Atlas Mountain Race

Photo: Nils Laengner

One of the very few bikepacking races on the 2020 calendar is back for its second edition in early 2021; the Atlas Mountain Race. Entries are now open for solo riders and pairs, but will you be taking on the challenge?

Hosted by Nelson Trees, the same man behind the Silk Road Mountain Race, the 1,167 kilometre (725 mile) Atlas Mountain Race route spans from Morocco’s busting capital city in Marrakech to the coastline at Agadir, traversing North Africa’s highest mountain range in the process.

Starting on the 6th of February, the riders will need to follow the set route through three staffed control points to the finish, covering more than 23,000 metres of climbing (75,460 ft). As you’ll see from the video below, the way is anything but smooth, with around 80% of the route off-road.

The inaugural 2020 edition was attempted by 192 riders, won by Sofiane Sehili (3 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes) with Jenny Tough placing as first woman finisher. Riders will need to complete the route in just 8 days to make the finisher’s party. PedalED, komoot and Canyon are sponsoring the event for 2021.

Check out the race report by Nigel Leech on ADVNTR, our interview with Shona and Rich from Keep Pedalling ahead of the race, and Quinda’s reflections on the race at I-ris.cc.

You can find the entry application here, which is open until 30th of October 2019 at midnight. Successful entries will be confirmed on the 7th November.

Want to see more? Check out Into The Rift, the film made of last year’s race.