Taurus Mountain Race

After months of anticipation, the first edition of the Taurus Mountain Race is finally here. Riders from across the globe gathered outside The Beaver, a coffee shop on Antalya’s beach boardwalk, with the mountains rising behind the town and storm clouds rolling overhead.

Registration day is always a reunion, but this one more than most, with so many familiar faces from past Mountain Races back together once again. Nervous excitement filled the air. With the route revealed just two days before the start, nobody quite knows what lies ahead, and for most that’s exactly what brought them here.

Riders ran through the mandatory equipment checks, collected their trackers, caps from Albion and Pertex, straps from Tailfin and nutrition from STYRKR, then loaded their luggage onto the truck headed for the finish. We owe huge thank you to our volunteers Regina, Keiron, Kritika, Silvia, Johan, Aya, Rich and Kim for keeping everything running smoothly.

We nearly made it through the whole day dry, until the heavens opened up as the final riders made their way through. Thankfully the rain eased in time for the race briefing on the beach, where Race Director Nelson Trees took riders through the rules and route. The briefing closed with a moment of silence for Max Riese, who tragically passed away in mid-September. He should have been on the start line with us, and Taurus would have seen him complete all four Mountain Races this year. He is sorely missed, and we’ll be riding for him.

With brevet cards in hand, riders headed off to savour the comforts of the city one last time before the mountains. Racing begins tomorrow at 9AM local time in Antalya. Head to the link in our bio to dotwatch.

Supported by:
@albion.cycling
@pertexfabric
@styrkr.uk
@supernova__design
@tailfincycling

📷 @nils_laengner @stephenshelesky
🎥 @johnkasaian