-time Race to the Rock winner Sarah Hammond.

The riders confirmed their entry in the race by donating to the Masaka Cycling Club, which identifies and develops Ugandan cycling talent, and three Ugandan cyclists, Kato Paul, Waswa Peter, and Florence Nakagwa, entered their first bikepacking race supported the race.

As the race progressed, Zeinab and Benkenstein held on to the lead, with Nakagwa in eighth place overall as of this writing. To see the latest race status, follow the link to the page with live tracking dots (opens in a new tab).

Following the entries, the race heads north from Stellenbosch, crossing the Namibian border and crossing the Namib Desert to finish in Windhoek.