Over fifteen countries will be represented this year, including for the first time, top riders from China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Last year’s runner-up, Wallace, will be back and looking for the overall win this year. He will be joined by two of his teammates, stage racing veterans Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon, who have three BC Bike Races and two Trans Rockies victories as a team.
Challenging for the podium will be Canadian Carter Hovey of Team MBC Racing powered by Orbea-SMP. Hovey, a former National Team rider and Trans Rockies winner, has been in good form of late, with an excellent showing at the BC Bike Race this year.
The international mountain bike stage racing duo of Pau Zamora and David Rovira of Team Buff International will also be looking to do well in Mongolia. Rovira is a world champion adventure racer and the pair has raced a number of multi-day stage races in the last few years including Cape Epic and Titan Desert.
Marcel Hagener of Team Chiru-WTB is another former Adventure Racing World Champion who will test himself in Mongolia. He will be joined by top Malaysian mountain biker, Razif Salleh who just finished 2nd at the Singapore National Mountain bike championships.
Teams such as Reevax from Belgium and other high-level amateurs could prove tough competition to the professional field. There will be a number of highly-experienced endurance athletes who will be looking for strong performances. Behind this group will be the bulk of the racers: amateur athletes looking for the next big challenge. They will not be disappointed as the Mongolia Bike Challenge has been known to deliver an epic experience.
The Mongolia Bike Challenge is presented by Orbea with additional sponsorship and support from: Selle SMP, Pinkbike, Reynolds Cycling, Squirt Lube, Garmin, Scicon, Rosti, Buff, and Pro Energy Towel.
Watch the video from last year…