Criterium du Dauphine – Stage Four Some athletes retire from the WorldTour and try gravel racing, some start coaching or announcing races. But former pro cyclist Christian Meier, 38, decided to try an entirely different sport. The Canadian rider retired from cycling 7 years ago, after racing professionally from 2005 to 2016. But recently, he gave trail running a try. And it turns out, he’s really good at it.
In June Meier entered a 50-kilometer trail race on a whim because his injured friend wasn’t going to use his bib. According to Canadian Cycling Magazine , Meier won the race out of more than 600 runners. Meier is from Canada, but now lives in Spain full time. The event was the 50-kilometer version of the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB. So Meier decided to give it a go at an even bigger race.
If you know anything about trail running, you know that the absolute pinnacle of events occur in Chamonix, France over the course of this week—the UTMB World Championships. The most prestigious of the races is UTMB Mont Blanc. The race that started it all. It covers 171-kilometers (106 miles) and 10,000 meters (32,700 feet) of elevation gain around Mont-Blanc through Italy, Switzerland, and France.
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But since UTMB’s inception 20 years ago, they’ve added several other versions of the race—many that are now just as […]
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