Video: Three-day track bike stage race in Mexico

Stage racing is hard. Stage racing with just one gear must be very hard. Stage racing with just one gear when you also head up to 3,221m above sea level must be very hard indeed.

December saw the first edition of La Nueva Vuelta Antigua (The New Old Tour) in Mexico. The event is a three-day stage race on track bikes.

The race proudly describes itself as a throwback to a simpler time: “One person, one bike, one gear, and the road ahead of them.”

The inaugural race left Mexico City on December 2, and passed through the State of Mexico, Puebla, and Morelos, before returning to Mexico City on December 4.

It was held on open roads, but avoided major routes in favour of “the quieter, pastoral, and the often forgotten side of Mexico.”

Competitors had to be self-sufficient for each day of racing and we see riders changing tyres themselves in the video above (although presumably someone else was carrying the track pump).

The 345km route involved 4,744m of vertical gain and reached its highest point at 3,221m above sea level.

Willmar Guzman won the men’s race in 9h31m09s, while Ana Puga won the women’s in 14h47m23s.