Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Massive congratulations to Marei Moldenhauer of Germany, who just became the first woman (and eighth overall!) to finish the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race. Marei completed the 1,300-kilometer route in just 4 days and 14 hours. Find details and photos from her impressive ride across Morocco here…
Words by Mel Webb, photos by Nils Laengner
Marei Moldenhauer is the first woman to reach Essaouira, completing the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race in 4 days, 14 hours, and 20 minutes—nearly five hours faster than last year’s winner, Cynthia Carson, on what many would call a tougher course, with the return of Telouet. She also made history as the first woman to break into the top 10 overall, finishing 8th in the general classification.
From the start, Marei led the women’s race with a steady, composed ride. She said she loved the route and managed her time efficiently. Every time Control Car 1 saw her, she was in control: efficient, focused, and often smiling. Resupplying was one of her biggest challenges. As someone with celiac disease, finding safe food was difficult. Among many other things, she resorted to eating sugar cubes and drinking honey, which she said was quite disgusting.
The long nights in the mountains suited her, and she relished the solitude. But she also faced some challenging moments—one of the hardest being a freezing night when she desperately wanted to sleep but didn’t feel comfortable stopping in town. She had to push through, a decision she wasn’t happy with. She later emphasized the importance of not pushing to the point of falling asleep on the bike. When she finally stopped at the start of the mule track before the colonial road, she said the pair of Robin Gemperle and Lucas Strittmatter overtook her after their own sleep.
As for what part of the course she found the most challenging? Not the mountains, the sand, or the cold, but 30 minutes of tarmac with a relentless headwind, where she couldn’t wait to get back off-road. Marei rolled into the finish this morning with barely any voice left—probably from singing too much on the bike, as she told us she loves to have dance parties when she’s riding. An incredibly strong ride from start to finish with a time of 4 days and 14 hours. Congratulations, Marei!
Check out the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, watch for ongoing race updates, and tune in for more event coverage. Find it here.
Further Reading
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