Kabakchiev Wins Roof of Africa 2026; Lettenbichler Beats Young by a Tenth

Three days in the Maloti Mountains, almost ten hours on the clock, and second place came down to one tenth of a second. Teodor Kabakchiev won the 2026 Roof of Africa in Lesotho, Round 6 of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, on September 26. His combined 9:59:46.2 made him the only rider to finish under ten hours, and it was his first round win of the season.

Behind him, Manuel Lettenbichler started Saturday 38 seconds down on Wade Young on combined time. He beat Young by 38.4 seconds on the Final Ascent and took second overall 10:02:33.1 to 10:02:33.2, per the official HEWC race report. The FIM's Day 3 overall classification is now marked official and has the same order and times.

How Kabakchiev won it

The Sherco Factory rider did it with consistency rather than one big day. He was fourth in Thursday's time trial, won Friday's 110-kilometer Big Loop to take the overnight lead, and was runner-up on Saturday. The Gold Class decider was two laps of a 38-kilometer course, and Kabakchiev led from the start of the Final Ascent. His 3:44:37.0 was the second-fastest time of the day and gave him the overall by 2:46.9. "I am super happy. I just told myself to keep it easy and bring it home," he told Xinhua.

The closest finish for second

Young, a nine-time Roof winner, was back after missing 2025 through injury, and he'll have to wait a little longer for a tenth win. Lettenbichler is still looking for his first Roof win, but second here was worth more to his title bid than a near miss suggests. Matthew Green completed a strong week in fourth, more than half an hour back.

Moore's comeback

The ride of the day belonged to James Moore. The defending champion won Thursday's time trial, then a mechanical problem on Friday cost him more than 44 minutes and dropped him to 11th. On Saturday he was untouchable. His 3:39:25.8 was the fastest Final Ascent by 5:11.1, and he climbed to fifth overall. That also gave Moore the Junior class win ahead of Thomas Scales, sixth overall, and Luke John Walker, seventh. Junior championship leader Ashton Brightmore was fifth on the day and ninth overall, and his brother Mitch was tenth.

The title fight

Billy Bolt missed Lesotho after knee surgery, and Lettenbichler made the most of it. Cycle News and SPEEDWEEK both had him on 177 points after the Roof, with Mitch Brightmore second on 139 and Kabakchiev third on 124. That's a 38-point gap after the German came into Lesotho with a 24-point lead from Abestone.

Top 10

Official Gold Class overall, per the FIM classification:

1. Teodor Kabakchiev (Sherco), 9:59:46.2
2. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM), 10:02:33.1
3. Wade Young (KTM), 10:02:33.2
4. Matthew Green (KTM), 10:34:12.9
5. James Moore (Beta), 10:37:57.7
6. Thomas Scales, 10:54:48.2
7. Luke John Walker, 10:55:15.7
8. Kyle Flanagan, 10:56:21.6
9. Ashton Brightmore, 10:58:39.8
10. Mitch Brightmore, 11:04:08.2

The order matches the HEWC report, MCNews and SPEEDWEEK.

What came next

The Roof turned out to be the start of a strong finish for Lettenbichler. He won Sea to Sky in Kemer, Türkiye, on October 10 after a penalty had dropped him to 15th the night before, which sent him to the final round 32 points clear, as our Sea to Sky results report. At the 24MX Hixpania Hard Enduro in Spain he clinched a fifth straight world title on Friday, October 23, and Mario Román won Sunday's main race at home. Mitch Brightmore finished the season as runner-up and Kabakchiev held on to third overall, per our Hixpania results.

Looking back, Lesotho is where the title math changed. Lettenbichler still hasn't won the Roof, but the tenth of a second he found on Young came on the weekend his lead grew from 24 points to 38, and Kabakchiev's win helped carry him to third in the final standings. If you're new to the Roof, that's why it's called the mother of hard enduro: it isn't one fast lap. The clock keeps running for three days, and the rider who manages the mountain, the fuel and the mistakes best takes it home.

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