The Australian XCO season reaches its climax this weekend with National Championship racing at Armidale’s fast and rocky University of New England course. MarathonMTB.com got between the tape early to bring you a preview of what’s in store for riders vying for the green and gold. The course begins with a fairly standard, flat, out […]
Report: Imogen Smith at the 2018 Oceania Championships
I headed off to Oceania Champs on my own this year, a week after my 37th birthday. Last year was meant to be my last year racing XCO, but I had an accident and couldn’t, so this year I’m doing all the stuff I’d planned to before I hit the deck, making up for lost […]
2018 XCO Oceania Championships course preview, Dunedin
Oceania Champs, the Continental Championship for riders from New Zealand, Australia, and much of the South Pacific will take place this Saturday, February 10, at Signal Hill in Dunedin, which sits halfway down the east coast of the South Island. Huge UCI points are on offer so the event, in this beautiful harbour town, is […]
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 […]
Battle on the Beach returns in 2018
The 5th edition of Battle on the Beach returns on April 14/15th with entries set to open at midnight on January 1st – a perfect way to kickstart your cycling year. From its humble beginnings, the unique event has grown to become one of the biggest cycling events in the UK, attracting over 850 riders […]
All Orange no lemon
It’s always exciting to see a National Series kick off. It signals the beginning of summer, and a time when riders can start to measure their form against the best and work out their goals and plans for the rest of the season. It’s a time to get some payback for all the pre-season training […]
A season on Shimano XTR Di2
Since 2012, the MarathonMTB.com Team riders have predominantly run Shimano group sets. Usually a mix of XT and XTR parts, mixed for the best combination of price, weight, performance and durability. Favour fell to parts from Shimano due in part to their parts availability when away from home, especially in Europe. Personally, I’ve aimed to […]
XCO racing for XCM results
Marathon races in Australia are often mass-participation events, where ‘completers’ outnumber ‘competers’ by huge margins. Cross Country Olympic racing (XCO), on the other hand, usually attracts hard-core racers chasing medals and jerseys. But even if you’re a marathon ‘completer’ when you get out to race, there are lots of reasons to love, watch, and even […]
Afxentia Stage Race dates are set for 2018
Related Event: Cyprus Sunshine Cup
The dates of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup 2018 are fixed. The mountain bike race series in the sun of Cyprus starts on February 22 in Lefkara with the 22nd edition of the Afxentia Stage Race and ends on Saturday, March 3 by the race in Amathous/Agios Tychon. For amateur riders the event offers a slightly different […]
Bike Check: Jolanda Neff’s Kross Level
The Swiss mountain bike superstar Jolanda Neff has just won her first Elite Women’s XCO World Title, with a commanding display of technical ability, fitness and race tactics in Cairns, Australia. Although Neff won the XCM World Championships in 2016, this is her first elite title in XCO, which is her main discipline. She’s just […]