The announcement by Cycling Australia of the 2014 National Cross Country (XCO) and Cross Country Marathon (XCM) earlier this week came a little later than expected, but timely enough for racers to start planning their 2014 season. After the success of the Real Insurance XCM Series in both 2011 an 2012, Australia’s elite racers and […]
Search Results for: stage race
The 2 Oceans MTB Race – The Race Australia Needs?
Australia is a vast country, where great distances can need to be covered to travel between cities. Australia is also a country with highly a centralised population, most notably in the South East corner of the country. The size of the country and the spread of our population dictates transport and utilities infrastructure – and […]
What is it about the Cape to Cape MTB Race?
Australian mountain bikers like the challenge of a stage race. The proof is there multiple times each year, when keen Australian mountain bikers head to South Africa, or Canada, or the USA, or Western Europe, to pursue a riding holiday that focuses on a challenging stage race. This isn’t something that only elite racers do […]
How to taper for big races
It’s one of the great mysteries of training and racing: how to turn up on race day with the perfect blend of enough of the right kind of training in the legs, but also enough freshness to be absolutely pinging? Disclaimer first – I’m not going to attempt too much sports science. My history degree […]
Matt Page’s Blog: Iron Bike Stages 6 and 7
Stage 6: 90km. 4100m ascent. Maximum time limit: 12hrs. Time taken: 7hrs 06min Today I slept through my alarm for the first time, tiredness has reached a new level and writing this at 6pm I feel like crashing out, but with just 2 days left I hope I can keep things together. Despite sleeping at 1000m it was still […]
Matt Page’s Blog: Iron Bike stages 3 and 4
Stage 3: 68km, 1270m ascent. Maximum time limit: 13hrs. Time taken: 5hrs 25min Looking at the route map it looked like an easy day, just one climb and a long descent. I know this race better than to expect an easy day and the 11 maximum time limit was a clue that this was not an easy stage. The […]
Stoll and Looser triumph in Stage 4 of Transalp
No one would have expected a stage finish like this: Swiss racers Thomas Stoll and Konny Looser, who had been shaken off in the last climb to Rifugio Averau, secured their first win at the 2013 Craft BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma on stage four which led from St. Vigil to Alleghe in 3:29:10.4 hours. […]
Kaufmann and Kaess win third Transalp stage, and lead.
Markus Kaufmann (GER) and Jochen Kaess (GER) have clinched the third stage of the 2013 Craft BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma which led over 56.92 km and 2,833 metres in elevation from Brixen to St. Vigil. As a result, they also took over the lead in the overall ranking. The reigning German Marathon Champion and […]
Transpyr Stage 8. The sting in the tail.
As we were each handed 2 dry pieces of toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast, I wondered how my tired legs would get me through the final stage of 86kms and 2300 metres of climbing. No one expected an easy last day, but the official timing was to stop at the 55km mark…perhaps […]
Transpyr penultimate stage.
One of the great pleasures of riding a stage race, particularly in a foreign country, is arriving in a new town and then finding the best café, bakery, bar or churreria. Stage 7 of the Transpyr ride was a vast contrast to the difficult and technical stage 6 that saw many riders finishing just in […]