The hub for marathon mountain biking
When a 94k stage with almost 2,000m of climbing is described as a ‘rest’ or ‘easy’ day, you know something odd is going on. But that’s the Absa Cape Epic for you; it doesn’t really play by normal rules. And it’s certainly true that after Monday’s 96k sandfest and yesterday’s loooong 146k day, maybe today […]
Today was the Queen stage at the Absa Cape Epic for 2013. A mere 146km from Citrusdal to Saronsberg wine estate in Tulbagh, with 2350m of climbing. It was billed as something of a ‘roadie’ stage; and indeed there was a decent amount of tar and dirt road. Despite the length, this was almost certainly […]
The ABSA Cape Epic camp woke to cold temperatures and a heavy dew in Citrusdal this morning. This was far removed from what all racers would experience today. The temperature was already starting to lift before the 7am start, and the heat from the pace came soon after. There is an air of familiarity in […]
On the first day of the 2013 Bike Buller MTB Festival, it was Paul Van der Ploeg who took the win in the 50km XC race. After a very fast start where young gun Michael Crosbie immediately put the pressure down on rest of the field, a lead group of four riders formed including Van […]
It snowed in Spain. In some places it was the first time in 25 years they’d seen snow. The result: national chaos and cancellation of stage 5 of Andalucia Bike Race. With a severe weather warning in place the organisers made the sensible choice not to send 650 cyclists into the mountains. Stage 6 was […]
A week on from AROC Sport announcing that neither their Capital Punishment race, or the Wombat 100, Convict 100, Kowalski Classic or Highland Fling would be part of the Real Insurance XCM Series, mountain bike racers and teams in Australia have been asking a lot of questions. Unfortunately, despite contact with various sources, there is […]
Our final day in Cordoba started under clear blue sunny skies, after 5 kilometres of neutralised “fun”, the race was led out onto farm tracks. The organisers have threatened to impose a 120 minute penalty to any team who overtake the lead car, there’s been plenty of opportunities for this to be enforced but I’ve […]
So today the racers entered the stage racing bubble, 6 days of thrills and suffering has begun. Today the Andalucian countryside swallowed up 650 eager racers and threw us out battered after 75 kilometres, the story has begun. Ben Thomas is reporting for MarathonMTB.com from his experience racing with Tim Dunford on the Mountain Trax-Vauxhall […]
Mountain bike racing and riding options continue to expand around the globe – yet having more time off to go and pursue these adventures isn’t always possible. As amateur racers we have to rationalise the time off from work, family and real world commitments. As such, mountain bike races can become holidays. And when the […]
At 46 km, day 6 of the 2013 Transandes Challenge will be the shortest stage of the 6 day mountain bike stage race in the southern Patagonian Andes Mountain range in Chile. However, considering the tired legs after 5 days of racing, riders may not classify it as ‘easy’ as the first half of the […]
