The first ever mountain bike stage race in Iceland, the Glacier 360, ran smoothly last week. The Icelandic weather was on it’s best behaviour with sun, favourable winds and high temperatures (relative to Iceland).
Some great riders and mountain bike enthusiasts from all over the world honoured Iceland with their presence making the race fast and hard for leading teams. Mountain bike legend Rebecca Rush raced in the mixed teams with her husband Greg Martin and came in fourth. The first spot in mixed category was reserved for Jennie Stenerhag and her partner, Craig Gerber. Second and third for two teams racing all the way from South Africa, Velocity Sports Lab (Tim Ellerbeck and Carmen Buchacher) and Team Garmin (Ben Melt Swanepoel and Yolandi du Toit) respectively.
That looks cold…
The mens race was very competitive for the first edition of Glacier 360. After coming in bar to bar on the first stage, the Norweigan Team Hardrocx Abax by Swix (Greg Saw and Thomas Engelsgjerd) secured first place after racing hard against Team Trek Mesterhus 1 (Anders Fiskvik and Knut Erik Nesteby) from Norway and TF-WOW (Ingvar Ómarsson and Christian Helmig) Icelandic/Luxembourg team.
The terrain suited hard and fast racing.
All teams finished the race safely, some taking their time to enjoy the route and photo opportunities while others went racing for the fastest finish times. It proved that the right attitude and a dash of perseverance were the elements that got the job done. Friendship got tested and strengthened, new friends got made and good spirits reigned in camp and on the field.
Registration for the 2017 event has opened. Spots for the race are limited to only 100 teams. The second-ever circumnavigation known as Glacier 360 will take place August 11th – August 13th 2017.