HERO Hatta Mountainbike race

Hatta desert offers all a mountain biker love: Dry sand, high mountains, difficult tracks, rough surface with sharp stones to avoid, rising temperatures during the 2 hour race and a good pay-check.

All this attracted the world’s best MTB bikers for first men and after for woman to a true battle in the mountains of Hatta, 1.30 hours into the desert from Dubai city by the ocean.

It is the only UCI event in the Arab Peninsula.

Among the tough men riders was this year 2021 UCI MTB Marathon World Champion, Andreas Seewald, Germany, and second UCI MTB Marathon World Champion Diego Alfonso Arias Cuervo from Columbia, as well as other nr. 2, and more the on UCI MTB world ranking leaders, such as Martin Stosek, from Czechoslovakia,  Peeter Pruus, Estonia, Fedon from Italy and Polish Grima.

All in all 52 countries were participating, among Great Britain, Australia, US and Scandinavian countries.

The route was a 60-km route boasting up and down, through the deserts mountains going up to 1,600 hm . 

A surface extremely technically challenging and full of sharp stones, that gives flat tires and other technical difficulties.

They world leading mountain bikers followed each other on the tracks filled with sharp stones on curled tracks. Going up the mountain the temperature also rised 10 degrees celsius to more that 35 C/ 95 F. 

The sharp stones on the track could create a flat tire, and that also took out the top Columbian Diego Alfonso Arias Cuervo from the battle. He got a flat tire, was lost and had to retire.

The Check Martin Stosek had tested the route and found stretches with less stones, where he had planned to speed up. The Check knew, there was less stones going downhill, so he gave it full speed and took off in the hot mountain area.

During the more than 2 hour race he managed to create a distance on 20 seconds to Pruus from Estonia. 

The Czech kept a 23 second lead to the Estonian and won the HERO Dubai Hatta race in 2:03:07.  The cyclist represents the Canyon Northwave MTB Team, that is currently placed second in the UCI Marathon world ranking and got a bronze medallist at lasts year’s UCI MTB Marathon World Championship.

Peter Pruus (EST) from Torpado-Südtirol MTB Pro Team, which is the world leading team, crossed the finish line as second at 2:03:30. 

The German favourite and 2021 Marathon Champion Andreas Seewald (GER) from Canyon Northwave MTB Team came 3rd on 2:06:38.

Stoisek was happy after the victory and proud of his plan to attack going down-hill, avoiding a period with the sharp stones.

Germany’s UCI MTB Marathon World Champion, Andreas Seewald, was sad and struggled a lot in the heat. He had picked at the World Championships and it is was difficult to keep the level for a full season – and especially in the challenges in the desert.

The women did not stand behind a true MTB battle between the best in the world.  2020 UCI MTB Marathon World Champion Forchini (Switzerland) and UCI world ranking leader Katazina Sosna from Lithuania as well as the Swiss biker Ariane Lüthi, second in the UCI world ranking, aswell as Faranak Partoazar from Iraq.

They followed each other most of the way. However after the mountain it was the two Swiss, Ariane Lüthi and Ramona Forchini that broke free and build up the distance.

Ariane Lüthi from SUI got ahead, but took a wrong turn. Forchini came back, but Ariane Lüthi legs was great and she was flying over the dry surface, as seen in by the camera following her from behind to the goal for a win in 2:40:47. 

Just 59 seconds behind her, Ramona Forchini (SUI) from team BRUNEX SUPERIOR FACTORY RACING came in, while the third place on the podium was taken by Katazina Sosna (LTU) 5 minutes later on 2:46:12. The Lithuanian, that also drives for Torpado-Südtirol Mtb Pro Team, that keeps the position as the world’s best MTB team,  

Ariane LÜTHI was proud of herself defending the win infront of Forchini.

Hatta being a more and more popular destination for sports tourism, and also being close to the city of Dubai, that actually is working on becoming a bike-friendly city.

HERO is a 3 stage mountain bike series, that takes place on the top of the Alps in June, the desert now and the final stage is in the jungle in Thailand on November 12.

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