Trans-Savoie report – day 6: – Singletrack World Magazine

Here it is – the final missive from our Racing Reporter, Toby Pantling:

Day 6 Les Sassies –Les Contamines – St Gervais –Mont Blanc; 2908m decent, 46km

Waking up this morning already having had 21,394m of descent beaten into our bodies made it pretty tough to get out of bed. But knowing we had another day of Amazing ahead soon got me moving…

On paper – echoed by the general vibe in the pits – this was going to be an easier day, as there were only two timed stages and only two liaisons. Don’t be fooled though, this was a monster day! Both the liaisons were pretty tough, and the first included some proper hike-a-bike. This meant we really got the feeling of being out in the mountains, due to the big ridges we were travelling on.

Stage 1: In my eyes this was probably the craziest stage of the week. It started out in the Alpine, ripping through meadows with lots of hidden sharp rocks which could catch you out and end your race, which would obviously really suck this late on in the game. We then dropped into a nicely benched-in trail that held some loam but was littered with some crazy root features. The trail then gave the impression that it was pointing pretty much straight down the hill and we found ourselves on a super-tech washed-out toboggan run filled with rocks, roots and drops. There was even a marshal out on track warning you of a big blind drop and advising you to walk! Ali [race organizer – Ed] was at the bottom to greet riders as they crossed the line, and to congratulate them for still being in one piece and/or alive…

Final Liaison: This needs a mention: it was unreal. There were 2 lifts, followed by a slow spin up a pretty long fire road through the ski pistes, and then the most amazing ridge-line traverse. One side had a pretty big vertical drop of few hundred feet at times and the other side had alpine meadows and a view of Mont Blanc. Unfortunately by the time I got up there (due to losing my position in the lift line) the clouds were rolling in and some of the views were lost but it was still an amazing place to be.

Stage 2: Luckily, this dropped of the side of the ridge where the alpine meadows were -and not the side with the crazy cliffs. The trail flowed through the meadows for some time, taking in some amazing naturally bermed grass corners which had been built over the years by walkers wanting to reach the ridge. Over the past few days, I’ve come to the conclusion that walkers over in France are great trail builders. As the trail dropped down into the valley, we picked up a footpath though the trees with a similar feel to the upper section, but with some muddy roots and rocks throw in, and a couple of drainage pipes that caught a few tired people out. It was an amazing trail to finish the race on; nothing too crazy, but a great journey.

Some well-deserved R&R

Well, what a week this has been. We’ve raced and ridden pretty much every type of terrain in pretty much every type of weather condition. Fair play to all the riders that rolled the dice all week long and made it through; it’s been a massive week and with the terrible weather part way through, tent life became pretty tricky.

Results:

Top 5 Pro male:

1^st Jamie Nicoll Polygon
2^nd Gary Forest UK WTB Enduro Team
3^rd Dan Wolf Specialized
4^th Tobias Pantling Orange bikes
5^th Ariel Lindsel Santa Cruz Fox Shimano

Women:

1^st Lisa Curry Gallatin Alpine Sports
2^ndRachael Gurney Flare Clothing
3^rdAlice Flower

Semi Pro:

1^st Martyn Brookes Whyte

Senior:

1^st Nash Masson (3^rd fastest overall)!

Master:

1^st Urs Stadelmann Velothek-Kalag

Vets:

1^st Scott Stephenson

Big thanks to Ali and his team for a great week of riding and racing. They all did a great job and put a lot of time in to make it as good as it was and allow it to run a smoothly as it did: great job to everyone.

Another big thanks has got to go to my bike for not missing a beat all week other than a leaky rim strip! This is what I rode and would recommend the build to anyone for this style of event:

Orange Alpine 160 650B, Fox Float X (large volume spacer)
Fox 36 170mm
Full XTR other than Saint Brakes 180mm rotors (32 tooth up front and OneUp components 40tooth cassette converter on the rear)
Hope Tech Enduro Wheels
WTB Vigilante Team Issue Tires front and rear
Easton Havoc 35mm stem, Easton Havoc carbon 750 bars
New DMR V 12 mag pedals
RockShox stealth Reverb
Wet day fitted a DFender mudguard

Orange Alpine – mud not optional

Bike after 6 days of racing and over 24,000m of descending (forget the day racing was cancelled)!

And here’s some video of the final stage:

Next stop Whistler!

Follow Toby’s further adventures on:

Twitter @tobiaspantling

Instagram @3styletoby

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.