Event News

For the 9th time today the downhill glacier bike race took place in Saas-Fee. In perfect weather and snow conditions, the 142 riders had to manage 1700m of vertical, starting en mass at 3’500m and riding over glacier and snow to the village at 1’800m. This year’s winner was Charly Di Pasquale from Les Granges Narboz, France, with a record breaking time of 7.31 minutes.

The mass start began with the 139 male riders, and 3 female riders running to their bikes. While some entrants had already began riding, others were just reaching their bikes. At first there was a swarm of riders, but soon the better competitors left the others behind.

The Race on the Glacier
The first section of the race traverses the Fee Glacier down to the steep Panorama Slope. Here, the more daring riders jumped 8 to 9 metres from the top of Panorama Slope to the steep piste below. Some riders where uncertain how to approach that slope, with many taking the safety first option by going slowly, with some even dismounting and sliding down the slope.

Valley Run Morenia
Coming into the Morenia section of the course, five riders formed the lead pack. Here, one of the riders crashed going into a corner and the eventual winner, Charly, was able to manoeuver his way to the front. He then led for the rest of the race from a small group of riders who, not for the lack of trying, were unable to catch him.

The finish area
Charly Di Pasquale began the last section of the course with a six second lead over his nearest competitor, and crossed the line with a final time of 7 minutes 31 seconds. Second place was taken by last year’s winner, Bernhard Rösch with a time of 7 minutes 38.0 seconds. The awards ceremony followed the race with the prize money totalling 7000 CHF.

The ranking
The winner of the men’s category was Charly Di Pasquale from France. Second place was awarded to Bernhard Rösch, from Kirchberg, Switzerland, and awarded third place was Lukas Albert, from Sarnen, Switzerland with a time of 7 minutes 38.1 seconds. The winner of the women’s category was Ines Wyrsch, from Basel, Switzerland, with a time of 13.02. Second, with a time of 13 minutes 14 seconds, was Claudia von Känel, from Zweisimmen, Switzerland, and third was Maya Eichholzer from Lantsch, Switzerland, with a final time of 14 minutes 54 seconds.

Ranking list 2012
http://services.datasport.com/2012/winter/glacierbike/

Further down, the ride leads past the restaurant Morenia before entering the Valley run. This is going to be a very exciting part of the race with extremely steep passages, flat transits and narrow curves, and it is a real assessment of the rider and his material. The last part of the ride, a very flat passage, needs strength to be managed. The outcome of the race is often decided during this section of the course.

The Finish Area 

Motatapu Race Director, Gemma Boyle, is predicting a local to win the prestigious 2012 Motatapu Speight’s Summit Mountain Bike men’s title for the first time in the event’s history.

“Winning the Motatapu has proved an elusive title with only three men’s winners in the seven years the event has been run, and four winners in the women’s field”, Gemma Boyle says.

Gemma says local Queenstown legend, Mark Williams (Willy), has finished inside the top ten every year for the last five years.

“Mark has been training hard for the Cape Epic race in South Africa and recent races show he is peaking nicely for Motatapu coming up on March 10th. With his experience on the course we are picking him for a win, especially with the Oceania Mountain Bike championships clashing with the Motatapu this year.”

Mark Williams says while he’d like to race the Oceania Championships, he loves Motatapu and considers the race as the same level of competition as the Oceania race.

“With some of the boys being away at the Oceania, it leaves a few podium spots,” he says, “I should have a good shot at one of those podium positions.”

Mark sees Brent Miller from Christchurch as his main competition and reports that Brent has openly stated he wants a shot at the record. Brent was just over a minute faster than Mark at the 2011 event.

“With the track hard and fast this year with the dry weather we’ve been having, we should have a crack at the record time,” Mark says. “While it will be hard to beat Anton’s time (1:48:43), with a hard track and favourable winds we should be in with a shot,” he says.

Mark will also be riding his weapon of choice, a 29 inch mountain bike, which he says will be faster over the Motatapu course.

As an added incentive, Gemma Boyle reports there is a special prize for anyone who breaks the course record this year.

“The women’s race looks wide open as well,” Gemma says, with her pick being Kate Fluker from Dunedin. There are also a few women who could challenge Kate with former Coast to Coast Champion, Emily Miazga, lining up for her second Motatapu.

Other events held in conjunction with the Motatapu Speight’s Summit mountain bike on March 10th 2012 include; the R&R Sport Adventure Run, Icebreaker Off-Road Marathon, Arrowtown.com 15km Miners Trail and XTERRA UDC Finance Triathlon.