I look back on the 2023 World Championships with mixed feelings. The start with the sprint went quite well for me. In the long distance, my legs were not quite ready. In the middle distance they would have been ready, but my saddle said goodbye early. And then came a food poisoning, which robbed me of my last two chances.
Sprint 20.8.
But now slowly and one after the other.After long and intensive preparations, the World Championships finally started on Sunday, 20.8.23.It opened with a sprint in Jicin.The sprint was characterised by different types of terrain.First it was a short run through a neighbourhood, then into a small city forest, then into a neighbourhood with big apartment blocks and a lot of space in between and finally a short run through a school area and into the old town. Thanks to the good preparation, I was ready for the different challenges. I did have 3 small insecurities with time losses of about 20 seconds, but that was all. I was able to finish my races well and achieved my best international sprint result in the elite, 12th place. This success is somewhat clouded by a wrong mapping. Many athletes took a path that existed in the terrain but was missing on the map and therefore would have been forbidden. However, the organisers only disqualified athletes who crossed in the forest, but not those who did so in the residential area, although it would have been just as forbidden there and there would also have been marshals.
Long 22.8.
I was looking forward to the long distance the most. It is my favourite discipline and the course data promised a very tough race with 39km and 1170m of altitude.The start was in sprint style through a village, followed by the first controls in the forest. The relatively easy course made the race a very physical competition. Unfortunately, I did not feel too fast, my legs were not as fresh as I had hoped.After a very good preparation, I probably trudged a little too much and didn’t load up enough.In general, the course was too often like a long middle-distance race in my opinion. There was only one real route choice, and even then there were only 2 real options. In addition, the course was much shorter than promised: I had 1.5km and 270Hm less on the GPS at the end than the supposedly shortest route. In the end, the result was 11th place, a slight disappointment for me. After a good preparation, I had hoped for more and had set myself the goal of a diploma.
Middle 23.8.
The day after, the middle distance followed in partly the same or subsequent terrain of the long distance. I wanted to do better than the day before and make another step forward in the ranking. The start was quite good, I only missed a very badly visible path entry to control 4. Then, on the way to control 10, it happened: suddenly my saddle was missing. It had come loose due to the vibrations. I put it in my jersey pocket and rode on without it, all in a saddle without a break.Reading a map while riding on these trails and without a saddle is very difficult or even impossible. With minimal map contact I made a few mistakes and I wasn’t fast without a saddle either. Still, 40th place was the result.
Massstart 25.8.
The mass start took place after a rest day. Unfortunately, I caught a food poisoning the night after the middle distance. I had to vomit 7 times in 24 hours. I could neither sleep nor eat during the rest day. Also in the night to the mass start day I could not refuel enough energy to do a serious race. I was absolutely empty and powerless. I finished the race anyway, also because giving up is rather difficult for me. At the finish I was so exhausted and hypoglycaemic that I could hardly feel my face and hands and just lay there for over an hour. Unfortunately, the decision to forego the relay and that the best possible Swiss team would exist without me was made quickly and without a doubt.
Relay 26.8.
For me, the World Championships ended earlier than I had hoped. I still did my best and was responsible for looking after our riders in the starting quarantine. I tried to keep an overview of the race and keep the 2nd and 3rd track riders up to date as best as possible. They performed very well and won a bronze medal in the men’s race and a 4th place in the women’s race.
Conclusion
The World Championships did not go as I had hoped. A good start, a long distance that wasn’t quite optimal, but was actually still quite ok, a defect in the middle distance and the rest of the World Championships that fell through due to food poisoning. It’s a pity that luck didn’t materialise in this important week. But now I’m looking forward to the World Cup Final in Trentino, Italy, where the last international races of this year will take place in 3 weeks. The first MTBO competitions in alpine terrain excite me enormously!