Danish rider Nikoline Splittorff will be going all out to repeat her set of three individual European Championship wins this year when the international MTBO stars meet up for the CX80 World MTBO Championships, being held this week in Warsaw, Poland. 134 riders from 24 nations will be taking part.
Splittorff has already established an 80-point lead in this year’s CX80 World Cup, where these championships are the second round of three. Ruska Saarela, Finland, who won two European silvers and one bronze, is likely again to be Splittorf’s closest challenger. Algirda Mickūviene, Lithuania, is in current third place.
This is the second round of the CX80 MTBO World Cup; the final round is in Bulgaria in September
The men’s CX80 World Cup list is headed by the Lithuanian Jonas Maišelis, who won the Middle Distance race at the European Championships and also took 2 bronze medals there. He has a 31-point lead over the experienced Czech rider Vojtech Ludvik; the Finn Miika Nurmi holds third place, a further 39 points down.
There are five competition days in Warsaw, with individual races in Sprint, Middle, Mass Start and Long disciplines, and a Relay. The first race, the Sprint, is in a generally flat army exercise area with a dense network of paths and tracks. Other individual races are in pine/beech forest with some sand dune areas to add contour interest, and the Relay finishes in a military equestrian area where horses have slowed down rideability of many of the tracks. Off-trail riding is allowed, and there will be some controls away from trails.
Mass starts are a sight to be seen! Photos: Donatas Lazauskas
The Junior World MTBO Championships are also part of the programme in Warsaw; 92 athletes from 18 nations are entered for JWMTBOC. All the World Championship races are being staged on terrain – almost all within 10 km of the Event Centre – which was last used for the European MTBO Championships in 2006.
There will be a free TV stream (English commentary) every day on IOF TV, so all the fast and furious action can be watched from home – go to IOF LIVE to log on. Reports and leading results will be posted on this website each day.
CX80 World MTBO Championships Race Programme
Times are CEST (GMT + 2)
Tuesday 12 August, 1200-1600 Sprint
Wednesday 13 August, 1100-1600 Middle Distance
Thursday 14 August, 1100-1430 Mass Start
Saturday 16 August, 1000-1600 Long Distance
Sunday 17 August, 1100-1600 Relay