The Privat Sport Shop ambassador was in Nepal last month for the filming of his next documentary. The French rider also took the opportunity to take part in a mass start and help the local mountain bike scene.
After unveiling his documentary Fuego just a few weeks ago and shot a new documentary in the Dolomites, Kilian Bron wasted no time in turning his attention to his next production. The Privat Sport Shop ambassador headed for Nepal to produce his second documentary of the season. While we'll have to wait a little longer to discover this new opus (while Kilian and his team put the film together), the Commencal rider unveiled his run on the Himalayan Enigma on Tuesday on his Youtube channel.
This mass start is organized in the heart of Nepal, in Dolakha. It's the only race of its kind on the Asian continent. But the figures speak for themselves: 26 km in length, 2900 metres of negative altitude difference and a run time of close to an hour for the best riders. The route follows an ancestral path dubbed the "path of the gods", named after the paths used by the Pandava brothers during their 13-year exile in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. Among them, Bhimsen was revered as a god, and the Dolakha Bhimsen temple marks his divine presence along this legendary trail. Above all, the trails are ultra-demanding for riders, dotted with highly technical sections and passages through villages with all the natural and human obstacles that can be encountered in this corner of Nepal.
The start of the race is just a few meters from the Kalinchowk Bhagwati temple, at an altitude of 3,767 meters. The finish is on the Tamakoshi River at an altitude of 859 metres, a greater difference in altitude than the famous Megavalanche at L'Alpe D'Huez, for example. Winner of this race by more than two minutes over his closest pursuer, local Rajesh Magar, Kilian donated his prize money ($1,500) to Arun, a Nepalese child he met in Kathmandu, to pay for his school fees (in addition to giving him a bike). In addition to his participation in this event, Kilian also took advantage of his presence on site to help the local mountain bike scene with the support of his sponsors, including Private Sport Shop. Two bikes were donated to Nepalese riders.
