About
The team
More friends than colleagues. Many of us have worked together for almost two decades, since creating the Cape Epic, and we're having fun again, building a new iconic event together.
These are our full-time team members, working year-round on Nedbank Gravel Burn.
Kevin Vermaak
Founder
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In the early 2000s, while working as an IT professional, Kevin meticulously planned bucket-list adventures around the world with his friends. One of many was leading the first-ever combined mountain biking and snowboarding expedition to summit Muztag Ata (7500m) in China. Then, on a beach in Costa Rica, after finishing La Ruta bike race he conceived the idea for a pro-am full-service mountain bike stage race. He left behind a comfortable life in London to start the Cape Epic back home in Cape Town, South Africa. Now, twenty years later, there’s a new spark, to create a significant pro-am gravel stage race and to give riders the world over another reason to travel to South Africa – this time with their gravel bikes.
Richard McMartin
Operations Director
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Logistics is often seen as a complex web of numbers and painstaking coordination – cold and calculated. But Richard’s superpower lies in something far warmer: his natural connection with people. He led the logistics team at the Cape Epic for its first ten years, crafting the blueprint that is now the backbone of the race. After that, he launched his own event company, showing his expertise lies in bringing new events to life. An avid mountain biker turned gravel rider, Richard is mapping out every detail to make Nedbank Gravel Burn run smoother than the gravel under our wheels.
Kati Csak
Race Director
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Kati has built a career out of the things she loves most—travel, cycling and events. She’s rarely seen at an airport without a bike box and never far from the next route to scout. She started out in tourism, organising high-end corporate events across Southern Africa before joining Kevin in the early days of the Cape Epic. For the next 20 years, she was a driving force in building the race from a big idea into a global benchmark and, in turn, growing mountain bike stage racing globally. An early adopter of gravel, Kati has explored routes across continents and brings a rider’s instinct to her planning and always puts the rider at the centre of the experience. With her ability to orchestrate complex moving parts under pressure, she’s ready to shape the future of gravel.
Brett Walker
Finance Lead
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Brett brings a wealth of financial expertise to Gravel Burn, with a career built at the intersection of endurance sports and strategic business operations. When he’s not crunching numbers he’s out testing the route with us. As a keen cyclist, he understands the passion that drives riders to take on hundreds of kilometres of South African gravel. For him, Nedbank Gravel Burn represents the perfect blend: supporting a venture that celebrates endurance, exploration and the raw beauty of South Africa’s landscapes, all while working with a team that knows how to turn ambitious visions into reality.
Steve Thomas
Route Design
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The route is at the heart of any cycling event. It should challenge, inspire and reward every rider. The man behind Nedbank Gravel Burn’s route is a true explorer. Steve owns and runs one of the country’s top cycling tour operators, and a glance at a heat map of the roads and trails he’s covered, whether with clients or on his own adventures, would show hot spots all over the globe, and South Africa would appear almost entirely red. As a history buff, he has a story for every corner and Nedbank Gravel Burn riders can expect to hear many of them next October.
Neil Gardiner
Brand & Marketing
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For over 20 years, Neil has created and built brands across industries (including Gravel Burn’s). As a writer and creative director, he’s worked with global agency groups, independent studios, and also run his own, specialising in start-ups. His passion for cycling – both on-road and off – has been a constant for over 30 years, reigniting it with his first gravel ride eight years ago. He’s also brought that passion to the mic as a race commentator, most notably at the Cape Epic, since their first live broadcast in 2011 and at the Swiss Epic. Now, with Nedbank Gravel Burn, he gets to combine it in one place.
Sarah Harrop
Media & Marketing
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Sarah has spent nearly two decades shaping how MTB stage races are seen and told around the world. She played a key role in pioneering the live broadcast and subsequent global media expansion of the Cape Epic, helping transform it into the world’s most televised mountain bike race and setting a new benchmark for stage race storytelling. With a degree in Sports Management from UCT and more than 15 years working in race management, Sarah now brings that experience to the Nedbank Gravel Burn with a focus on media and broadcast. For her, the best part of the race is the people and the shared sense of adventure.
