http://www.ambmag.com.au 65In the southwestofFrance,theMaritimeAlps
form a border between the French Provence-
Alpes-Cote-d’Azur department and Italy. From
the Mediterranean Sea the Maritime Alps tower
above the coastline with jagged rock formations,
scree and dense woodlands riddled with ancient
and vast trail networks from days of old. It is in
these ranges that some of the world’s greatest
mountain bikers have honed their skills on
extremely narrow and technical trails since our
beloved sport was born.
A master of terrain, Ash Smith has spent the
last decade uncovering these forgotten trails
and with an unbelievable amount scouting, hard
work and tenacity uncovers a unique path year-
on-year to graciously share with a very lucky 75
riders.
The Mavic Trans Provence is a week-long
adventure by bike, an event in Rally format, point
to point each day with 4 special stages along
the route which accumulated times added up to
create an overall classification. This year Trans
Provencestartedinthesmallalpine town of
Barcelonnette and finished at the Mediterranean
in Menton. The MTB Rally consists of full days
long enough to test equipment, skills, resilience
and camaraderie. While some may refer to TP as
a “race” the event is more about discovery and
survival.
One of the things that I love most about this
concept is the great lengths Ash and the team
go to keeping the route and trails secret. Riders
face all stages blind and are on a completely
level playing field and are required to play a long
game, not only riding fast but consistently and
ensuring they and their equipment survives.
I was fortunate enough to make the cut for the
10th and final instalment of the event, watching
and refreshing the website as entries opened
in the wee small hours here in Australia. After
racing TP back in 2015, this style of riding has
become my main provider of euphoria and hair-
raising moments, dawn to dusk backed up for a
week in trail nirvana.WORDS: RYAN WALSCH PHOTOS: SAM NEEDHAM, RYAN WALSCH