23 06 02

Snowies MTB 2023 – Australia’s MTB Stage Race where Mother Nature was Queen, the Mountains were King, and Riders conquered them both!

Snowies MTB 2023 is a year that few riders will forget as mother nature threw up her very worst and her very best, to challenge, delight, and inspire riders to discover strength, resilience and stamina they never knew they had.

And at the end of three epic days of racing it was Festival stalwarts Zoe Cuthbert and Dan McConnell who took out the GC race in an epic battle across the 4 stages, with Em Viotto in 2nd and Hayley Oakes in third in the female race and Cam Wright and Tom Chester second and third respectively in the men’s GC.

Throughout the weekend mother nature and the mountains both challenged and rewarded riders with some of the most diverse conditions ever experienced in a mountain bike stage race in Australia.

The ascent from Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa to Thredbo in the Stage 1 Thredbo Summit Smash saw riders starting in relatively mild but cold conditions with patches of sunshine.  But, after 19.5 demanding kilometres the conditions made an about turn and riders found themselves finishing in a blanket of snow!

It’s not often you can say you finished a MTB Stage Race in Australia, in Summer, in the snow!  But riders gathered their resolve to rise above the challenge and fought their way to the finish line with smiles, mud and snow planted squarely on their faces, ready for the warmth, hot beverages and heat packs at the Friday Flat Bistro.  The mantra of the day, according to one of the riders was “Not Today…Today is no day to quit”.

Newcomer to the Snowies MTB Festival Cam Wright took out stage 1 for the elite men in 1:02:08 with Zoe Cuthbert once again stamping her dominance on this event and taking the stage win in 1:11:08.

With the mountain covered in snow, the much-awaited Ricochet stage for the Wild Brumby riders had to be abandoned, in the hope that the next days racing might bring snow melt with the milder conditions to allow the stage to be rescheduled to day two.

So, it was back to the accommodation for hot showers, warm drinks and a good nights sleep.

Saturday saw conditions easing with the overnight wind miraculously transforming the trails on the Thredbo Valley Track (TVT) into tacky, grippy hero dirt.

And as the challenge of the previous day’s snow became a distant memory, there was much anticipation leading into Stage 3 with riders eagerly anticipating the epic ride along the full length of the 35 km TVT on closed trails.

With hero dirt in their sites, riders gathered for the new mass start at Thredbo and the stage was away.

At the finish at Gaden, Dan McConnell proved too strong for Cam Wright on the last 4km of climbing switch backs and Dan flew across the suspension bridge at Gaden to seize the win in a time of 1:46:42 with Cam in second and Tom Chester in 3rd.  Zoe Cuthbert once again took the win in the Women’s stage with Em Viotto and Hayley Oakes in second and third.

The fast and furious Stage 4 Happy Hour Time Trial at Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa saw Cam Wright take out the stage win with Dan McConnell in second and Tom Chester in third. Zoe Cuthbert once again reigned on Stage 4 with Hayley Oakes in second and Em Viotto in third.

As day three dawned, the mountains turn on a cracker of the day with bright sunshine and mild conditions.  It was as if mother nature and the mountains had thrown down the gauntlet, riders had risen to the challenge, and the reward was theirs for the taking.

A race against the ‘Man from Snowy River’ hailed the Start of Stage 5 and we ‘Released the Cracken’ in a 45k three lap epic marathon.  It was always going to be an epic battle between two of Australia’s mountain biking elite with Cam Wright just 29 seconds behind Dan McConnell leading into the final stage.

Cam gave the stage everything he had to take the win, but Dan was able to dig deep to stay on Cam’s wheel and maintain a 4 second gap between them at the finish line.  Tom Chester also put in a solid performance in third.

Zoe Cuthbert once again proved why she has risen to the height of her sport to take the win in all five stages after a strong performance from Em Viotto in second and Hayley Oakes in third.

It was smiles all round at presentations as the winner of our Lantern Rouge DFL award was presented to Peter Mayer who dug deep to finish every stage in his first ever MTB event.  And the inaugural Great Teammate Crate Race was announced with teams including the Team BDE, Team Giant Bairnsdale and Team Infinite taking out the minor categories with the awesome Fly Program team taking out the ultimate title and the much-coveted beer crate.

In the Brumby Race our overall champions were Rob Cook for the men in a time of 4:06:11, and  Claire Aubrey for the women in a time of 4:07:49.

With champagne showers all round it was time for our champions to celebrate our overall GC champions.

WOMEN GCMEN GC
Zoe CuthbertTrek Shimano Australia5:33:53Dan McConnellTrek Shimano4:56:41
Emma ViottoShimano MyRide5:47:49Cameron WrightInfinit MTB Team4:57:06
Hayley OakesTrek Shimano Australia6:18:58Tom ChesterBlackshaw Racing5:10:23

And after three unforgettable days of racing a special thanks goes out to the events strategic partner Destination NSW, and to all of the partners who made such an epic weekend possible including Lake Crackenback Resort and Spa, Snowy Mountains Tourism, Thredbo Resort, Polar, Fixx Nutrition, Clif Bar and Perisher. And also to all of the local businesses and groups who support the festival in a big way including Thredbo Valley Horseriding, Sacred Ride, CH Floral Designs, Jindabyne Lions, Leanne Hopkins Massage and MYO Methods Mobile Massage.

So, for now as we head home with some unforgettable MTB memories, we’re all gearing up for another off road extravaganza in three weeks as Trail Run Australia and the TreX Cross Triathlon return to the Snowies.  We look forward to seeing you all there for more off road action in Australia’s Summer adventure playground!

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