It’s about to really get going, the start of the 2024 World Cup season is just around the corner. After a long preparation period with many hours of training, I started the 2024 competition season at the beginning of April. Later than usual and without competitions in March, we travelled to Sesto Calende. I started my season on similar terrain as in 2023, this year as well with a victory. In the second competition in Sesto Calende, after an administrative error on my part, I managed to finish in third place, sharing the ranking with my team-mate Silas as we had the same time.
After a few more weeks without competitions, things really got going in May. A 5-day MTBO above Evian with three WREs and three MTBOs in Prémanon over Whitsun followed one after the other. In both Evian and Prémanon, I was able to perform consistently, but was never completely flawless. Former team-mate Simon Hellmüller showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with despite retiring and tearing his cruciate ligament in the spring. The competitions in Prémanon in particular were characterised by extremely challenging terrain. The trails were technically demanding, and as there were few large gravel paths, the navigation was also very challenging. Even though the terrain was much hillier than we expect in Poland, it was still a top preparation for the European Champs.
This text was written while sitting in the train. A part of the Swiss team is travelling to Poland by train, at least as far as Berlin. For reasons of sustainability and better relaxation, we are travelling around two thirds of the way by train. After the Deutsche Bahn made life difficult for us in advance with incomprehensible and tedious communication, we are now hoping for a smooth journey from Basel to Berlin without changing trains. From there, we will be travelling to Poland in rental cars, where we will meet up with the rest of the team.
In Poland, we will first of all do some training on maps from the same cartographer. The main aim is to familiarise ourselves with the terrain, but also with the mapper’s style. The European Championship will then officially start on Wednesday with the model event. The following programme will follow:
- Thursday 30.05.2024: Sprint
- Friday 31.05.2024: Long
- Saturday 01.06.2024: Middle
- Sunday 02.06.2024: Mixed Relay
You can follow all the races live here: https://orienteering.sport/event/cx80-world-cup-in-mtb-orienteering-round-1/welcome/