June 30, 2016 – Czech Republic –
Nové Město na Moravě , Czech Republic is a town of 10,500 in the heart of the Czech countryside, surrounded by centuries-old castles, towers, and bridges. The town has hosted biathlon and Nordic skiing World Cups as well as the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for the past five years, and this is its first time hosting Mountain Bike World Championships.
The weather has been pretty hot and humid lately, leaving the course dry and dusty. The 4.1 km track includes two steep “Shimano Expert Climbs”, a few BMX jumps, two rock gardens (“Mitas Choice” and “Rock n Roll”), and a vertical drop, among other challenging sections.
The track has already taken victims: one of the Jr. men riders, Matthew Tracy-Cook from California, broke his arm on his first day of preride on the “Rock n Roll” section. He flew back home later.
Wednesday’s events included a XC Eliminator, which no US racers participated in. Linda Indergand of Switzerland and Daniel Federspiel of Austria took the Elite Women and Men’s titles.
The opening ceremony that night echoed the Olympics, where all the teams lined up behind their country and walked out before the stadium, with gymnasts and dancers performing in a light show afterward.
The venue itself is full of energy: 50,000 spectators are expected to show up for Sunday’s race. It’s going to be an exciting weekend of racing!
Utah racers include Keegan Swenson (U23 M), Haley Batten (Jr W), Rachel Anders (Jr W), and Sofia Gomez-Villafane (U23 W) racing for Argentina. Colorado racers include Christopher Blevins (Jr M), Erin Huck (Elite W), Georgia Gould (Elite W), and Howard Grotts (Elite M).
Live coverage of all the races is available at http://live.tissottiming.com/?id=00030D01″style=Tissot
Thurs June 30 Team Relay 10 am (MST)
Fri July 1 Jr Women 7 am (MST), Jr Men 9 am (MST)
Sat July 2 U23 Men 3 am (MST), Elite Women 7 am (MST)
Sun July 3 U23 Women 3 am (MST), Elite Men 7 am (MST)
-Article by Rachel Anders
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