Thanks to the folks at Rapid Ascent, they hooked me up with a media entry which gave me the best excuse I could come up with to travel to Alice Springs for a week of incredible Mountain Biking

You can read each of my brief stage reports below, but I’ll give you a short recap of the event itself.

Let me begin by saying that Alice Springs is a mecca for mountain biking. Each of the five trails that we did were vastly different and I can only imagine how much more exploring there is to be done. Within a few minute ride from Alice Springs itself you have dozens of trail options that remind me of what you’d find in Arizona, California or Mexico (i.e. very desert-like, rocky and singletrack heaven). Don’t forget the tyre sealant – all those sharp thorns from various vegetation are like magnets to the tyres.

The event itself had the vibe of showing up to a local mountain bike race, but most of the people were from elsewhere around Australia. Many of the competitors stayed at the same hotel (the Chifley) as were many of the stage starts and presentations. By the time the week was done, it felt like you had 200 new mates.

The racing itself was either ultra-competitive, or as relaxed as you wanted it to be. At the pointy end there were World Cup standard racers fighting it out on every stage. At the back of the race there were all sorts of riders who were there simply to enjoy the atmosphere and ride some of Australia’s best trails.

If you’re looking for something new or an excuse to visit one of the coolest places I’ve been to in Australia, I highly recommend signing up for this event next year.

Click here for detailed race results.

Find out more about the Ingkerreke Commercial Mountain Bike Enduro here.

STAGE REPORTS

Stage 1:

Two stages were held on day 1 yesterday and there was no easing into it. The first stage was a quick 42km loop west of Alice Springs finishing on the town’s velodrome. I placed myself in the start grid based on the look of the competitors around me (right in with the guys with beards and hairy legs). As it turned out, I nailed it and immediately found my place in the pecking order.

Nearly every kilometer of stage 1 was flowing singletrack and the trail conditions were perfect with some recent rain. As always, there are some unique characteristics to these trails and the two that stand out are the jagged rocks that hit your pedals more times than not, and the razor sharp needles that stick into your tyres (there’s no way you’d make it without slime in the tyres).

In the end I managed to follow someone who was better than me and pushed me all the way to 13th place overall (1st in my new category, the 40-49 year olds!).

Stage 2:

Later that evening we had the stage 2 time trial up Anzac Hill. It was only 300m long but an average of 11%. It was a fantastic atmosphere with many locals lining the road shaking cowbells in our ears. I hit it as hard as I possibly could and thought for certain that nobody would be able to beat my time. Was I ever wrong! I managed to get a time of 1:01 (9th in Vets, 43rd overall) and the winning time was by Andrew Blair (also winner of stage 1) who bombed up that hill in 44 seconds! (The Strava segment for the hill can be found here).

Today’s Stage 3 is 49km through some of the region’s best trails – apparently more singletrack heaven over fast, flowing and undulating terrain. Let’s see if I can hold together my lead in the Vets category. I’ll beat up on them while I can!

Stage 3:

Stage 3 didn’t exactly go as I envisioned it the night before. I started the day in yellow (40-49 Vets) and while I had no upfront hopes of winning my category, it’s not hard to get caught up in defending the lead.

It was a short ride to the startline and halfway there I started to hear some creaking coming from the cranks. It took a couple minutes to figure out, but once I did I noticed that my crank arm was so loose I could turn the bolt with my fingers. It certainly wasn’t like that the night before during the uphill TT.

At the startline I frantically looked for someone with a 10mm allen key to tighten up my cranks but to no avail. Starting like this wasn’t an option as it was just a matter of time before I’d be stuck in the middle of the outback in worse trouble.

Some 45 minutes after everyone started I found a support vehicle with the tools I needed and got back on my way.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the lack of pressure on the racing allowed me to ride alone with my head up through some of the most magnificent countryside I’ve ever seen. It reminded me of riding through parts of the Arizona desert, albeit with an Australian twist. The skies were ocean blue and the soil and mountains a deep red with singletrack heaven winding through the middle of it.

Today is quite a long stage at 90 kilometers and keeping the pace quite moderate on yesterday’s stage was probably a good thing to have forced on me. There will be no mercy in stage 4, and I’m fired up for a good result.

Congratulations to Michael Crosbie (see photo above) for winning stage 3 in the men’s and to Rowena Fry for taking out the women’s stage in her third straight win of the race.

