http://www.ambmag.com.au - 37BETWEEN
THE TAPEAustralia has seen great success in cycling
disciplines from road to BMX – and also from
our own little dirty corner of the sport. We’ve
had world champions in downhill, on multiple
occasions, and great success in cross country,
4-Cross and recently enduro. Aside from the
success, all these disciplines have seen a good
number of Aussie riders head to Europe as
privateers and slug it out mid-pack, while ‘living
the dream’, and hoping of one day making it.But there is one MTB discipline that has been a tad
neglected in the eyes of Australia’s elite mountain
bikers. And that is marathon - the art of going full
gas for a lot longer than you want to go full gas! In
Australia, the marathon racing scene is reasonably
strong, with a well-contested national series and
championship event as well as a range of stand-
alone races and awesome stage races.These events see a loyal following of elites
chasing the tape around the country throughout
the year. Marathon purists base their season
around getting a big win or top 10, while XCO
racers come and go, often using the marathon
races as tough training sessions. This pattern
continues overseas with some XCO racers fitting
in European stage races and marathons around
their World Cup calendar.However, very rarely do Australians target
European marathon events on a consistent basis.
The Marathon World Championship usuallyfeatures a handful of Aussie racers, but there
are many other races that are seemingly ignored
throughout the season. There is even a UCI
Marathon Series, a collection of races that have
been granted UCI status, as well as a handful of
major stage races that also offer UCI points, which
are a big drawcard for XCO racers during the
season. With all these options available, it seems
amazing there isn’t more interest in the discipline.So, why don’t they race?This question hit me during the 2017 Alpen Tour
Trophy in Austria (pictured above). The race was
amazing, with epic climbs through the Austrian
mountains and technical singletrack that would put
some XCO courses to shame. Other long distance
races in Europe also have this sweet ingredient list
and it really made me wonder why people don’t focus
on this discipline as feverishly as XCO. Why is such a
priority placed on racing the XCO World Cup circuit?Financial rewards are probably about the same,
with XCO possibly nudging slightly ahead. It’s fair
to say that XCO is more popular thanks mainly to
Redbull TV’s live coverage, although marathons
could likely get the same interest if they were
televised. And in terms of participation, marathon
wins all day - you just have to look at the 2000
strong field of Australia’s own Cape to Cape to
see that. So why the obsession with XCO for elite
riders? Well maybe it’s all about the ‘O’ on the
end, standing for ‘Olympic’.The Olympic Games, a 90-minute slot of race time
every four years, with a spirit that endures in the
meantime. The Olympic dream is strong for a
lot of athletes - as shown by cyclocross phenom
Mathieu Van der Poel and his decision to prioritise
mountain bike gold in 2020 over his CX and road
career. His choice has been made in part from the
fact that cyclocross is not an Olympic discipline,
the same fate of the marathon discipline.But not everyone is mesmerised by the Olympic
dream. Only very recently, the news broke that
Hans Becking of the Brentjens MTB Racing Team,
a rider with multiple top 20 results during the
2017 World Cup XC season, would be switching to
marathon racing.He has dabbled, with success, in the marathons
and has gone on record as saying that he was
influenced by the introduction of the XCC race at
World Cups and the lack of race options in XCO.
He has also admitted that going out and doing five
hours in the mountains is a lot more enjoyable
than what he was doing previously.I do wonder if those factors will also influence
other elite riders, especially Australian racers, to
choose marathon and stage racing over XCO in
the future. It’s a growing discipline that may lack
an Olympic gold, but offers more racing options,
is more dynamic and doesn’t just rely on a good
grid position to do well. Maybe the increase in
race options will see XCO racers, at the very least,
dabble more in the longer game.For myself personally, having got a taste of some
marathon events alongside my XCO racing, I still
prefer smashing it for one and a half hours. I love
the technical nature and fast-pace action of XCO,
but I do wonder if my decision would be different if
I didn’t have the carrot of an Olympic gold to chase.THE LONG GAME
WORDS: SEBASTIAN JAYNE PHOTO: KAREN JAYNE