This summer saw the return of events! We headed out to check the biggest of the new category; E-bike events aimed at both the hardcore MTB entusiast as well as the recreational beginner.

When the first E-bikes came out, there was a lot of scepticism amongst the bike riding community. We were used to the thought that mountain biking is hard and tiring. You should earn your descents and all that, and any assistance in reaching the top of the hill is cheating. Many naysayers to this new way of riding, would funnily enough be more than happy to book an uplift for the weekend, or use chairlifts and gondola’s to reach the summit. 

Fast forward to 2021. E-bikes are looking slicker than ever, with bigger range, lighter weight and more power. Every brand has at least one model in the range and a lot of the people that preached the end of MTB as we knew it, started to accept this new side of the sport. If you’re still questioning the validity of E-bikes, go ask Paul Basagoitia what it has done for him, or even better try one yourself. 

This summer finally saw the return of events again. Races went ahead as scheduled and even multi day bike festivals were back on the map. This meant that 2021 saw the return of the E-Bike World Tour, a series of events that combine the best of top level racing and an event for all that like riding bikes. 

For 2021, the E-bike World Tour consisted of two events, one in the French Tigne / Val d’Isere and another in the Swiss Verbier. For 2022 the Austrian location of Flachau will be added, and there are rumors that the plan is to turn this into a global series. Not a complete surprise, as the organisation behind the EBWT is the same as the ever so popular winter sports Freeride World Tour. 

Val d’Isere / Tignes

Both French alpine communities have been focussing heavily on becoming a summer destination, after cementing their name and fame with the 1992 Winter Olympics. Besides attracting hiking enthusiasts, the next logical demographic to target is bike riders. The lift infrastructure is already in place, and in the past years they have been busy constructing more than 40 bike specific trails, including specific E-bike trails that take you to places you normally would never be able to go. 

At the end of last July, we rolled into the village of Val d’Isere to partake in the first E-Bike World Tour event of the year, and the numbers were promising. More than 400 test bikes from all major bike brands were available to take out for a spin on numerous signposted test loops. Already have your own bike? Then discover the region with 8 signposted routes ranging from ‘Easy’ trails that cover gravel roads and double tracks, to ‘Expert’ technical singletrack loops. 

If you were more of a racing enthusiast, there was the Bosch E-bike challenge. An Enduro style race with timed sections. Some stages were DH only, but some had ultra tech climbs with ‘no feet’ zones to spice things up. 

Not into racing at all? No worries, there is the ‘Rando Gourmande’! A leisurely loop, with 5 pit stops built in at mountain huts, farmhouses and mountain restaurants where local delicacies were waiting for you. 

Speed dating with bikes

To be able to test this many bikes, in a time where every shop is sold out is a treat. So, on day one we head out to try as many bikes as we can. First up the Specialized Levo SL, one of the new lightweight E bikes out there. The test lap is well signposted and has a great selection of trails to test the bikes to their limits. 

After our first lap we headed back to the event village to swap the Specialized for a Haibike. Another lap and a totally different experience than with the Levo SL. It’s a great opportunity to try each bike on the same trail. Although one hour of testing is not enough to really fine tune the bike to your liking, it’s long enough to get a good impression on the character of the bike. It’s a bit like speed dating. 

Rocks and Roll

On day two, we met up with Vibram team rider David Rimailho. Not only is he a rapid bike rider, as a geologist he also can tell you all about the mountains and rocks that we are riding on. On a guided ride out through the Val d’Isere and Tignes mountains, he showed us the various types of rocks, and explained how this amazing playground came to be over the thousands of years. Super interesting, and good to be able to tell which rocks are slippery when wet!

Trails and treats

Day three saw the weather make a turn for the worse unfortunately. Nonetheless, there were plenty of riders out to test, explore and race around the Tarentaise mountains. We decided to give the Rando Gourmand a try. I mean come on, who doesn’t like riding bikes and food?

With a map in hand, we head out to the first stop. The local bakery supplied the treats for stop number one. Fresh apple juice from the region, a brioche and of course a croissant. We’re off to a good start already.

The trail sends us up away from the village into the high alpine pastures. As we ride on a balcony trail through the dead end valley, the views are stunning in all directions, even with the less than ideal weather. Descending back into the valley we come across jeep tracks and some easy singletrack. A fun trail that's doable and enjoyable  for any riding level.

At the second stop, there is a small group already enjoying the food and drink. The atmosphere is friendly and there are some festive sounding tunes coming out of the radio. On the menu are some local cheeses and sausages, combined with some bread and of course a glass of wine. As we chat with the other riders, it’s clear it’s a great formula, and everyone is having a blast. As we pack up to leave, the guys at the stall stop us from heading off. We can’t leave without having a little Genepi* for the road. Santé!

The trail snakes beside the stream and after a good pedal we reach a farm hidden at a dead end road. The wind is picking up and we are welcomed with a big smile by the owner of the place. A wood fire is providing much needed heat, and we get served with some hearty mountain food: crozets, cheese, bits of bacon and onions with a side salad. Just the food you need. 

For the dessert, we head down the mountain again flowing on singletrack with a full belly. We’re happy we don’t have to pedal much before we reach La Ferme D’Adroit, a local cheese farm. We have the choice between crepes (pancakes) with home made marmalade, or a selection of cheeses fresh from the farm. We’re still quite full, but it would be rude to skip such a nice dessert so we dig in the cheeses. 

Totally stuffed, we arrive back in Val d’Isere again. Even though the weather was not cooperating, we had a smashing day out. Nice trails that are entertaining for every type of rider and a perfect amount of food stops to sample all the region has to offer. As more skilled riders, we’d be even more excited to see this concept combined with epic singletracks. Maybe something for the future?