Stage 4:

If there was any chance for anyone to make up significant time and put the nail in the coffin, it was stage 4. Some 90km of relatively flat doubletrack would put everyone’s road racing savvy-ness to the test.

An early 4am wakeup saw the whole field bussed 90km away from Alice Springs into the remote indigenous community of Santa Teresa where the race started. The pace was frantic from the gun and within 10 minutes the bunch was split to many pieces. As much as this resembled a road stage, it was extremely intense trying to follow the wheel while negotiating the wet and slippery soil along with ruts and rocks.

I was lucky to make the front split of about 20 riders but a crash in front of me saw a few of us slip off the back and not able to catch up again. These guys were absolutely flying.

I managed to catch on with a chase group which was a comfortable pace for the last 50km. The race within that bunch was between Rowena Fry (who rode for GreenEDGE last year) and Jenny Fay. I had my nemesis from the Vets category in my group as well, so the challenge was to get rid of him. Fortunately I was able to put my dirty little road tactics to work when I saw a gap open up and managed to pop him from our group in the last 15km.

Unfortunately someone had tampered with the course markings in the final sections of the stage which caused our group and the lead group to get lost. We met up with the lead group and had a laugh asking each other for directions and about a dozen of us rode across the line together after riding about 10km too far. The race was neutralised but I still had an incredible day out and was happy with my ride.

Today we race stages 5 and 6 at the Alice Springs Golf Course on a 23km course, starting this morning with an individual time trial over the 23km course, followed by an evening group stage of the same 23km course! It is expected to be a highlight of the week.

Stage 5:

Stages 5 and 6 on Thursday were quite a unique format. In the morning an individual time trial was held around a 23km course starting from the Alice Springs Golf Club. That evening would see a night stage with all 200 competitors lining up against each other on the same course.

The morning ITT was sensational. The sun was shining and the trails were a great mix of fast singletrack and technical climbs and descents. Through it all I studied the course more than usual and tried to put all the tricky bits into memory. The whole time I was out there I was thinking, “this is going to be tough tonight!” I came away with a time I was happy with, but wow … some of those top riders took 5 minutes off the time I did in the space of only about an hour!

Stage 6:

For the first time this week the sun was shining hot and most everyone spent the afternoon eating and drinking by the pool. The prospect of getting on our bikes with a belly full of food and beer didn’t have me very excited. However, once we got kitted up the mood to ride quickly came back. As we lined up on the start grid and felt the vibe, I knew this was going to be an absolute blast.

Once we got moving I had a smile from ear to ear and couldn’t help but look behind me at the hundreds of lights dotting the trails in the darkness. I would have had the worst light of the bunch as I bought mine about 15 years ago (it was the best back them) and they certainly have come a long way. Regardless, the dynamics of riding in the dark are completely different than in the daytime and it feels like a different trail. What a blast, even though my time was 20 minutes slower than in the morning! The guys at the pointy end of the race did a quicker time than their individual time trials which is incredible.

Today is the final day with our last 40km stage with flowing sections of single track and 4WD tracks. It’s the first time I’ve every been disappointed that a stage race is ending so soon!

Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back online next week.

Stage 7:

This was my final chance for a decent result after some minor setbacks. I didn’t come here with results on my mind, but I could feel myself getting better as the week went on, and since I had some days where I rode easy, I was far from being tired.

As all mountain bike races start, this one began with a bang. I knew roughly where my position would be in the pecking order, and went about 5 riders up from that.

I made the front group of about 10 and was on my limit trying to keep up. The guy I was following was better on the climbs, but once the singletrack came I asked him if I could lead. He obliged and I felt like I was floating through the fast twisty trails through the open plateau. My chain had been randomly slipping off the big ring all morning and I knew I should be careful. But in the excitement of it all I powered through the singletrack and my backend got kicked up briefly (nothing out of the ordinary). I pushed down on the pedals to regain control once my tyre was grounded and the chain had come off. I flew over the handlebars and my head went straight into the ground with my legs above me.

This wasn’t good. I got my bike out of the way and sat on the side of the trail for 10 minutes with my head between my legs doing a mental checklist of toes, legs, abdomen, neck, arms, hands. All were intact and I couldn’t feel any broken bones, but I was definitely injured. I got up but when I felt nauseous I knew I had hit my head. Hard.

