“While she might not of been the top of list of favourites going into her first ultra, I was confident that Maddy would be fighting for the win. Her preparation had been excellent: rigorous recon, planned precisely on how to race but above all her mental strength is exceptional. In events such as 560 its all about keeping your head in the race, avoiding serious lows. In this context Maddy’s positivity and fighting spirit are her greatest weapon.”
“Her race couldn’t have gone more smoothly: after a fast start she used the first big Pyrenees climbs to manager her before finding her legs, picking off riders and moving towards the front before using her night recon experience to good use, making the real difference in the dark, emerging the following morning in an unassailable lead.”
“When we signed Maddy at the beginning of the season she said she wanted to take a step forward technically and that became a key focus of our partnership so it great this materilise with her racing in aero socks and the prototype gravel skinsuit, two items which up until signing with Q36.5 she had never used before! In fact she raced with just the skinsuit, no base layer and no use of shells at any point… “
“As Maddy was making the winning moves in the 560, Alexis & Maaike were in contention for the top 10 for the 200km race, until cramp and a couple of small crashes for Maaike meant we finished just outside. For Cassia she was glad to see how the legs were towards the end but recognised some different tactics might have been needed. We keep researching and daring for the next Traka.”
“One of the cornerstones of the Q36.5 Women’ Off-Road expedition was to work with athletes who were looking to make technological upgrades. Providing them access to a quality of equipment and technical support they’ve not had access to before as well as collaborating with them closely to further develop Q36.5’s it’s Women’s & gravel specific product offering. Thus the Traka, with the results we had, the quality of feedback we were able to receive live from the girls racing the new skinsuit really defined what this project is all about for Q36.5 in the best way.”
