Mountain -X Race
Biking Ups and Downs
Rob Howard / 03.07.2007
There had been some doubts whether Tuesday afternoon’s downhill mountain bike runs could take place in the wet weather, but a single descent that did take place, and teams finished it with broad grins, the whites of their showing through the thick mud that plastered their faces. As they crossed the line Alain Gaimard, the director of race organisers Sage d’Aventures was smiling too. “They are enjoying it!� he exclaimed, “That’s adventure sport!�The descent was the finale of a day devoted to mountain biking, which began in the central square of Les Gets at 07.00. The whole area of Les Gets, Morzine and the Portes du Soleil (currently very inappropriately named!) are a mecca to mountain bikers in the ‘summer’, and all the cable cars and gondolas are full, running one-way uphill services.
For the MountainX racers that pleasure would have to wait for the afternoon’s downhill stage, first they had a 48km cross-country ride to complete. This took them on a complete circuit, along a mixture of paved country roads bearing the marks of old Tour de France stages and forest trails, with a high point of 1660m at the Col du Golese.
The ride took the teams through a mixture of Alpine terrain, with views of the surrounding peaks including Mont Blanc, all now covered in a coating of fresh snow. There was 2000m of climbing (in a few places bikes had to be carried) and teams had to navigate around the course, which led to some mistakes.
Les Arcs Quechua and Koxx Quechua Trail were out in front most of the way, but a chasing group, including overnight leaders Saab Salomon, Nike and Salmon Crested Butte took a wrong turn. “We saw a cameraman and went up where he was,� said Phil Davies, “which was stupid. You know how it is, we were in a group and not thinking for ourselves. One team one brain, two teams half a brain ... and 3 teams no brains at all!�See All Event Posts
