Two sunny days has given the bikers perfect weather for their first two days in Genghis Khan MTB Adventure which started on Friday July 3rd from Nadamu Arena. About 200 bikers has come from 22 different countries to participate in this race which is held for the 3rd time..

The winner of the 1st Stage men’s 48km race, Kasper Overgaard Nielsen belongs to the Danish TAC – Tianjin Adventure Club which always brings a lot of people with them to Inner Mongolia.

Kasper took the lead right away from the start, leaving a gap between him and the group. The bikers behind could not catch up with him until it was too late. With Kasper on the podium at the finish at Menggu Hancheng was Feng Kuanjie (2), winner of 2009 Huangshan MTB festival, and Eric Koh (3) from Specialized Shanghai.

Radek Tuma who was not feeling well for the 48 km did a good job in the men’s 20km race instead and finished 1st, five minutes before 2nd position Peter Nielsen (DEN) and 3rd position Michael Meredith (AUS) who combines his stay in China with running and biking in Nordic Ways summer events.

In the women’s race, Lv Taotao was the strongest in the 50 km race with Esther Hautle (SUI) and Cheng Shasha following a couple of minutes behind.

Bikers where treated to a big Mongolian feast in the evening at Menggu Hancheng and at the following bonfire party, people where dancing, chatting and could also have a drink at “Cherry’s Bar”.

The 1st and 2nd position for today’s shorter 30km race had not changed from yesterdays 20km where Li Xingxian took the gold with Changchun beauty queen Jin Li taking silver. Saturday, Li Xingxian once again climbed the podium together with Jin Li (2) and Sharon Martin (3) who just about made it to the big stage on Xiwuqi Culture Square to collect her prize…

Today’s women’s 50 km race was once again a match between Lv Taotao and Cheng Shasha where Shasha took revenge for last days race, finishing 7 minutes before Taotao. 3rd place went to Dennex Lui from Hong Kong. She is part of a 4 person group from Hong Kong that has been looking forward to coming specially for this Inner Mongolia ride.

Southern bikers dominated in the Mens 50km with the medals going to Wang Lei, Feng Kuanjie and Eric Koh respectively.

Radek Tuma once again came first in the men’s short race followed by Wei Biao.

Tomorrow, we will see who the winners of the 85km and overall winners of the Total race will be. We will also see much the rain expected to fall tomorrow will affect the bikers…Hopefully the sun will come out at least in time for the victory ceremony… 

Click HERE to see the results

Lv Taotao and Wei Biao

Nr 19. Lars Vedel Joergensen