I sat around for another 20-30 minutes and waited for my mates to catch up while I began to feel better. The day was a write-off for a good result, but a calm ride through some vastly different trails was a nice treat which seemed to be the theme for my week. Life is good…

Nibali smashes rivals to tighten Giro grip

Italian Vincenzo Nibali took a giant step towards his maiden Giro d’Italia triumph by smashing his rivals on his way to winning a rain-soaked 18th stage uphill time trial from Mori to Polsa on Thursday.

Australian Cadel Evans began the day only 1min 26sec behind the Italian, but the 2011 Tour de France champion battled his way to 25th place at 2:36 behind.

Ahead of two key mountain stages in the Dolomites, which will be altered depending on the severity of the wintry weather expected at high altitude, Nibali now leads Evans by 4:02.

Colombian Rigoberto Uran is third overall at 4:12 with former pink jersey winner Michele Scarponi, who is aiming for a podium finish, fourth at 5:14.

It was Nibali’s first stage win of this year’s race, and third Giro win overall, and should be enough to see him become the first Italian to win the Giro since Scarponi was handed the 2011 title after Alberto Contador of Spain was disqualified for doping.

“I have a significant advantage now and that will allow me to control the coming two stages in more tranquil fashion,” said Nibali, who rides for the Astana team.

Nibali, the 2010 Tour of Spain winner and runner-up on the 2011 Giro d’Italia, came to this year’s race extra determined having been pushed into third place by Bradley Wiggins at last year’s Tour de France. However despite being well suited to the rolling, uphill test, few expected the Italian to dominate as he did.

Nibali said after Wednesday’s stage to Vicenza that Evans had been “pedalling well”. On Thursday the Italian said: “I thought he [Evans] would be better today. But he’s been hidden in the peloton in recent days so we didn’t know what to expect from Evans.”

Spaniard Samuel Sanchez set the early pace from among the big names in a time of 45:27 — when the course was still fairly dry.

He took the provisional lead with a time that was 22secs faster than Italian Damiano Caruso but, despite heavy rain hitting the course later on, Sanchez was unceremoniously pushed into second place when Nibali, punching his arms in triumph, posted a time that was 58secs faster.

“I’m happy with my performance,” said Sanchez, the 2008 Olympic champion.

“It wasn’t enough to beat the pink jersey, but he’s been the strongest rider here. To beat Nibali today was mission impossible.”

Wiggins began the Giro as Nibali’s main threat, but the Englishman, as well as Canada’s defending champion Ryder Hesjedal, quit the race due to illness last week.

Evans, too, said Nibali would be a deserving winner.

“Nibali here is in a class of his own. Maybe, more than maybe, he deserves to win the Giro,” added the Australian.

Click here for full Giro d’Italia stage 18 results and video highlights. Text via AFP.

Evans loses time: ‘Not For Lack Of Trying’

Cadel Evans finished the 20.6-kilometer test in rainy conditions in 47:05 (25th place) while Nibali’s winning time was 44:29, 58 seconds ahead of runner-up Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

Evans remains 10 seconds ahead of third-placed (overall classification) Rigoberto Uran (Sky Procycling), who finished sixth on the stage.

The 2011 Tour de France winner said his performance was not what he was looking for or what he was expecting.

“It’s not for lack of trying that I lost a minute or two minutes,” Evans said. “I came to this Giro with high hopes, but not high expectations. My real objective was to give my best, and, until this point, I’ve made a few mistakes, but nothing big. So in that regard, in terms of giving my best, that’s great. But when you need winning, of course you want to be winning – and that’s maybe when your hopes rise above your capabilities.”

With two straight (albeit altered) mountain stages to come and a flat finale on Sunday, Nibali is 4:02 ahead of Evans. “I’m unlikely to win, but I came here for training for the Tour de France,” Evans said. “Second place at this point is not so bad.”

via BMC press release

Tech indecision in the Giro time trial

Last night’s uphill time trial in the Giro d’Italia saw different riders opting for different aero setups for the 20.6km climb. Some riders preferred to ride their normal road rig, with the assumption that there’d be no aerodynamic advantage in using a time trial bike, while most opted for aero bars attached to their regular road bike frame.

This slightly more aerodynamic setup would prove effective on the flatter sections of the course, while not requiring the riders to commit to a full TT setup which would have been more difficult to climb while providing limited aerodynamic rewards.

In this gallery at VeloNews, Caley Fretz shows, in pictures, a number of the different setups chosen for last night’s stage.

Sprick suffers stroke

Argos-Shimano rider Matthieu Sprick is in hospital after suffering a stroke, also known as a cerebral thrombosis, and is currently displaying some symptoms of paralysis.