Fast Forward

With this many things to do, one weekend is definitely not enough to get the full scope of the event. So a few weeks later we are in Verbier for the second E-bike World Tour stop. Besides the activities mentioned above, the Verbier stop is home to one of the craziest competitions in the world when it comes to E-MTB racing. The E-Tour de Mont Blanc.

This is a three day invitation only race around Europe’s highest mountain. In teams of two, you cover 300km of trails, 12.000m of climbing and over 16.000m of descending. Each team must have 4 batteries to make sure they are able to cover the day of riding. This truly shows the capabilities of the modern E-bikes, combined with the world's top athletes. 

To make sure everyone can be part of the action, the riders are equipped with a GPS tracker. On the organisation's website you can see where each team is on the track, and every day there is a race update video. It shows the highlights of the day, filmed by a big media crew using drones, gopros and the riders themselves. 

Bosch E-MTB Challenge

For the mere mortals however, the Bosch E-MTB Challenge is the way to go. We decided to enter this one day event to catch a glimpse of the racing action available, together with about 150 other riders. With no practice allowed, the racing had to be done on sight. Three of the stages were downhill only, one was combining an up with a down, and one of them was all about tasting blood in a pure uphill stage. 

Once signed up, we headed to the top of the Ruinettes gondola station. Not only did this make sure you descended more than you climbed, but it also spread out the riders a bit, limiting waiting times at the special stages. 

While waiting in line I started chatting with the guy next to me. Steve came from the UK to make the maximum out of his holidays, and decided at the last minute to enter the event. Although not much of a racer, he figured the event would be good fun and show him some ace trails in the Verbier region at the same time. As we pedal towards SP1 we chat away and find out we even have some friends in common too. It’s a small world after all! 

There is a relaxed atmosphere at stage 1. Some people are focussed on the race ahead, but most of them are in it for the fun of it, and chat away until the beeps signal the countdown. As I set off, I realized the organisers were kind to us for the first stage. We follow one of the main ‘Blue’ MTB trails towards La Tzoumas. A bermy flowy affair, which proves much harder to race than to ride. The dusty surface causes a few hairy moments, but I reach the finish without washing out. Still recovering from the effort, Steve rolls in with a dusty shoulder and a smile. He pushed a little too hard. 

No broken body parts, just a broken ego he tells me, and we pedal off to stage 2. The great thing about E-bikes is that on the liaisons you still have plenty of breath left for some chat and laughs, something that's a bit harder if you ride a 100% human powered bike. Before we know it we are at SP2 and waiting in line. 

This stage is on some of Verbiers natural singletracks that provide plenty of action along the way. Rocks, ruts and the occasional sharp turn keep you on your toes while you’re pushing hard to get a good result. It’s a ‘just for fun’ race, but a race nonetheless! 

We all survive this stage albeit with some close calls. The one sharp right hander (which even had a warning sign) was a lot sharper than you’d think, resulting in cornering speeds to rival the pro racers, although totally accidental. Definitely a case of more luck than skill on that one. 

Stage three proves to be the uppy-downie stage, starting off with a mean climb. To add more excitement there is a ‘no-feet-zone’ too, and a penalty of 10 seconds if you put a foot down. Without practice, I have no clue what's coming and totally choose the wrong line through the steep, tree root infested zone. I try to ignore my 10 second mistake and push hard on the descent, but this only results in more errors and missed corners. Ah well, that’s life. 

On our way to stage 4 Steve, me and a few other riders discuss our errors and off the trail adventures. Turns out we all struggled with this one, and none of us managed to clear the no-feet zone. We all wondered how those pro riders are able to deal with these things… 

The course builder left the pain stage for the last. Just because you are assisted by an electromotor, doesn’t mean your legs won’t burn. It all hurts just the same, you just go faster.
On the 3,2,1 Go! I burst out of the gate, hoping the stage isn’t too long. 

From the start I could already see the first challenge. A steep root infested section that would even be a challenge to do down. Miraculously I make some good line choices, and manage to reach the top without putting a foot down. The rest of the climb is a blur, as I push as hard as I can to reach the finish. Thankfully, it was only a 2 minute stage, but it felt like the longest two minutes in a long time. 

Back at the event village we hand in our timing chips and head for beers at the Commencal booth. They even brought a DJ out! Sun is still shining and it feels like bike festivals have never left. So nice! 

Verdict

On the drive home, I come to the conclusion that the E-Bike World Tour is doing something really awesome for our sport. Not only are they creating a really cool bike festival concept that is easily adaptable for many different locations. It also enables beginners and less experienced riders to be part of the fun. The opportunity to test out such a wide range of E-bikes, is great for anyone that has not purchased one yet, or is still sceptical about E-bikes in general. 

Will it bring more people to the mountain? Definitely. The main question is, what are the downsides of this effect? More wear and tear to the trails. For sure. More people to share the trails with? Yup, that too. 

But I think the main thing to keep in mind is more people to the sport, which means bigger budgets for trail maintenance crews, more MTB specific trails and the opening of all trails for bikers now becomes an option. The Verbier region is a great example with this, as they adopted their ‘share the trails’ mentality and opened up all hike trails for biking use. 

No matter how much we try, the world is constantly changing and there is nothing you can do about it. Let’s embrace the future and see what we can do to make it better! 

*Genepi is a local liquor made with mountain herbs

By Jarno Hoogland
Jarno's life has revolved around two wheels ever since he swung a leg over his first BMX at age 4. After a BMX and DH racing career, he moved on to work for bike shops, distributors and brands before ending up in the editors seat at IMB. Based in the ultimate testing ground in the Swiss mountains, he runs his guiding operation and makes sure every IMB issue is filled with top notch content.

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