How do deep blue lakes, historic sites and the impressive panorama of huge mountains such as the Ortler-Cevedale sound? These things are almost as important as the actual mountain biking itself when the Alta Valtellina Bike Marathon is on the agenda. On Saturday, July 29, the route will take athletes to an altitude of 2,350 metres, on […]
Archives for June 2017
Experiencing World Marathon Championship
It’s always an experience racing World Championships and this year was no exception. On Thursday British Airways cancelled our flight, we were so close to not making it to the start line but flights rescheduled for Friday we were on route to my 5th Worlds. Over the years I’ve moved up from a starting position […]
Lakata and Langvad storm to world titles in Singen
On a hot day in southern Germany, well over 200 mountain bikers lined up for the 2017 XCM World Championships in Singen. With two jerseys to race for, the stacked fields in Singen would mean a lot of competition. Add in a blisteringly fast course – and it would be close too. Marathon strong […]
Who can win the 2017 XCM World Championships in Singen?
This weekend presents a tough challenge. Not only will the world’s best marathon mountain bike racers tackle the XCM World Championships, but perhaps the fight for the rainbow jerseys at the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships have never been so difficult to predict. Amongst the 188 registered men are ten or more real candidates to grab […]
Highland Fling hangs in the balance!
News this morning has come that the future of one of Australia’s longest running and most popular marathon races is uncertain. The letter below was received from Wild Horizons, who run the Highland Fling, this morning. “For over a dozen years The Highland Fling has been one of the largest and most iconic mountain bike […]
Gaddoni and Ragnoli win Sellaronda Hero!
Juri Ragnoli and Elena Gaddoni are now officially “HEROes”. Today, they won the toughest mountain bike marathon in the world, the HERO Südtirol Dolomites. Both were in a class of one’s own on the track around the Sella mountain and the Sassolungo and for both, this victory was a dream come true. OC President Gerhard […]
REVIEWED: Light Bicycle XC923 carbon wheel set
Almost one year ago I placed an order for a carbon mountain bike wheel set from Light Bicycle. I used their online wheel builder and chose the XC923 asymmetric rims, 28 DT spokes per wheel, and the always reliable DT240 hubs. It was less than two weeks until the wheels were built and delivered to […]
Suess and Stenerhag eye Transalp victory
With their official registration for the 20th BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma a few days ago, one thing has become crystal clear: the main favourites for the win in the women category are Esther Suess (SUI) and Jennie Stenerhag (SWE) who are set about securing another 2017 stage race title after triumphing in the Cape […]
Charging in Czech – Malevil Cup UCI Marathon
5 years ago Malevil Cup hosted European Marathon Championships and every year since has hosted a round of the UCI World Marathon Series attracting racers from all over Europe. It’s a championship worthy event with some amazing trails, kilometres upon kilometres of rooty singletrack and wider faster rocky tracks winding their way through the big […]
Getting Volcanic at the Craters Classic
Taupo is located on the verge of the gorgeous 80km Lake Taupo. While serene and beautiful, it hides a secret: the lake is actually the caldera of a supermassive volcano. Sitting astride the Taupo volcanic zone, the area is a volcanic hot-spot. The Craters Classic is a race adjacent the Carters of the Moon – […]