Mountain Biking: Enduro course details still top secret

Giant Toa Enduro race manager Neil Gellatly checks out the start line in front of the world famous Pohutu Geyser for the upcoming race. Photo / Supplied

Four hundred world-class riders have a few weeks' lead-up to the international race series at an iconic Rotorua tourist location - but some course details are still a secret.

Riders will vie for round one honours of the Giant Toa Enduro - the race where entries smashed last year's world record, selling out in less than three minutes. The race takes off from the hot rocks beside Te Puia's world-famous Pohutu Geyser on Saturday, March 28.

The field includes 34 wild card Kiwis and Blenheim's Justin Leov who was third in the 2014 Enduro World Series (EWS).

Enduro race manager and Rotorua local, Neil Gellatly initiated the EWS as part of the Crankworx Rotorua festival.

He said details for the race are kept under wraps until a few days before the event to prevent riders from practising.

"Keeping the race trails top-secret is part of the intrigue and also ensures all athletes are on the same playing field. "Adventure, experience, challenge and great riding sums up what Enduro mountain bike racing is all about. The adventure will kick off the moment the riders enter Te Puia's geothermal terrain.

"The Geyser Terrace is something else - it's spectacular, it's a cool out-of-this-world start line that will get riders in the zone before the race even begins. Enduro racing is the fastest growing competitive discipline of mountain biking in the world and this is going to be beamed around the globe," said Mr Gellatly.

Te Puia market manager online Eru West said Te Puia was stoked to be involved with the world's largest mountain biking festival, Crankworx Rotorua and the Enduro World Series race.

After taking off down a purpose-built ramp from Te Puia's Geyser Marquee, riders will roll down the geothermally heated steps and along Te Puia's southern track where they will follow a path back to the southern carpark tunnel and on to the rest of the course. The race will end at Skyline Rotorua, with the middle stages kept top-secret until a few days before the event when all will be revealed at www.crankworx.com/rotorua/athlete-info/. Riders will leave the Geyser Terrace in stages, with the first rider heading out at 7.04am. Current champion, Australian Jared Graves, will be the last to hit the tracks at around 10:46am.The Giant Toa Enduro Rotorua is one of five competitive events at the inaugural Crankworx Rotorua from March 25-29.