After the 2019 Cross-Country Marathon (XCM) Australian National Championships were postponed and moved from Townsville to Redlands and the Bayview Blast, many questions were left hanging over the 2020 venue and date. While The RATS MTB Club did a fantastic job hosting the Championships at Redlands, they did so without too much notice and there […]
XCM World Champs- Back of the Pack race report
Team rider Justin Morris whom also lives with Type 1 diabetes reports on racing the UCI XCM World Championship from the perspective of last place on the starting grid.
Johnston and Harris win 2019 Australian XCM titles
On a glorious winter’s day in Brisbane, Brendan Johnston won his 4th cross-country marathon (XCM) title and Holly Harris won her first. After the 2019 National Championships were moved from Townsville to Redland Bay, there was a chance that the fields of the elite marathons would be a little deeper than otherwise. And that rang […]
Sibling rivalry decides Bendigo Golden Triangle Epic whilst Viotto powers away to strong win
The Victorian regional city of Bendigo again put on a show hosting one of the highest regarded XCM races in Australia. In 2019 the marathon has been recognised as a ‘tier 1’ event in the MTBA national cup. Meaning the highest offering of national ranking points was on offer to the riders in the 100km […]
Australian XCM Championships to Bayview
After many rumours starting to spread, Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) have announced today that the upcoming Cross-Country Marathon (XCM) National Championships will no longer be held in Townsville, but in Bayview near Brisbane instead. “Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) along with the Townsville Rockwheelers Mountain Bike Club wish to advise that regrettably due to the recent […]
Australian XCM National Champs course check
MarathonMTB.com flew into Townsville early this year to get the low-down on the new course at Mt Douglas MTB park. National Champs had been planned to take place at the Pallarenda trails closer to town, but A LOT of summer rain left the course in need of considerable maintenance, so the Rockwheelers MTB club made […]
Ivory and Beck take line honours at 2018 LEITA
The first stage of Lasseters Easter in the Alice doubles as the opening rounds of the Australian XCM Series – so not only does the 75km race decide who takes the LEITA leader’s jersey into stage 2 tomorrow, it also denotes who leads the XCM Series ahead of the 2nd round – which is also […]
XCO National Series Round 3 and 4 – inferno on the Commonwealth Games Course
I arrived early for Round Three of the Australian XCO National Series at the Commonwealth Games course at Nerang and watched the junior men race. By 8:30am it was already over 32 degrees and very, very humid. The field was completely devastated by the heat, many youths ending up in the first aid tent. I […]
2018 Australian XCM Series revealed
Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) have just confirmed the dates and venues for the 2018 National XCM Series. Next year the series is trimmed down to five events, including the National Championship, in a bid to have more riders attend more of the series, according to MTBA CEO Shane Coppin. “We really hope this condensed series […]
End of the beginning: Imo races the Flight Centre Epic
Related Event: Flight Centre Epic
Last year when Queensland’s biggest and oldest MTB marathon, the Flight Centre Epic rolled around, I had recently returned from World XCM Championships and had had some time off. It had also been raining. The prospect of pedalling through thick black mud for five hours held little attraction for me, and Mike and I sat that […]