Wellington’s Samara Sheppard (NZL) raced to a clean sweep of all five stages at the three-day Snowies MTB Festival this Valentine’s Day weekend at Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa in the iconic Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. The 25-year-old Kiwi dominated each stage including the fifth – and final – 45-kilometre marathon on Sunday afternoon […]
Tortour Cyclocross race captured by Winterberg
The inaugural Tortour Cyclocross race was a perfect start and a crowning finale of the cyclocross season: From 12 to 14 February 2016, almost 90 athletes from 10 different nations competed in the event in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the first-ever multiday ultra cyclocross and gravel stage race in the world. The race was clearly dominated by Swiss riders. […]
Transalp rides the roof in Bormio
Related Event: Craft BIKE Transalp
It only takes one summer in the European Alps to realise what a fantasy it is to traverse the alps by bike. It is a need that drives thousands of ambitious cyclists onto the trails to cross Europe’s highest mountains. The BIKE Transalp leads mountain bikers through the Alps from July 17th to 23rd; racing for seven days and […]
Pioneers descend to Queenstown
Related Event: The Pioneer
Today was the last day of the first Pioneer mountain bike stage race. Final stages are different beasts in every stage race I’ve done. In shorter stage races, there’s no need for a parade, or gifted wins. In some longer stage races, the race leaders might grace a stage win to other teams, if they […]
Singletrack to Snow Farm at The Pioneer
Related Event: The Pioneer
The Pioneer camp was busy this morning, the influx of 3 Day Traverse racers has increased the size of the camp, and for everyone who survived yesterday’s monster stage, today’s 67km with a ‘mere’ 2000m of climbing to Snow Farm seemed like it would be a walk in the park. And best of all, the […]
Pioneer Day 5: Toe to toe with the Queen
Related Event: The Pioneer
All photos by Tim Bardsley-Smith Every marathon stage race has a Queen stage – the longest stage of the race. Not always the hardest, but sometimes it is. Today, the Queen Stage at The Pioneer was 116km long and with about 3600m of climbing. It was a real battle falling on Day 5 of the […]
Pioneer Day 4: Find Stunning
Related Event: The Pioneer
The Pioneer mountain bike stage race is built upon three pillars: Find Stunning, Find Character, Find Welcome. Through the first four days, I think I’ve ticked off each one already. I found my character yesterday, realising I much prefer to race than just ride. And I found welcome early on, given the friendly event vibe […]
Pioneer Stage 2: Racing beats riding
Another day, another bike race. Such is the beauty, or the banality, of a marathon stage race. When you’re on a roll, it’s a case of rolling on from one stage to the next. You nail your routine in the morning. From the coffee line, to breakfast, to the bike park, to finish packing and […]
McConnell and Cooper extend at The Pioneer
Related Event: The Pioneer
While The Pioneer started on Sunday with a Prologue around the Port Hills trails, today could be considered the true start of the marathon stage race. Regardless, the winner’s in Open Men’s stayed the same, as Anton Cooper and Dan McConnell rode an aggressive race and put more time into their rivals on stage one. […]
The Pioneer 2016 – The Prologue
Related Event: The Pioneer
I’d like to know who can line up on a start line with no trepidation. Surely it can only be the over-confident, or misinformed? Starting the inaugural edition of The Pioneer in Christchurch today with a 37km Prologue, I was wondering which one I was. Lining up with Huw Brassington, a Welsh outdoor athlete, I […]