Pro rider Matt Page is taking on the punishing 500km New Zealand stage race, The Pioneer, and is kindly blogging about the beating he's taking for MBUK (that's BikeRadar's sister mag, if you're reading this outside of the UK and need to get to know).
The opening two stages took Matt from Christchurch to Queenstown, after which his Team EpicCymru.com team were lying in fourth behind the big players. Team Danton – consisting of U23 world XC champion and Commonwealth gold medallist Anton Cooper, plus Aussie champion and World Cup winner Dan McConnell – led, with Kona Factory teams A and B in hot pursuit. What happened next, you ask? Read on…
Related: New Zealand's The Pioneer 500km MTB stage race gets off to a brutal start
ADVERTISEMENT
Stage 3: punishing climbs and rugged ground in sapping heat
Despite being 30km shorter than the previous day, Stage 3 of Pioneer New Zealand was no easier, with tough climbs, rough roads and high temperatures all taking their toll.
Team Kona Factory A were keen to claw back time, pushing hard from the start to try and test overall leaders Team Danton. After a fast initial 6km, where Cory Wallace pushed the tempo, the first and biggest climb of the day was looming ahead.
The 4x4 track was steep and relentless all the way to the top: 12km long, rising over 1000m it proved to be a challenging ascent. All but the top few teams were forced to walk on a couple of sections.
Stage 4: sketchy downhills lead to a sprint finish
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/1o9ruUd
No comments:
Post a Comment