News
Final report from Estonia
Posted: 02/09/13
Saturday was the final day of competition in the MTBO World Championships in Estonia, and the concluding race was the Long Distance event in Valgehobusemäe.The terrain was was more undulating than in the previous races, with many sharp, steep climbs, which made careful route planning essential. The area was mostly dense forest, with alternating marshes and hills. There were also several small lakes and surrounding sandy open areas. A dense path network with the counter-intuitive ski paths zig-zagged their way up and down the hills. In the women's elite Emily Benham had another great race achieving another top 5 placing, coming in in fourth place, only four minutes down on Marika Hara, the eventual winner. Em has had a great week, with some amazing performances in every race.In the men's elite Andy Douglas had a good race and rode strongly however was disappointed after making some time consuming mistakes. In the end, he finished in 50th place.Edwyn Oliver-Evans had another good ride coming in 22nd place in the junior men's race. His split times revealed the majority of his riding was within the speeds of the top ten racers. But unfortunately he also made two large navigational errors, which cost him a top ten position.The World MTBO Championships concluded with the closing ceremony and banquet on the Saturday evening. The racing and maps have for the most part been of excellent quality and produced varied, exciting racing. The relatively young team GB have gained a wealth of experience and produced some excellent results.