No one can argue that Europe is the heartland of marathon mountain biking and stage racing. But at this time of the year all eyes are on South Africa, And now, the 2018 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen, is upon us. Well almost. While the South African marathon season is now underway after […]
Archives for January 2018
KMC-Fruit to go move to Ridley bikes
The KMC-Fruit to Go team will be riding on Ridley mountain bikes for the 2018 season. The switch to the popular Belgian brand Ridley is a logical one according to the team. ‘With our team we do not only race mountain bikes but our riders are also active in beach races, cyclocross and gravel races. This means we are the whole year […]
Backcountry Beauty: The St James Epic
The St James is a loose name for a backcountry area of New Zealand’s south island around the headwaters of the Waiau river, spanning from the alpine divide down towards the Hanmer Plain. In the 1990s, the New Zealand Government purchased the area from the landholders for a tidy sum of $40,000,000. Given that this […]
Yuki Ikeda gets set for TransCape challenge
With a strong record in marathon and stage racing, Japanese cyclist Yuki Ikeda will test his skills in unchartered territory when he makes his debut in the Liberty TransCape MTB Encounter in the Western Cape from next weekend. Currently based in Tokyo, the mountain bike marathon star from the Topeak Ergon Team will join up […]
Liberty TransCape set to make a difference
The Liberty TransCape MTB Encounter, a seven-day, 614km race to be held next month, will be part of a concerted drive to support Africa Foundation. The event, supported by STANLIB and Volvo, begins in Knysna on February 4 and ends in Franschhoek in the Western Cape on the tenth. Now in its fourth year, the […]
Beukes and Lüthi claim Attakwas accolades
It’s January, and the cycling world is not just waking up but starting to fire on all cylinders. With two Australian National XCO races, a UCI S1 stage race with the Snow Bike Festival, and the first race in the UCI XCM Series – 2018 is off to a flying start. This past weekend, a […]
Fast and furious at the Snow Bike Festival
There’s a funny sense of relief when the last day of a stage race rolls around. Even when it’s been something you have planned for, anticipated, saved for and trained for – when you’re tired you are still ready for it to finish. And despite the Snow Bike Festival being a popular 4-day format of […]
Snow Bike Festival and a winter wonderland
There are few days where everything that needs to fall into place, falls into place. It can happen on race days, it can happen on social rides, but even with the best preparation it doesn’t always happen. Having the the right mix of motivation, conditions, equipment and experiences does not always happen. I’m lucky that […]
Snow Bike Festival – climbing to powder
The world of the Snow Bike Festival is really mixed. With about 150 riders from almost 20 different countries, it’s a really diverse mix of people. But you need to consider that there is also a highly diverse mix of ability too. From the UCI elite riders who are here not just for fun, but […]
Snow Bike Festival Prologue – a comedy of errors
The Snow Bike Festival is the the first UCI S1 mountain bike stage race of the year, and also the only UCI race that is held on snow (although professional road racers might disagree some years when Paris-Nice gets hit hard by the weather!). With a home in the Swiss resort town of Gstaad, the […]