Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
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The fastest riders are wrapping up the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco, including Marin de St Exupéry and Ashley Carelock, who were the first male and female finishers this year, and they both set new records on the 1,170-kilometer route. Learn more here…
Photos by Atlas Mountain Race, Ariel Wojciechowski, and Nelson Trees.
The inaugural Atlas Mountain Race in 2020 attracted some top-level riders, including Sofiane Sehili, James Hayden, and Jay Petervary. Sofiane finished first that year, blazing through the course in just 3 days, 21 hours, and 50 minutes. It was only a matter of time before someone came along and set a new course record, and it’s even more exciting to see a pair of new records in the men’s and women’s categories.
Two days ago, 25-year-old Marin de St Exupéry became the first finisher of the 2022 Atlas Mountain Race, setting a new fastest known time on the course that’s almost three hours faster than Sofiane’s previous record. Marin’s final time was 3 days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes. According to the organizers, he took the lead while heading into the third checkpoint and was able to hold it for the remainder of the course. Although he’s younger than most of the other riders, he has no lack of experience, including setting a record on the Hope 1000 route in 2021, as well as riding in the Silk Road Mountain Race in 2019 and the Transcontinental Race in 2017 and 2018.
Just a few hours ago, Ashley Carelock became the first woman to finish the event, crushing the route in 6 days, 1 hour, and 30 minutes, setting a new women’s fastest known time in the process. Ashley had a particularly challenging ride due to being Celiac and not being able to eat gluten at any of the checkpoints. Apparently, she survived mostly on omelets and yogurt. A few days ago, the organizers posted an update saying Ashley was nauseous and her feet were bleeding, but she obviously didn’t let any of that stop her from finishing.
Congrats to everyone who has finished so far, and good luck to all those still out riding. You can follow the race along live here.
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