While the Cape Epic Prologue was exciting, it was Stage 1 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic on Monday set up a thrilling race for both the elite men’s and woman’s categories. Birthday boy Karl Platt, riding for Team Bulls with Swiss Bull Urs Huber, is on track for a record-equalling fifth win after winning Stage 1 […]
Bulls take charge of Cape Epic
Four-time Absa Cape Epic winner Karl Platt of Germany and Swiss partner Urs Huber (Bulls) laid down a marker for the week ahead by blitzing the course to win Sunday’s prologue. And in the Women’s category South African Robyn de Groot and her Swedish teammate Jennie Stenerhag (Ascendis Health) gave notice that they will be […]
How hard can the Cape Epic be?
How hard can the Absa Cape Epic be? Let’s just chuck that out there so you can all roll around on the floor laughing with that ‘oh he is so dead’ hilarity that comes from knowing the answer. No, I’m not trying to be provocative, that is a genuine question. It’s a question that I’ve […]
Algarve Bike Challenge 2016
This past weekend the UCI category 2 Algarve Bike Challenge took place. The event is a marathon stage race taking place over 3 days. You can read my preview for the event here https://marathonmtbcom.wpengine.com/2016/03/03/algarve-bike-challenge-preview-and-stage-race-catch-up/ The event was a pair’s race so I teamed up with Austrian Uwe Hochenwarter who rides for the Craft Rocky Mountain […]
Algarve Bike Challenge Preview and Stage Race Catch Up
This weekend Algarve Bike Challenge takes place, the event is a UCI category 2 marathon stage race taking place over 3 days. It’s the 4th year the event has taken place and I thought it was about time I checked it out. It will be my first visit to southern Portugal, the Algarve is known […]
Rebello and de Groot take the 2016 GR300
Momsen Factory Racing’s Dylan Rebello and Team Ascendis Health’s Robyn de Groot completed stage and general classification victories in very different styles on Stage 3 of the 2016 GR300. Rebello road his heart out to drop the chasing pack having been outsprinted on Stages 1 and 2 by Craig Boyes, while de Groot had done […]
Boyes and de Groot Claim First Stage of the GR300
Stage 1 of the 2016 GR300 and GRLite kicked off in fine style, on a beautiful Knysna morning, with a neutral zone cruise through town before racing got underway with the Ultimate Cycling Knysna Simola Dash. After 80km of racing with 1 650m of climbing the first stage was won by Craig Boyes in a […]
Bike 4 Islands sells out!
The world of marathon mountain biking and stage racing is ever expanding, and the beauty of the sport is the opportunity for travel and exploration – alongside some competitive racing. Stage races are perhaps the best chance for this, with multiple days allowing a more complete look at the area the race is in, and […]
Snowies MTB Festival Wrap
Looking at the schedule before the Snowies MTB festival started, I was unaware just how quickly 5 stages of racing could make 3 days disappear. Every day seemed to be action packed with either eating, warming up, or going full gas through exhilarating alpine singletrack! The final day of racing involved a return trip down […]
The beauty of pairs racing
It takes Two to Tango… Pairs Racing Marathon racing is in decline in Australia. Make no bones about it. No matter how many cries of ‘there are just more races out there, so numbers are diluted’ I hear, the simple facts are that fewer people are attending marathon races – regardless of reason and when […]