Photo Epic: The First Stone King Rally

STONE KING RALLY VOLUME 1
Day One: Arvieux to Pontechianale

Day one of the first-ever Santa Cruz Stone King Rally was a day of two halves. As riders awoke under the imposing limestone and dolomite peaks of France's Queyras Regional Park, they immediately felt the sun's presence.

Alas, by early afternoon, it became evident that some severe weather might spoil the day. As riders scarfed some well-earned feed station goods after the morning's three dream-like stages (dust, singletrack, and switchbacks among spires of millennia-old dirt), the news came in that Special Stage 4 had been canceled. Soon it would be clear why. As a massive storm system swept over the Col Agnel (Colle dell'Agnello on its Italian side), the ending to each rider's day depended on what time they had left the last feed station.

Some would pass the Italian border into the Occitan Valleys unhindered, while others stopped in their tracks as four inches of hail carpeted the road and lightning struck the peaks above. Some would seek shelter in refuges, while others would wait for the snow plows from Italy.

It was a fittingly epic beginning to Stone King Rally Volume 1.

















Day Two: Pontechianale to Prazzo

Friendly skies greeted riders as they got wheels rolling on Italian soil for day two of the Santa Cruz Stone King Rally. Stages five to eight would make up the biggest day of the week for riders who were likely still trying to dry their kit from the previous day's deluge. Loamy forest stages would dominate, but SKR's second day would also throw in some high alpine action for good measure.




Day two opened with a "cross-country loop" that could not be further from a traditional loop of the same name. This is Stone King Rally, though, and nobody came all this way to ride cross-country; this first taste of Italian trails was just a warm-up for the treats to come. Weather-wise, only a high sun would worry the riders as they worked their way up, down, and around some of Europe's most inspired, intricate, and time-forgotten hills and valleys.

Riders had to pace themselves. Long climbs, heat, and dehydration made minds wonder. But there was little time or need to daydream: look around, focus ahead, and enjoy another sublime singletrack. Rumour has it they first discovered trail gold in this Occitan region. Today might just have proved it.




















Day Three: Prazzo to Demonte

After day two’s monster outing – riders were in the saddle for up to twelve hours – there were some sore bodies and foggy heads on day three of the Santa Cruz Stone King Rally. Thankfully, it started with a monster shuttle that dropped riders atop yet another mind-blowing Alpine pass. A relaxed start, but they’d soon have to coax themselves back into a groove. Ibex and marmots stuck to high ground in their droves as riders wound their way along old military trails as they headed towards their daily dose of serious descending.




Four more monster stages welcomed riders on the third day of racing, with yet another different feel from day two’s forest singletrack. Today’s route swung towards the high alpine and some serious limestone gorges, taking in long and snaking ribbons of singletrack and freshly revamped sections of trail.




The day closed out with racers making their way down through small villages full of enthusiastic locals singing their favorite songs as riders passed through old fortresses built to guard the entrance to the historic Savoy region. Rarely has there been a better way to finish a day of bike riding.



























Day Four: Demonte to Tende

An easy ride greeted everyone on day four of the Santa Cruz Stone King Rally Vol.1. But we all know this is not your ordinary bicycle race; easy is only relative. Riders started the stages in Italy and finished the day in France. More than a few revived themselves with a gelato and an espresso before making the day’s opening special stage; others used the trail itself to slap themselves awake. Parts of the day included severe exposure – an excellent way to double-check the morning’s wake-up had done the job.




Beyond the halfway mark, the race waved goodbye to the Cottian Alps and welcomed the Maritime Alps proper. Riders eyeballed the finish line as they made their way into the second half of the day, with a liaison section skirting around more nineteenth-century Italian fortresses. The day typified the fruits of much hard work in the weeks, months, and years leading up to the Stone King Rally. A lot of scouting, organizing, and graft has brought many lost or half-forgotten trails back to life for everyone to enjoy on two wheels.
















Day Five: Tende to Dolceacqua

Even with the sea in sight for the first time during Santa Cruz Stone King Rally, day five was no time to think of dipping your toes in the Mediterranean. The closer the race gets to the sea, the less forgiving the trail surface becomes. Riders left camp for a resilience-testing long, hot transition to the day’s first stage; things later cooled down, but only when the ice creams came out.

Pardon the pun, but limestone is king here and adds an unpredictable element to even a bone-dry trail. Everyone focused on keeping it upright as the rally closed in on Dolceacqua, the Nervia Valley’s answer to France’s Sospel – the spiritual home of mountain bike rallies gone by.




From dense forest vegetation to hair-drier-like open ridges, day five had it all, including yet more alpine fortresses and medieval villages along the way – a testament to the deep history rooted in Stone King Rally’s origins. With hot dust stinging the nose and lungs, a cool beer or pleasantly brain-freezing gelato (or both) were high on the list once riders finished stage 20. Just one more day to go.






















Day Six: Dolceacqua to Bordighera

All those kilometers covered, all that elevation gained, all that terrain navigated. It had been a monster week moving through the mountains on the Santa Cruz Stone King Rally, but eventually, it had to end somewhere. That finishing point was where land meets water; a welcoming Italian shoreline in Bordighera.




Day six – the final day of the Stone King Rally – was a rare treat among a week of massive rides. Instead of a sting in the tail, riders got a series of four special stages emphasizing the special: rock slabs, technical turns, and steep chutes aplenty, all with the Mediterranean shimmering blue in the background.

It was a slow beginning for some riders still sore from day five's effort, but this last ride was one to cherish. Short by Stone King standards, with barely any climbing and under 25km on the trail, but the day still managed to pack in thousands of meters of descending, some of it on fresh trails shaped up especially for the rally.





















The inaugural Stone King Rally was a blast. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone racing, working, organizing, and following the event; hopefully it has opened people's eyes to the endless mountain bike adventures in this area and sparked people's imaginations. Its legacy will be a series of painstakingly sought-out trails revived and revamped for all to ride.

Congratulations to SKR winners Romain Paulhan and Tanja Naber and every finisher. Now, where's that ice cream?

Full Results