Trek: Rene Wildhaber on the podium at Urge Nepal

“Urge Nepal” is not primarily about fighting for seconds and rankings. Last year’s “Urge Kenya” supported a water system development project in Massai country. And, this time, the rider’s fee of 1’000 Euro each, plus the additional fund raising money, will be used to build or enlarge schools in Nepal – making the “Urge” races a unique combination of competition, charity and adventure. And for the athletes, this adventure began not just on the starting line but on their way up to its location: surrounded by some of the highest peaks of this planet, they had to carry their bikes from 8’800 ft (2’700 m) up to 16’700 ft (5’100 m) above sea level within 3 days.

Even without the stop watch running, the challenge for René Wildhaber, and his competition, was as big as it was memorable: ”During the ascent, we tried to memorize the track as good as possible – ‘cause this was also our downhill course, 15.5 miles long. But the beauty of nature was as breathtaking as the thin air itself.”

Fortunately he had his feathery Remedy with him!

Riders had to start one by one – right in front of the gigantic Mt. Dhaulagiri and co-organizer Fabien Barel opened the competition, followed by DH legend Nicolas Vouilloz. And their rocket-like speed forced René Wildhaber, starting fifth, to give his all.

„The course was a perfect blend of very technical and very fast sections – a real blast. The hardest part of the race was the constant headwind, demanding full power from top to bottom“, said Wildhaber, taking the third podium place.

After 6’500 ft of vertical singletrack glory, Barel won the race at 29´25“, followed by Vouilloz (30´07“) and Trek pro René Wildhaber (30´37“).

Ranking :
1 - Barel - 29'25"
2 - Vouilloz - 30'07"
3 - Wildhaber - 30'37"
4 - Doucende - 31'38"
5 - Balaud - 32'05"
6 - Giordanengo - 32'22"
7 - Peridy - 36'20"
8 - Berrecloth - 36'41"
9 - Vink - 37'52"
10 - Trocello - 42'12"
11 - Zaniboni - 43'36"
12 - Jonnier - 45'14"
13 - Kumar - 1 h 22' 13'