Next month will mark the 7th occurrence of what is fast becoming a cornerstone of the international marathon mountain bike stage race calendar. The Mongolia Bike Challenge was first held in 2010 and spanned 10 days and over 1400km and was won by Italian’s Marzio Deho and Allania Vassechi. The race has since been shortened to […]
Port to Port stage 4: The Beach Finale!
The final stage of the Port to Port aptly wrapped up today in the Port city of Newcastle just north of Sydney. Famous for it’s coal port and steelworks, the strong working class heritage of this town has forged many a strong athlete over the years including 2nd place at this year’s MTB XCO national […]
Port to Port stage 1: The Sandy Smash!
The 4th edition of the Port to Port MTB stage race got underway today in the beautiful NSW coastal town of Nelson Bay. In previous years racers have been greeted with angry/ stormy skies but today the sun beamed down upon those gracing the start line. With a great introduction opening ceremony including words from […]
Belgian Mountainbike Challenge – Lessons Learnt In Battle
As a cycling coach I find myself recommending events to clients, one of my coaching riders, Matt, joined me at Belgian Mountainbike Challenge, the event was part of the programme we put together to prepare him for Transalps. So here are his thoughts on the BEMC event and what it’s been like preparing for this […]
Belgian Mountainbike Challenge – The Battle of La Roche Part 1
Belgian Mountainbike Challenge is billed as the toughest bike race in the Benelux but I was left wondering if it’s actually the toughest in the World!? The Ardennes is a famous location for road racing and has a rich history of mountain bike racing with the town of Houffalize hosting the UCI MTB World Cup […]
Easter in the Alice stage 3, A close call after a fast stage
The third and final day of the Lasseters Easter in the Alice MTB stage race took riders on a 40km stage of fast, flowy and smooth trails in stark contrast to yesterday’s rocky trails. With a short neutral section on sealed roads out of the historic Telegraph station riders then took at turn onto sandy […]
Easter in the Alice stage 1. Johnston & Blair prevail in the desert.
Stage one on the Lasseters Easter in the Alice MTB stage race was also round 3 of the Australian XCM national series. With valuable national series points on the line, today’s 75km stage was bound to be the hardest fought of the 3 day race. Current national champion Brendan Johnston came to this race as […]
After the dust has settled – Looking back on The Pioneer
It has now been a month since the now well known stage race, The Pioneer, has been run and won. I thought with the exhaustion and pain of the event now settled, it would be a good time to reflect on what I really experienced and witnessed during one of the most gruelling events I […]
The Pioneer stage 7- One last push to Queenstown
Riders took joy at crossing the finish line after 7 days of exhausting, stunning, character building and painful mountain bike miles across the Southern Alps of New Zealand in The Pioneer stage race today. On the menu for the final stage was far from a cruisey parade into town. Although the stage profile suggested 59km […]
The Pioneer Day 6 report- Penultimate punishment
Day 6 of The Pioneer gave rider’s a welcome shorter stage of 64km today. However, initial excitement of a significantly shorter day in the saddle was quickly put to rest with a look over the course profile. The stage beckoned 64km of pretty much entirely uphill riding to the XC ski village of ‘Snow farm’. […]