10 Oct, Roc d'Azur - Frejus, France
Result 2nd
As in the past years, the big season finale is the Roc d'azur. With over 14,000 participants, this is the festival of MTB in the world. The courses are the same each year, with 35, 55 and 85km loops. The most important race is always Sundays 55km race, and I have typically struggled to do well, despite preparing well for it each year. This year I decided not to worry about it, and finally ended up having my best finish ever with a 2nd place. I was struggling hard for the first half of the race, slipping back to 8th place. But then my legs came round, and I caught the leaders with 20km to go. Coming to the finish I was together with Miguel Martinez and Peter Pouly. I tried to avoid a sprint by attacking the final single track section, but I crashed and ended up 10sec behind instead. Finally I managed to catch the two with just 200m to go, so I was a bit blown when the sprint started. Miguel ended up being first over the line, but 2nd in this race is still a great result for me, and a great way to finish of the season!
3 Oct, Swiss Cup Finals - Volketswil, Switzerland
3rd Short track, 9th XC (4th overall series result)
The short track was like last year, with one rider going away and no one chasing. Then a big group sprinted together for 2nd place! This year the rider away was an almost unknown, Peter Roman. I positioned myself well for the final sprint, and ended up 3rd.
I'm not sure what hit me in the XC, but after 2 laps of the race I just blew up! This course is so fast with very short climbs, and I could just not hold the pace anymore. Thomas Frischknecht attacked early and built a huge lead which he held till the end, although Christoph Sauser took the Swiss Cup overall result. I had my personal battle with Fredric Fresh for 3rd in the series, and in the end we both had terrible rides for the final. In the end Fredrick beat me by 2 points.
26 Sep, Geomondi Bike - Iseo, Italy
4th
This is another of the big "grand fondo's" which the Italian's love so dearly. As normal it was a fun loop around 40km long, and the pace was amazing considering most of the riders were locals. I struggled to hang on the leading group throughout the race, and then the final climb split the field up, and I could no longer hang onto the wheels of riders I had never seen before! Well, I did still finish ahead of many pro riders, such as Lado Zoli, Thomas Dietsch, Marco Bui etc.. which made me feel better
19 Sep, World Cup Finals, Livigno
7th
I had caught a small cold after the Worlds, and was sniffling and low on energy. By race day I was feeling better, but I only had about 3hrs of riding in my legs all week! This race is also at altitude, which normally helps me a lot, but because I did not do many world cups this year, I had a terrible start place on the 6th row. This was the first time I had to start so far back in many years, and I had forgotten how frustrating it is to stand around waiting to get into the first piece of single track!!! I had pretty descent legs though, and managed to pass a lot of riders on the first climb, and from there settle into a good rhythm passing one rider at a time.
The course, which they say will also be used for the world champs next year, was super long! It felt more like a NORBA event, or something they would have had 10 years ago, and spectators really suffered the most. But there was definitely some great fun stuff for the riders, and it really split up the field. Roal Paullison rode on the front from start to finish, and behind the altitude was taking its toll. I slowly crept forward, and by the end had past all but 5 riders. Once again I found myself with Lado Fumic, and as much as I really want to beat this guy, he once again got the better of me. I would have loved to be on the podium, but I had to be happy with another solid finish.
Result 2nd
As in the past years, the big season finale is the Roc d'azur. With over 14,000 participants, this is the festival of MTB in the world. The courses are the same each year, with 35, 55 and 85km loops. The most important race is always Sundays 55km race, and I have typically struggled to do well, despite preparing well for it each year. This year I decided not to worry about it, and finally ended up having my best finish ever with a 2nd place. I was struggling hard for the first half of the race, slipping back to 8th place. But then my legs came round, and I caught the leaders with 20km to go. Coming to the finish I was together with Miguel Martinez and Peter Pouly. I tried to avoid a sprint by attacking the final single track section, but I crashed and ended up 10sec behind instead. Finally I managed to catch the two with just 200m to go, so I was a bit blown when the sprint started. Miguel ended up being first over the line, but 2nd in this race is still a great result for me, and a great way to finish of the season!
3 Oct, Swiss Cup Finals - Volketswil, Switzerland
3rd Short track, 9th XC (4th overall series result)
The short track was like last year, with one rider going away and no one chasing. Then a big group sprinted together for 2nd place! This year the rider away was an almost unknown, Peter Roman. I positioned myself well for the final sprint, and ended up 3rd.
I'm not sure what hit me in the XC, but after 2 laps of the race I just blew up! This course is so fast with very short climbs, and I could just not hold the pace anymore. Thomas Frischknecht attacked early and built a huge lead which he held till the end, although Christoph Sauser took the Swiss Cup overall result. I had my personal battle with Fredric Fresh for 3rd in the series, and in the end we both had terrible rides for the final. In the end Fredrick beat me by 2 points.
26 Sep, Geomondi Bike - Iseo, Italy
4th
This is another of the big "grand fondo's" which the Italian's love so dearly. As normal it was a fun loop around 40km long, and the pace was amazing considering most of the riders were locals. I struggled to hang on the leading group throughout the race, and then the final climb split the field up, and I could no longer hang onto the wheels of riders I had never seen before! Well, I did still finish ahead of many pro riders, such as Lado Zoli, Thomas Dietsch, Marco Bui etc.. which made me feel better
19 Sep, World Cup Finals, Livigno
7th
I had caught a small cold after the Worlds, and was sniffling and low on energy. By race day I was feeling better, but I only had about 3hrs of riding in my legs all week! This race is also at altitude, which normally helps me a lot, but because I did not do many world cups this year, I had a terrible start place on the 6th row. This was the first time I had to start so far back in many years, and I had forgotten how frustrating it is to stand around waiting to get into the first piece of single track!!! I had pretty descent legs though, and managed to pass a lot of riders on the first climb, and from there settle into a good rhythm passing one rider at a time.
The course, which they say will also be used for the world champs next year, was super long! It felt more like a NORBA event, or something they would have had 10 years ago, and spectators really suffered the most. But there was definitely some great fun stuff for the riders, and it really split up the field. Roal Paullison rode on the front from start to finish, and behind the altitude was taking its toll. I slowly crept forward, and by the end had past all but 5 riders. Once again I found myself with Lado Fumic, and as much as I really want to beat this guy, he once again got the better of me. I would have loved to be on the podium, but I had to be happy with another solid finish.
