European Mountain Bike Championships

My latest competition was the European Cross country MTB championships that were being held in Dohnany, Slovakia. We travelled there on Wednesday and then on Thursday we got on the course for a couple of laps pre-ride. The course was good it was hilly but not too technical so it was going to be a fast race, it was also sunny so it was going to be a hot race. I had spent the couple of weeks running into the race doing some good training rides on my MTB and having finished a mid season road block I was confidant but a little unsure of my form as I lined up for the start. As it was European champs all the different nations were in tents next to each other so as i warmed up it was plain to see who the competition was. After my warm up, I then headed over to the boxes where I waited to get gridded. I knew the people to watch having raced the first couple of world cup rounds and my world ranking of 7th meant that I was on the front row which was important for getting a good start.

As I lined up and they counted down the minutes to the start I was getting a bit nervous but soon enough 15seconds to go approached and I was ready, then they blew the whistle I was off. I had a good start and was third wheel after the start loop so I held the wheels through the first twisty section then as we started the first main climb the race began to split and line out with the favourite a Belgium putting in a big effort and a Swiss boy going with him. I was third at this point with a couple of French riders and we set about chasing them back. I stayed in third after two laps about 20seconds behind the Belgium rider with the Swiss rider starting to pay for his early moves, a group of about 5 was 20 seconds further back chasing me. Going into the third lap I had managed to catch the Swiss boy on the climb and put a bit of time into him so the only rider left in front was the Belgium rider at about 20seconds. I was still feeling good when I got to lap four but I wasn’t catching him and he started to drift further away to about 40seconds and I hoped he would start to pay last lap and I would still stand a chance of catching him. As the bell rung going into the final lap I still had some energy left so I kept pressing on the pedals as hard as I could and put in the fastest last lap but I couldn’t bring him back and as I went round the final bend and crossed the line I had finished the European Championships in second place 34 seconds behind the Belgium Cyclist which I was very happy about! It was my first trip to the podium at International level and a silver medal so I am very pleased!!  Next up I have a world cup at Val Di Sole, Italy, followed by World Championships at the end of the month in Switzerland. Thanks for reading Grant.