Rain unable to dampen mountain bikers’ spirits
THE FIRST ‘La Nucía, Ciudad del Deporte’ international mountain bike event brought together 520 cyclists of 15 different nationalities last weekend.
A total of 350 cyclists competed in the Continental Super Cup Massi MTB XCO event, and a further 170 took to the saddle for the ‘infantiles’ category.
Despite the intermittent rain, the two-day event drew a large crowd of spectators.
This UCI 1 class international mountain bike event saw a number of top cyclists racing on the new 5 kilometre Olympic mountain bike course. The track was designed by the Olympic medallist Carlos Coloma, and includes jumps, wooden walkways and technical climbs.
Saturday morning started with the ‘infantile’ races and featured 20 riders from La Nucía Coloma Bike club.
In the afternoon, the women’s race took place and right from the start, the Spanish BH Templo Cafés teammates Natalia Fischer and Rocío del Alba Garcia took the lead. A puncture on the last lap meant Fischer – the European XCM champion - finished in second place behind Rocío, whilst third place went to the
Polish cyclist Matylda Szcecinska (Kross Orlen Cycling Team).
On Sunday, the rain proved a real challenge on the course and the Kross Orlen Cycling Team riders Ondrej Cink and Thomas Litscher headed the pack. Entering the last lap the Spaniard Valero was in third position but a puncture ended his chances of a podium finish and he came in 11th. Victory went to Litscher, Gerardo Ulloa del Massi (Primaflor-Mondraker) came in second and third position went to Cink.
This was the second event of the Continental Super Cup Massi MTB XCO season, which began the weekend before in Banyoles.