The French rider’s early season was marred by a broken foot and the stroke happened just as he returned to training. Sprick turned professional in 2004 and has been riding with Argos-Shimano since 2011.

Frick will remain in hospital for some time for “tests, observation and treatments”.

Sprick had not been racing at this time and his last major race (that we could find) was Brabantse Pijl back in April which he DNF’d.

Click here to read more on Shimano-Argos’ website.

Embattled Giro organisers launch mountain Plan B

Giro d’Italia organisers have made plans to start the race’s 19th stage on an alternative route as wintry weather conditions continue to play havoc with the course.

On the first of two consecutive days in the Dolomite mountains Friday, the peloton was due to tackle two major mountain passes – the Gavia and the Stelvio, the latter, at 2,758 metres, being the highest point of the 96th edition.

However as road workers battled to clear snow and ice from both mountain passes amid fears the peloton could be forced to ride in temperatures as low as -14 degrees Celsius, an alternative course was announced.

It will still start in Ponte di Legno but now take the peloton over the Tonale mountain pass (1,883m) with the second climb being the Passo Castrin (1,706m). The 22.4 km climb to Val Martello, which featured on the original stage profile, is the third and last climb on the stage and will host the stage finish.

At 160 km long, the stage is 21 km longer than the original. However the two new mountain passes, on paper, appear easier than either the Gavia or the Stelvio.

text via AFP

Greipel goes back to back at the Belgium Tour

After winning the first stage of the Tour of Belgium André Greipel has also won stage two. In Ninove he won a close sprint before 19-year-old Danny Van Poppel and Belgian champion Tom Boonen.

The second stage left from Knokke – Heist to the Flemish Ardennes, with both the Bosberg and Congoberg being tackled twice. After about 35 kilometers a breakaway of five was formed, including rouleur Mikhail Ignatyev. The front group never had more than five minutes lead. Lotto Belisol controlled the peloton.

Echelons were formed in the pouring rain with 33 kilometers left to go. At the top of the Bosberg for the second time Ignatyev, the last escapee, was caught. World champion Philippe Gilbert jumped away on the Congoberg with Francesco Gavazzi and Niki Terpstra. Then it was 12 kilometers to Meerbeke, where the Tour of Flanders finished until 2011.

The cooperation wasn’t great in the front group. Lotto Belisol pulled everything together and 700 meters before the finish the three were reeled in. André Greipel sprinted to his second victory in a row and holds on to the overall lead in the race.

André Greipel said: “Two out of two is of course a good result. The guys did an awesome job, especially in the chase on those last three escapees. In the sprint I couldn’t shift my gear to eleven, so I couldn’t go full from the start. Still I could come out. The weather wasn’t good today, which didn’t make the job any easier, but everyone did their best to defend my leader’s jersey.”

“Tomorrow in the time trial it’s only following the course from start to finish. With that time trial and the stages this weekend it won’t be evident for me to defend the jersey. The next days we’ll look more to other guys in the team, depending on who’s performing best in the time trial.”

Click here for full results of the 2013 Tour of Belgium. Text via Lotto-Belisol press release.

Impey wins Bayern Rundfahrt stage 2, leads overall

Daryl Impey put his stamp on stage two of Bayern Rundfahrt, taking his third win of the season. The stage victory now puts him in the overall leader’s jersey with three stages to go in the tour.

Two wins in the early part of the season, stage two Pais Vasco and the South African Time Trial Championship, demonstrated that Impey is very capable of winning races over varied terrain. Today’s win in Germany shows that his form is back after taking a long break from racing while at home with his wife and new baby.

“I would like to dedicate this win to my wife and newborn son Ayden,” beamed Impey. “They give me extra motivation.”

“The boys were excellent today,” said Impey. “They took care of me from start to finish. Clarkey did a great job setting me up for the sprint, Gerro [Simon Gerrans] was at my side all day and the rest of the boys made sure I was fuelled up right. It’s a nice win for me and the team.”

Click here for full results.

Ochowicz confirms Evans will lead BMC at the TdF, not Van Garderen

As he has done at the Giro d’Italia, Cadel Evans will also lead BMC at the Tour de France, BMC team boss Jim Ochowicz confirmed yesterday. Ochowicz told wielerland.nl, “He [Evans] deserves it by his performance in the Giro.”

