MTVM at Andalucia Bike Race

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BY: Ben Thomas

Published: 6th March, 2013

 

Mountain Trax - Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team were in Spain last week racing the 6 day stage race Andalucia Bike Race. This year was the event's third with popularity growing fast, selling out quickly, and attracting a large variety of nationalities. Ben, Tim and supporter John had a smooth journey out of Gatwick only slightly delayed by the light snow fall and the plane having to be de-iced before take-off!

 

The race began on Sunday 25^th with a thrash around the hills above Cordoba with 1550 meters of climbing starting in the historic city centre and finishing at the official race paddock of Ayre Hotel Cordoba. The 9km neutralized section took riders through the historic sights of Cordoba before heading out of town for the race start proper. There were no rules in the "neutralized" section with riders taking to the pavement and hopping over roundabouts. The moto riders then wound up the pace and unleashed us onto the first climb. The race was now truly underway.

 

 

Ben was climbing well up with the leaders immediately after the start as splits in the field quickly began to appear, this was a pair's event though Tim wasn't fairing so well spluttering and coughing his way up the climb still recovering from a virus he'd picked up the week before. Once together the team started their assault on the race but this was cut short at the top of the first climb where Tim suffered a mechanical leaving his bike with just one gear. The riders had agreed that they should just try and enjoy themselves if anything went wrong which they duly did, tearing up the singletrack with Tim's legs spinning crazily! Despite loosing a large amount of time the team finished inside the top 50 elites on day 1. There was a great atmosphere with spectators regularly seen on the course up in the hills shouting support and a highlights show on national TV each evening kept fans up to date.

 

Day 2 and the final day in Cordoba started under clear blue sunny skies with 5 kilometers of neutralized "fun"; the riders was led out onto farm tracks were the race quickly lined out filtering through the gaps between dark muddy puddles which littered the trails. For Mountain Trax - Vauxhall Motors the day included another post-stage visit to race technical support, their staff were getting quite familiar with our team. Ben's bike had the same issue as Tim had suffered the day before leaving him with just third gear, a batch of faulty products were to blame. The team still overtook plenty of people on the steeper climbs showing their ability and also made up time on some of the more technical descents, however they would then loose those places and more each time the terrain flattened out or went downhill fast as Ben wouldn't have a big enough gear to keep momentum. The hot sunny conditions required a good nutrition strategy, the USN Vooma gels and CytoPower energy drinks kept the team going during the race, whilst the Recovery Xcell drinks started the recovery process after each stage.

 

68 kilometers, 1775 meters were the vital statistics for the third stage of the race. After suffering mechanical problems on the first two stages the team was hoping for better luck. The day started with a mad dash through olive groves. Stage racing certainly isn't the best way to get over illness and Tim wasn't feeling too great early on but started to feel a bit better by the time the race hit the first major climb. The riding was fantastic once again including steep, loose, switchback descent into a beautiful hilltop Andalucian village and a section through a meadow filled with wildflowers and topped off with a view of the snow capped mountains of Sierra Nevada. The team made up places on the climbs and the descents but couldn't fully recover from the lost time early on in the stage. Despite this it was another great day in the sunshine riding brilliant trails.

 

Mother Nature decided that Andalucia Bike Race's Queen Stage on day 4 wasn't quite difficult enough; a dumping of snow on top of the mountains would make things a little more interesting. A route diversion followed cutting the stage to 'just' 2,500 meters of climbing over 65 kilometers. A neutralized downhill section out of town with tight gravel corners was a fun start to the day, 650 keen lycra clad mountain bikers drifting down a 20% gradient hill elbow to elbow. The sound of bikes and bodies hitting tarmac shortly after the start didn't sound too pleasant, the team avoided this though and went on to enjoy the stunning stage, there were some great sections including a downhill littered with 180 degree turns, a rickety old wooden wall ride, steep, loose, bum on the rear tyre sections, jumps, rock gardens…. The views from the top of the mountains wasn't bad either, look one way there would be olive groves for as far as you can see, look the other direction and they'd be the snowy peaks. On climb number 2 the riders reached the snow line, a few inches of snow had fallen at this level and there was plenty of ice about. Whilst lots of other riders suffered punctures our teams Schwalbe tyres kept them moving without problem, the Racing Ralph tread pattern even coping well with the snowy conditions. It was a stage worthy of queen status, the winners certainly earned they're glory. With Tim's illness still lingering on stage 4 the team were hoping for improved results on the final few days having only been able to place in the 40's thus far.

 

On Thursday the mountains above Jaen which was the host town of stage 5 and 6 were hit by snow and severe weather warnings, some places in Spain were experiencing snow for the first time in 25 years. The result was national chaos and cancellation of stage 5 due to safety concerns.

 

 

 

Stage 6 was then modified from a team time trial to a mass start 52km stage with 1,300 metres of climbing. Unlike previous stages which had featured a "neutralised" start, today was flat out from the gun, the race stretched out along the initial tarmac section towards the olive farms, here all hell broke loose as the riders all tried to filter into a very muddy, slippery farm track, a crash followed by our team survived. The fast opening section continued onto a gentle double track climb, with small packs of riders desperately clinging on to the wheel in front. Shortly after the first feed at 16km the climbing started properly and the pace settled down a bit. The team was making good progress on their new race bikes making easy work of the loose climbs benefiting from the extra comfort of the Fox Suspension shocks and forks. At first the climb was on open hillside but then continued through the pine forest around the castle which sits high above Jaen. Eventually the race reached the snow line and the steep, muddy single track became unrideable in places resulting in a quick hike a bike to the top. From the top the race descended on an awesome section of singletrack. At first through the snow, then some steep, slippy sections before leading to an amazing bottom section which was fairly flat but very twisty. The team flew through this section hot on the heels of two Scott riders, hammering round blind bends using the Force to guide them - speeder bike style! The route brought the race back on the double track it had used on the outward leg, only this time it was downhill! Small groups got together and worked through and off roadie style to try and catch the group in front. The team enjoyed the run in which was super fast, hammering up small rises and roundabouts before finishing in a bunch sprint over the finish line.

 

The team thoroughly enjoyed the 2013 Andalucia Bike Race but left slightly frustrated with the results which certainly didn't show off their true potential. Hopefully the team has now had their bad luck and illness for the year. Despite the challenges Ben and Tim rode well as a team which will serve them well when they pair up again at the end of April for Joberg2c in South Africa. The team finished 40^th overall, not bad considering the competition and misfortunes they experienced.

 

Thanks to all the teams amazing sponsors,  a big thank you to Dan at Mountain Trax for getting the new race bikes tuned and ready to rock, to Andalucia Bike Race organizers for inviting us to their amazing event and an extra big thanks to John from Vermont Images for coming out to support us.

 

Next up Ben will race round 1 of the British XC Series and Tim will begin his defense of the UK Endurance Series at Whinlatter Challenge on March 24^th.