The MTBO World Cup will end this year in Trentino with three races. In Lavorno there will first be a middle distance and the next day a long distance, before the international season ends in Folgaria with a mixed relay. The competitions all take place in alpine terrain at 1200 – 1400 m. above sea level. The terrain is quite steep and there are trails of varying rideability, from asphalt road to vertical ski slope.
Middle
The middle distance took place in the flatter part of the terrain around Lavorno Gionghi. It was peppered with many trails, some more visible than others. I started a bit cautiously, but then gradually worked my way forward. Despite a few minor insecurities, I rode a clean race and finished in 7th place, only 6 seconds behind a diploma place. You can find all the information about the race under the following links:
Split times
GPS-Tracking
Long
The long distance is my favourite discipline, and when it takes place in steep and alpine terrain, the competition is tailor-made for me. After my 7th place the day before, I tackled the race full of confidence despite the nasty weather conditions. I started very fast, which is rather untypical for me. From control 7 to control 14 I was mostly in the lead or close behind the later winner Fabiano Bettega in second place. I took my time for the route choices, mostly implemented them cleanly and was able to fully exploit my strength on the mountain. Despite the continuous rain, I felt extremely comfortable. Already at the 4th control I caught up with Vojtech Stransky, who was 3rd the day before and started 3 minutes ahead of me this day. We completed the course together until control 8 and were able to push each other well. At control 8 he suffered a flat tire without me noticing and so I had to do the race alone again from then on. On the long route to control 14, I set the fastest time with a 30″ lead over Fabiano, who had the second best intermediate time. On this climb I not only chose the best route, but I was also able to push like nobody else. control 14 should have been the highlight of this race, from then on it was all downhill for me. At control 15 I relied on the marked paths, some of which were very difficult to see. If I had orientated myself more on the relief, I would not have made the 9-minute mistake (!). During my mistake I met Vojtech Ludvik, another Czech, who started 3 minutes after me. Together we were able to catch up and complete the next controls. I felt that I was physically a bit stronger, but I could not break away. Despite the huge mistake, we once again set two course best times. At control 19 we parted ways. I was already about 20 seconds ahead of him and chose the most direct route. Behind me, Vojtech chose the safety route, which was 2 minutes longer, but much easier. I made the biggest mistake of my career on my direct route and lost 18 minutes (!!!). After I had climbed back up to intermediate rank 3 despite the first mistake at control 19, I finally gave away my good race at the beginning and slipped down to rank 20. The disappointment at the finish was boundless. With some distance, I look back proudly on the good sections and know that I would have it in my legs and in my head if I could pull it through to the end another time. The split times can be found here.
Mixed Relay
The final event of the race weekend was the mixed relay. A rather physical race awaited us in the immediate vicinity of our hotel. After some changes in the relay line-up, I started in team 1 together with Ursina and Flurin. Ursina showed a solid race and handed over in 8th place. Flurin was able to show a fast race at the beginning together with Silas from team 2, but had to let go a bit. He also handed over to me in 8th place, a good 2.5 minutes behind the leaders. I still felt very good after a hard long distance and was able to overtake France, who started shortly before me, right at the beginning and immediately distanced them. After that I overtook some teams until I could catch up with Vojtech Stransky. I caught the technically demanding part better than him and was almost 10 seconds ahead of him, without really being able to get rid of him. At the second last control I chose the wrong route and he was able to overtake me. So we lost what should have been a safe second place and had to settle for third. But we are still satisfied with this podium place, and for me the best time on the 3rd course and the 3rd best time of the day was the confirmation that I can do it after all.
Now it is time for the Off-Season. A time for the recovery of body and mind. Although the first one has to wait for some time due to the nice weather currently 😀