News
Portugal MTBO World Championships - Sprint
Posted: 12/07/10
Sprint final – Chaves -11 July 2010//
//Following a lot of training and preparation, a team of 9 British riders arrived in North Portugal on 9th of July for the start of a week long series of World Championship races.//
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//The week before the championship was extremely hot with temperatures of 38˚C making the dry terrain difficult to ride on for long. Thankfully the temperature dropped to the low 30's by the start of the sprint final championship on Sunday 11th July. This first race and was set in the old town quarter of Chaves, mixing an intricate network of cobbled streets and squares, with parklands, castles and rivers to navigate.//
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//Despite the technical nature of the course, the British team rose to the challenge with some great results. Helen Clayton came 9th in the Junior Women race, a huge improvement on last year and a great confidence boost for her for the rest of the competition. Emily Benham made a stirling effort and came 11th in the Women's Elite. This is the first year that Emily is racing as an elite, so this result is fantastic. Lucy Harris gave it her all in this race as demonstrated by her splits and was well inside the top 40 of the Women's Elite, however a puncture set her back several crucial minutes and she finished in 47th place. Beth Clayton rode well in her first ever international MTBO race but mispunched. Putting this down to experience, she is not perturbed and is determined to get a better result next time. //
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//Mixed fortunes in the mens competition with Andy Conn, our top Men's elite finisher coming 40th, beating some very good riders. Mark Stodgell and Ben Plowman (rookie rider) both came in a minute or so later in 47th and 53rd places respectively. Andy Windrum had a very strong ride, however, a slight muddle with the maps meant that he mispunched. 'I had a blinder of a ride' said Andrew.//
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//Chris Brand-Barker did us proud with a whopping 26th place in the Junior Mens Sprint. Chris was very pleased with his performance commenting 'I am looking forward to my next races'.//
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//The next race is the Middle Distance Final in Montalegre on Tuesday 13th July. //
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//Andy W & Lucy H