The Genghis Khan MTB Adventure introduces an exciting novelty in this year's race: the Cannondale Cannonball. A daily intermediate sprint shortly after the start with cash prizes for the fastest three men and women. Brought to you exclusively by our new bike sponsor Cannondale!

As we previously highlighted in our Focus on Athlete series, a few people already accomplished last year what is now officially introduced as the King of the Grasslands competition: three days of long distance MTB + the Grassland Marathon. Previously we shed the spotlight on Hauke Stockrahm, now it is the turn of China's Ji Xinli.

Recently, Air China moved its morning return flight schedule from Beijing to Xilinhot forward by more than one hour, posing us with a logistical challenge for runners with travel packages opting to leave the grasslands on Sunday morning. In order to make these people's visit in Xiwuqi as rewarding as possible, Nordic Ways can introduce an extra bus service from Beijing and back.

A short but important message to all our Chinese participants who have signed up or will sign up for the Genghis Khan Festival. For insurance reasons, we do need to have your Chinese maiden name in Chinese characters. Your adopted English name or pinyin alone is insufficient.