Last year Van Garderen showed that he was stronger than BMC team leader Evans in the Tour de France, finishing fifth overall and winning the young riders’ classification while Evans finished seventh.

‘Nothing to hide’ over Armstrong – UCI boss

Cycling’s governing body has “nothing to hide” in relation to the Lance Armstrong doping affair, International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid told AFP on Thursday.

McQuaid also announced that the UCI planned to allow an external inquiry into the role played by those in charge during the Armstrong years.

The Irishman, who is set to stand for a third term in charge of the UCI in September, hit back at those, including the World Anti-Doping Agency, who have criticised the lack of action taken since the fall from grace of the former Tour de France winner.

“That’s not correct. We have worked since Armstrong,” said McQuaid.

He said that the UCI had set up an “independent commission” to investigate whether anyone was complicit in helping the Texan during the years when he managed to cheat his way to the pinnacle of the sport, but added that the commission had to be dissolved shortly after opening at the end of January because of a lack of support from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

“I am sorry that it has to be abandoned but we could not afford the money that we wanted to spend on it and, having the report for just one side and the fact neither WADA nor USADA were prepared to collaborate to this commission, put us in a situation where we had no option but to cancel it and look at a different approach,” McQuaid said of the commission’s failure.

McQuaid added that he hoped an external inquiry into the UCI’s activities could begin as soon as possible.

Text via AFP.

Hannah Grant – Saxo’s gourmet treatment

Join Team Saxo-Tinkoff chef Hannah Grant as she prepares the everyday “fuel” for the riders — served up with perfection, love and team spirit.

Men vs women power analysis from the Tour of California

Comparing men’s to women’s power files can like comparing apples to oranges, but at the Tour of California there was a chance to compare two world-class time trialist’s power data after racing the same TT course on the same day.

Spanish rider Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM) shared his Powertap data and American Alison Powers (NOW-Novartis for MS) shared their data with Velonews and you can read the analysis here.

The Bike Lane – Giro d’Cali: From pasta to burritos

Need something to feed your cycling addiction this weekend (after your ride of course)? How about checking out the latest episode of The Bike Lane?

With the Giro d’Italia in its final stretch we discuss how we see it unfolding, and also talk to Matty Lloyd to see why he’s not there. We also talk to Nicki Vance about her report on Orica-GreenEDGE, we look at the Tour of California, talk to a VIS nutritionist about the benefits of sugars in a cyclist’s diet, and do a Hot Lap with former AFL great Danny Frawley.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

See the new episode here.

Race leader Vincenzo Nibali (AST) powered to victory by 58 seconds over nearest rival Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) on the 20.6-kilometre Polsa climb at Stage 18 of 2013 Giro d’Italia. The end result saw the Italian open out his advantage in the maglia rosa to 4:02 over Evans, with Urán just 10 seconds further back as the fight for the podium places intensified. Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) were the next riders home, the latter taking just five seconds out of Urán on the climb as heavy rain began to fall on the leading contenders.

The racing continues tomorrow with Stage 19. The modified 160km route will tackle the climbs of the Tonale, Castrin and finish with full Val Martello climb.

Information from Team Sky website used in the race report.

André Greipel makes it two wins in two stages for Lotto-Belisol at the 2013 Tour of Belgium.

Race Report

After the first stage, André Greipel has also won the second one in the Tour of Belgium. In Ninove he won a close sprint before 19-year-old Danny Van Poppel and Belgian champion Tom Boonen. The second stage left around 11:30 in Knokke-Heist to the Flemish Ardennes, both the Bosberg and Congoberg had to be climbed twice. After about 35 kilometers a breakaway of five was formed, with rouleur Mikhail Ignatyev. The front group never had more than five minutes lead. Lotto Belisol controlled the peloton.

Echelons were formed in the pouring rain with 33 kilometers left to go. Lotto Belisol was strongly represented in the first group, with leaders André Greipel and Jürgen Roelandts among them. At the second passage on the top of the Bosberg Ignatyev, the last escapee, was caught. World champion Philippe Gilbert jumped away on the Congoberg with Francesco Gavazzi and Niki Terpstra. Then it was twelve kilometers to Meerbeke, where the Tour of Flanders finished until 2011. The cooperation wasn’t great in the front group. Lotto Belisol pulled everything together and 700 meters before the finish the three were reeled in. André Greipel sprinted to the second victory in a row and stays leader.

Information from Team Lotto-Belisol media release used in the race report.