Stepping back from even the slightest inkling of performance anxiety, any mountain bike stage race should be viewed as a multi-day mountain bike holiday. But bike races and holidays alike tend to go better if you take what you need. Point to point mountain bike stage races have some slightly more unique demands, as once […]
The Devils Cardigan gravel race sets the scene in Tasmania with epic course and conditions!
Gravel racing has been taking the US cycling scene by storm for a few years now. With the ascension of a now world renowned races such as Unbound Gravel (formerly Dirty Kanza) gravel racing in parts of the northern hemisphere has become a legitimate professional discipline and arguably trumping in popularity the traditional road racing […]
Who can win the Dragon Trail MTB Stage Race?
This Thursday the Dragon Trail MTB Stage Race begins in Branxholm, in north-east Tasmania. The three day mountain bike stage race has been a long time coming. After a lot of excitement for the inaugural edition in 2020, the event was postponed to 2021. And to be honest, some may not have been sure everything […]
MarathonMTB Team Camp 2020 – down in Tasmania
With restrictions of movement and cancellation of events in 2020 race days for our team have been few and far between. Myself and Mike Blewitt were able to race and report from the Arabian Epic- Jordan in February. Following that the classic Otway Odyssey weekend in Victoria and MTBA XCO national championship were the last […]
Mullens and Johnston add extra XCM titles to palmares
Related Event: Australian XCM Championships
All photos from Russ Baker/MTBA The 2016 Australian XCM Championship headed to Derby after the small town of barely 200 people first hosted the race in 2015. While the trails have been extended and have bedded in nicely, it’s still a small town in North East Tasmania that is earning a reputation around Australia for […]
Masters Racing at Australian XCM Championships
Related Event: Australian XCM Championships
With the Australian XCM Championships arriving in Derby, Tasmania for the second year running, it was another time when racing would run over both days of the weekend. As such, Masters racing and other non-elite categories races today on the Saturday. Given the dry summer season the trails in Derby were dusty and in prime […]
Previewing the Australian XCM Championships in Derby
Related Event: Australian XCM Championships
This weekend the Australian XCM Championships take place in Derby, Tasmania. This is the second year that the event has come to Derby, and the sixth year that the race has taken a lap-based format. In 2015, the marathon racing stars of Australia came to Derby unsure what they would find. While many knew that about […]
Australian XCM Championship schedule announced
Last week, Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA), announced the schedule for the upcoming 2016 Australian XCM Championships in Derby, Tasmania. In 2014, MTBA committed to holding the race in Derby for two consecutive years. Last year, the rugged course on the Blue Derby trail crowned Brendan Johnston and Jenny Blair as Australian National Champions. In 2016, […]
Johnston and Blair take the 2015 Australian XCM Titles
The 2015 Australian Marathon MTB Champs landed on Derby in a big way. The trails have been open since early February, and the town itself is busily preparing itself to cope with the mountain bikers who visit each weekend. Or in this case, a national championship. After numerous age group races were hard fought on […]
Australian XCM Championships 2015: Day One
Related Event: Australian XCM Championships
Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) announced that Derby, Tasmania, would hold the 2015 and 2016 XCM Champs. It was big news! Visiting in February, the trails were clearly another World Trail masterpiece. With about 30km of singletrack finished at the Blue Derby trails, there was the makings of a very different marathon course. Lots of flowing singletrack, […]