The popular Redback MTB stage race is back for 2020 but it’s not a case of rolling out the old girl for another year, the multi-day event has had a significant makeover. With six stages and four days of mountain biking, The Redback returns to Alice Springs with a number of changes on and off […]
Course Records Blown Apart at The Redback 2019
Paul Van der Ploeg thumped the final right hand corner into the Mercure Hotel on Sunday morning in Alice Springs to claim his 5th stage win of the 2019 Redback and overall Redback Crown. And he smashed the course record by four minutes while he was at it—coming home in a tick over two hours. […]
Making memories at The Redback
Mountain bikes are a tool for fitness, a tool to earn a living (for some!), a method of self expression, a vehicle for transport, a way to blow off steam, a pride and joy, a travel buddy and usually a combination off all those things and more. In just the same way, a mountain bike […]
Riders race in honour of local legend on final day of Easter in the Alice 2019
The final stage of this years ‘Easter in the Alice’ was more than another 40km of fast, flowy desert racing it also marked a memorium for local MTB community organiser and former race director Paul Darvodelsky. Darvodelsky lived in Alice Springs for close to a decade drawn to the town from his native Sydney by […]
Easter in the Alice Day 2: Sprint finishes & short course gallops on windy day of racing
Day 2 of the Outback Cycling Easter in the Alice began in the backyard of the official race hotel and sponsor the Double Tree Hilton, Alice Springs. Meaning many riders whom were staying here were awarded a slightly extended sleep in and the ability to roll down the elevator and straight onto the start line. […]
Racing on a Frontier: Easter in the Alice stage 1, Alice Springs
The Easter in the Alice Springs has become somewhat of a pilgrimage for the Australian MTB community over the past 10-15years. With the drawcard of one of the finest single trail networks in Australia couples with a unique and spectacular location it really has become an event that most MTB’ers agree is a ‘must do’ […]
The Redback day 4: Final stage again finishes in sprint. De Rooze and Thomson take GC crowns
A few tired legs on the start line in downtown Alice Springs for the final and arguably hardest stage of this year’s Redback MTB stage race. Rider’s today faced 45km of predominantly the rocky, well cambered singletrack that typifies the riding in central Australia. Chatting among the riders there was more or less complete agreement […]
Redback MTB day 3: A sprint finish after riders rewarded with Alice Spring’s best trails!
Day 3 of The Redback MTB stage race is the first single stage day of the race. A longer and more challenging 42km course from the race hotel to the lush ‘Telegraph Station’ just north of Alice Springs took riders onto some of the finest trails of the region. A perfect mix of singletrack, fire […]
The Redback Day 2: Sun and Moon stage’s
Day 2 of racing in the red centre of Australia for the Redback stage race involved two 22km races one a TT and one a mass start race both competed on the same course but with one BIG differentiating factor. One competed under the warmth of the sun and the other under the stars and […]
The Redback day 1: Thomson and Gadsen take GC lead
The increasingly famed mountain bike trails of Central Australia again are playing host to quality racing at a high quality event. ‘The Redback’ MTB stage race run by event organiser Rapid Ascent is now in it’s 11th edition and with an honour roll including names like Andrew Blair, Jason English, Rowena Fry, Holly Harris and […]