Video & Race Report: Stage 2 of the Quebec Singletrack Experience - Mont-Sainte-Anne

Here we are at Mont Ste-Anne, the mecca of mountain biking where the UCI World Cup was created. 30 years later, Mont Ste-Anne is still, since day 1, the only permanent stage of the World Cup. All of the greatest mountain bikers in the world have ridden these trails. Today, the 2019 QSE Qué-Bikers got their look at these mythic trails.



To begin the day, we all got on board the gondola to the summit so we can have a spectacular start from the top of the mountain overlooking the St. Lawrence River. That itself makes Mont Ste-Anne absolutely unique.



1 km after the start the singletrack party really took fire in the newly opened Bapteme. What a start! For the first 25km the ride was mainly going down through rivers and mountains. It was pure fun with all sort of trails, from old school to some 3.0. exciting flowy singletracks.



Even with the summit start, the Qué-Bikers knew that Mont Sainte-Anne would live up to its reputation by being one of the most challenging and defining stage of the QSE, with tons of climbing in a very demanding terrain. At Mont Ste-Anne, not 1 km is a given.


"It felt like being in British Columbia, Canada" said Karen Duff, Certified personal training specialist in Ontario, Canada. Karen came to the QSE with ten bikers she personally trained including two women in the 60+ category.



Decision: long course or short course
To make the event accessible to everyone or if you are simply having a bad day, a short course was offered where you could skip the middle section of the trail. As the QSE code of ethic says: “Having a bad day can be part of the journey. The definition of experience also includes that chapter.”



Just before feed zone 2, we had a good indication that the day was far from over. The timed ascent was short, but tough… very tough. An average of nearly 20% with 100m of elevation in 530m with multiple tight turns. Ouch!

Overall the stage was magical. Mont Ste-Anne really delivered. No big surprise today on the podium. All results available here.

Women:
1. Amy McDougall - South Africa
2. Sarah Kaufmann – USA
3. Jenn Rodgers – Canada

Men:
1. Tomi Misser - Spain
2. Marc-André Daigle – Canada
3. Theo Gattuso – France



The quote of the day belongs to Amy McDougall of South Africa: “I have ridden trails all over the world. This was the best trails I have ever ridden, including the 7 stages of Cape Epic or any other race I have participated to. That was pure fun.“

Well… All we can say is that today Amy discovered Mont Ste-Anne.



Tomorrow stage 3: Boreale E47 Lac Delage and a special dinner at Montmorency Falls, the highest waterfalls in North America.

The QSE runs from August 4 to 9 2019.

Presale registration for QSE 4 in 2020 begins on August 12, 2019 at noon.

You can register for an all-inclusive 6-day package including lodging for as low as $ 1,399 CAD ($1,050 USD) + taxes.

Visit quebecsingletrack.com for more!