Sunday was loaded with action. Riders got up early that morning to catch the cable car to the top of Rinderberg, which the Bergbahnen especially opened 1 hour before skiers could use it. After the start at more than 2000 meters above sea level at -10 degrees, participants had the unique experience to race downhill […]
Fast and furious at the Snow Bike Festival
There’s a funny sense of relief when the last day of a stage race rolls around. Even when it’s been something you have planned for, anticipated, saved for and trained for – when you’re tired you are still ready for it to finish. And despite the Snow Bike Festival being a popular 4-day format of […]
Snow Bike Festival and a winter wonderland
Related Event: Snow Bike Festival
There are few days where everything that needs to fall into place, falls into place. It can happen on race days, it can happen on social rides, but even with the best preparation it doesn’t always happen. Having the the right mix of motivation, conditions, equipment and experiences does not always happen. I’m lucky that […]
Snow Bike Festival – climbing to powder
Related Event: Snow Bike Festival
The world of the Snow Bike Festival is really mixed. With about 150 riders from almost 20 different countries, it’s a really diverse mix of people. But you need to consider that there is also a highly diverse mix of ability too. From the UCI elite riders who are here not just for fun, but […]
Snow Bike Festival Prologue – a comedy of errors
Related Event: Snow Bike Festival
The Snow Bike Festival is the the first UCI S1 mountain bike stage race of the year, and also the only UCI race that is held on snow (although professional road racers might disagree some years when Paris-Nice gets hit hard by the weather!). With a home in the Swiss resort town of Gstaad, the […]
Snow Bike Festival confirms UCI S1 status
The Snow Bike Festival has announced that it has once again received Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) accreditation and has been upgraded to a “Stage Race Class 1”, making it one of only 13 stage races worldwide to be classified this highly. This results in an increased prize purse and additional UCI points. The event will […]
Gstaad Snow Bike Festival: Victory for Rohrbach and Leumann
Under perfect sunny skies, Switzerland’s spectacular Gstaad was once again home of the start to the third and final stage of the Snow Bike Festival. This stage took the riders from the town’s Promenade through the picturesque Chalet area of Gstaad, deep into the Turbachtal and then down the stunning Lauenental, before turning down the […]
Snow Bike Festival starts in Gstaad
With the veritable explosion of fatbikes, it was only a matter of time until ski resorts adopted fatbikes, and the Snow Bike Festival in Gstaad is an excellent example. Why not cater for another user group? There’s no need for it to feel like a snowboard invasion all over again. The first edition of the […]