World Championship MTB Marathon

One of my goals this season was qualifying for the world championship Mountain bike marathon. For Belgian Cycling (our national cycling federation) that means you have to finish in a top 5 on a Marathon world series competition and to have an elite licence.

Not so easy as there are more and more foreign women riding professionally.  But I succeeded and I even made it to the top 25 on the UCI marathon ranking.

This year the Championship was organised by 3 Epic in the beautiful Auronzo di Carado (Italy). From the lake to heaven. And you can take that quit literally. Over 89 K we had to conquer 3500 AM with some brutal steep never ending climbs and demanding downhills.

We arrived Friday just before midday and immediately went for a ride, because the next day was d-day already and a recon of the start and finish kilometres is always interesting. After the ride we had to get to the accreditation which took for ages. We met up with Sara Van Peer the other Belgian rider to make up a plan for the feed stations.

Recon of the first ultra steep climb

Start and finish area

My bibnumber was 22, so I could line up on the second row with some big mountain bike stars. And no one less than the legend herself ‘Gunn Rita Dahle Flesja’ put herself next to me and started a little conversation while we had to wait during the call up. The atmosphere of these kind of events is impressive.

Clean race bike

Getting the legs prepped

Line up between MTB world stars

At 9:45 AM the start was given, the first little loop through the village and back to the start was hectic and nervous. Some girls crashed already in the first km. When we got to the first brutal climb the pack stretched out. Peter and I did this one in the recon on Friday which gave me a pretty good idea on what was coming up. After this climb we had a dangerous downhill because of the lose stones and the lack of grip. But I survived it and arrived in still very good condition at the first feed zone. Here I was able to pass some other riders. After the second feed station we were going up hill, first very smoothly but it got harder. From this point on I raced almost all day alone, but I enjoyed every bit of it. The weather was beautiful and the surrounding stunning. The climbs in the sun were burning hot.

In the longest never ending climb I passed some girls that clearly had problems with the altitude.

Team beverage

The messy feed stations

Ready to serve @overstims

Drinks and food 🍫🍌🍹

Peter provided me of food and drinks as good as possible with the help of Erik and Dieter who were Sara’s company.

The downhills were demanding and not easy at all, I managed to race crash free without a mental or physical dip. I was able to keep my pace steady and reach the finish in the top 50. 15 spots better than last year. Apparently Sara gave up during the competition, but she was not the only one.

I’m happy with my result and at the same time I’m putting new goal to next year. 

I made it!! 😁

No more up hill riding for today 🌄

This is what I was riding for 🍕🍕🍕🍕

Still one more race to go. First a week of rest and then we get back to it to keep my form as high as possible and be able to ride a good result in France at Roc D’Azur.

Thank you Peter for getting me to this point!!