CK BB riderds successful off-road
New MTB season started in late April. Two events took place the weekend of April 20.-21., first round of the Slovak MTB marathon cup in Svätý Jur in western Slovakia and first round of XCO in Turčianske Teplice, central Slovakia.
Both our women, Lívia and Zuzana, competed in the Elite women category and finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
A technical 4,4km long XC circuit awaited riders the following day in Turčianske Teplice. Many technical descents and short climbs with numerous root sections decided who would get this years’s first XCO points in the Slovak ranking. All Slovak top riders showed up at the start, even many riders from neighboring Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary took part in the race. Róbert Glajza joined the Masters B group and finished 4th in the earliest morning race.
Elite Men and Women race followed early in the afternoon. Only Martin Haring from our team competed in the Elite Men category, claiming silver. He later reviewed the race: „We rode side by side with the later winner Michal Lami but about half way through the race I couldn’t keep up with his speed, loosing mainly in the power demanding sections. I’m not worried much since it was only my first race this year, I’m a little bit late with the preparation so far due to the unfavorable weather conditions in the spring. This year we are not fighting for the Olympic qualification points, we are just at the start of the Olympic 4 year period, so there is really nowhere to rush. I have a two week training session ahead of me finished by a second round of the Slovak XC cup in Smolenice. I will try to peak my form towards the National Championship in MTB marathon and to the World Cup in Nové Mesto na Morave (CZE) at the end of May.“
Only one female rider represented us in Turčianske Teplice XC race, Zuzana Vojtášová finishing 10th. Zuzana shared her perspective of her weekend racing: “I didn’t train enough in the past two weeks due to my presence in the men’s stage race Tour de Maroc. Normally there is lot of time for training, this year it was different. Ever since I got back I try to catch up with my training and also try to get as many racing kilometers as possible so as to prepare well for the upcoming World Cup stage race Grácia Orlová (CZE). This weekend was pretty tough, we participated in the 75km MTB marathon, where my team mate finished 2nd, I came in 3rd. I decided to race also the following day in the XC race. It’s really a pity the races were not conversely, the short XC race should normally precede the long XCM – after riding a 75km marathon on Saturday, I can only be lucky I was not lapped on the power demanding course on Sunday due to strong international competitors at the start.“
Some CK BB riders also decided to take part in the near-by MTB marathon Vlkohron even though it is not a race included in the Slovak Cup. Lukáš Bátora got bronze in the long 74km race, Zuzana Vojtášová as well was finishing in 3rd position, in the shorter 42km race.
In the meantime, Martin Haring joined our national team for a C1 race in Graz, Austria. Martin finished 12th and claimed 6 UCI points in the strong international competition. „I chose a wrong tire profile for the course and had two pretty ugly collisions, definitelly nothing to be satisfied with, I hope my next race with the national team will have a better outcome for me. But I am happy to have it made to the top 15 and having claimed some UCI points,“ said
Martin.
Mountainbike riders continued their racing the following weekend, May 11, in HQBC Biela Stopa Skalka in Kremnica, central Slovakia. It’s a partner race to the Tour de Volcano road race organized by our team. 3 of our riders took part in the 70km long Slovak Cup race, Glajza, Malachovský and Haring. Róbert Glajza finished 2nd, he only had to surrender to the well experienced Czech Ondrej Fojtík. Ján Malachovský finished 8th, Haring after having flatted three times didn’t finish the race.
Second XC Slovak cup race followed the day after in Smolenice close to our capital. Only Róbert Glajza and Marting Haring were present from our team this time. The track is very fast and not at all technical when the weather is nice, but heavy rains in the previous days made the course a real challenge. Grassy meadows were slippery, some of the short steep climbs were completely unridable, and the weather during the course reminded more of a cyclocross time.
Perfect conditions for our cyclocross riders – Glajza won his Masters B category, Haring dominated in the Elite Men category. Haring later said: „I am happy for my result, after the not so successful previous week’s race in Graz, I proved today I belong to the National Team. I was a bit afraid my yesterday’s technical problems would continue, but luckily no flat tires neither any other mechanical problems today. I had a really bad luck yesterday in Skalka, when I abandoned from the first leading group. I’m looking forward to my first peak of the season this year, the next week’s National Championships in MTB marathon followed by a World Cup race in Nové Mesto na Morave (CZE) a week later. I hope for good results in both of these races.“
Photo courtesy of Peter Kolárik