Nathalie Diacon
Rider Management
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Nathalie is a skilled event coordinator and project manager with a background in Sports Science and Rider Management. After four years managing riders at the Cape Epic and Swiss Epic, she now leads Rider Management at Nedbank Gravel Burn. She combines her detail-oriented approach with practical know-how and academic expertise. Her mission is that every rider’s experience is seamless and extraordinary. Nathalie has a unique ability to connect with riders and being fluent in English, German, Swiss-German, Dutch, and Afrikaans, in their native language too.
Jennifer Welzel
Event Operations
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Kevin and Jennifer have worked together since 2013. “My desk at Cape Epic faced his, and I got to witness his passion and tenacity to create a truly premium event,” she recalls. Over the years, Jennifer has been a key part of many of Cape Town’s major events. Her title may say ‘event operations,’ but it could just as easily read ‘unflappable detail fanatic’. At Nedbank Gravel Burn, she ensures that every moving part comes together seamlessly.
Meike Zumpt
Event Administration
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Meike is the newest addition to the Nedbank Gravel Burn team. With a background in tourism marketing, radio journalism, and editing, she brings a unique mix of meticulous administrative and organizational skills to the table. Meike has a passion for outdoor sports and working with people, and she is dedicated to creating memorable events that bring communities together. In her role at Nedbank Gravel Burn, Meike will ensure that the “engine room” always functions smoothly.
Reinette Geldenhuis
Sponsorship Management
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With 22 years of experience in events and sponsorship, Reinette has built her career at the intersection of world-class brands and sport. She started as an in-store chef in the retail sector and rose to lead sponsorship and event management across some of South Africa’s most loved event properties, including the Cape Epic and Cape Town Marathon, among many more. She has a gift for turning sponsor relationships into lasting memories and delivering creative activations in even the most demanding environments, so the Great Karoo poses little challenge for her.
Lizanne Visser
Logistics
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With over 14 years of heading up art departments on international film productions and project management for private clients, she’s well versed in turning ambitious ideas into real experiences. A fleeting glimpse of Nedbank Gravel Burn on social media, mid-2025, had her daydreaming about being a part of the team — it’s her perfect Venn diagram — where outdoor adventure, travel, creative problem-solving and meticulous organisation overlap. Lizanne works closely with our venues and their people, figuring out the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what makes the Burn Camps unforgettable.
Melissa Jordaan
Rider Administration
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Melissa holds a degree in Sport Management and quickly discovered her passion for event management. She has worked closely with sponsors and hospitality teams at major sporting events and now brings her growing expertise to Rider Management at Nedbank Gravel Burn. With a strong eye for detail and a genuine passion for supporting riders, Melissa focuses on ensuring cyclists feel valued in the build-up and well looked after during the event. Inspired by her father, an avid cyclist, she is proud to be part of an event that celebrates adventure, people and the joy of riding.
Simbarashe Fredy
Logistics & Warehousing
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Simba joined our team just ahead of the inaugural event and is our all-rounder-extraordinaire. He brings valuable experience as a professional driver from the food supply chain and dispatch industry across South Africa. Simba has been instrumental in keeping the busy logistics operation moving — from driving team members to Burn Camps while their phones ring nonstop; loading and unloading equipment, meticulously recording every Burn Camp component and organising and maintaining the warehouse. A keener team player with a bigger smile is hard to find.
Janka Mouton
Finance & Administration
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To many, accounting is a world of cold numbers – but for Janka, it is about the integrity of the story those figures tell. She thrives on financial precision, finding fulfilment in building the reliable foundation that allows our team to make important decisions with confidence. Janka finds balance through a deep curiosity for history and the natural world – and the Karoo holds a special fascination for her. Whether it’s untangling a complex financial puzzle or researching a new historical exhibit, she applies the same level of dedication and meticulous care.
Race week: more than 450 people
In race week, the team grows to more than 450 people working at the race, joined by many more locals in each stage venue. They pitch the tents, cook the food, volunteer at the Padstals and light the fires each evening as Camp Masters, while the media crew brings every stage to the world.