Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) has announced that the Australian Cross Country Marathon Mountain Bike Championships (XCM Champs) will be heading to Derby in Tasmania for the next two years. MTBA will partner with Dorset Council and Launceston Mountain Bike Club as a joint venture to deliver the premiere Marathon MTB event in Australia. It is […]
Grand Raid: The Pas de Lona
Every race has a crux, and in the Grand Raid, which runs from Verbier to Grimentz along the Swiss Alps in the Valais region – it is the Pas de Lona. A vicious hike up a scree slope to well over 2700m, it comes on the penultimate climb, when you have just climbed up about […]
Ben Thomas: Racing Mixed with Sally Bigham and the PRO experience
Last month Imogen Smith interviewed Sally Bigham (Topeak-Ergon Racing Team) about the announcement she had made via social media. She would be racing the 2014 Craft Bike Transalp as a mixed pair, but with no assistance from her male team mate. As Bigham pointed out, she wanted to ride over the Alps herself, as her […]
Grand Raid 25th Anniversary
The 25th anniversary edition of the Grand Raid, from Verbier – Grimentz, promises a unique show, thanks to a start list that holds many of the best in the world. In 2013 the victory escaped Christophe Sauser after a flat. What will happen this year, while the world champion admitted that the Grand Raid was […]
Ucka UCI marathon – the sales pitch
Sometimes a report is all about the racing action – the struggle for the lead, the sprint finish, the mechanical and human dramas. But on this occasion I find myself wanting to write something of a sales pitch. This is a race that has it all – amazing scenery, post-race swimming in the sea, superb […]
Have you tried Crocodile?
The Crocodile Trophy is no small undertaking. While it isn’t a three week race anymore, the 20th anniversary edition is still 9 days of racing. Not everyone can manage that, without enough time to plan or train. The Croc is actually a lot more achievable than many people think – but the Cairns MTB club […]
Clash of the Titans at 20th Dolomiti Superbike
This Saturday, 12th July, 13 winners, four world champions and an Olympic gold medallist will start the 20th Dolomiti Superbike in Villabassa, Italy. 4700 participants from 40 countries, including 100 elite riders will tackle the course. This is a new record. The men will cover 119km with 3822 metres of climbing; the ladies 60 km at 1.688 […]
Kulhavy and Langvad – inside the XCM World Champ victories
Yesterday, 2012 Olympic gold medallist and Czech mountain biking star Jaroslav Kulhavy added the UCI MTB Marathon World Championships title to his list of international titles when he rode away from the rest of the field halfway into the race at Cascades MTB Park. Kulhavy was satisfied with being able to tick off the marathon world title […]
Kulhavy and Langvad win 2014 XCM World Championship Titles
June 29, 2014 – and the Marathon World Championships finally leave Europe! What better place to land than in South Africa, a nation with plenty of mountain bike made ex-Euro’s, and a place with a history of successful premium event management with the ABSA Cape Epic, and specifically World Cups and a previous World Championship […]
Radio interviews with Sauser and Sipho ahead of XCM Worlds
Just ahead of the 2014 Marathon MTB World Championships, reigning XCM World Champion Christophe Sauser spoke to Nick Tatham, about returning to his summer home of South Africa, but in winter for the XCM Champs. Sauser believes the course is very hard, and that the sub 100km distance belies the difficulty. Tatham also spoke […]