World Marathon Championships, Laissac, France

Last week I wrote about how in 2013 I raced and won Sellaronda Hero and one week later I won my first World Championship medal - Silver in Kirchberg, Austria. This year I decided to try to replicate this, well actually the goal was a medal of any colour with Gold being the obvious preference! Coincidentally, I matched 2013: winning Sellaronda Hero and a Silver Medal in Laissac, France last weekend. I'll take that as 'mission accomplished'!

The course in France comprised of technically challenging descents and climbs - a real MTB course in the Midi-Pyrenees - not too dissimilar to the riding in the UK. The course was pretty much 70km of slippery, muddy trails littered with rocks, roots, drops, jumps, log piles and river crossings. I liked it! The most difficult part was the first half but the latter half had a sting in the tail so it was pretty important to make sure there was something left in the tank.

The rainbow stripes of the World Champion are hotly contested so it's not unusual to see top XCO riders lining up to fight for the prestigious title. Preparation went really well and the week leading up to the race was pretty chilled. We have such a great team of staff and riders and it's so cool that as well as being focused and professional we also spend time relaxing and having fun together. This I believe is part of our success. Taking 3 World Champs medals (Alban: Silver, Kristian: Bronze, and me: Silver) is testimony to that! Jeremiah Bishop and Erik Kleinhans performed a great feat when they came from the back of the field to finished 23rd and 29th!  Here's a nice link to our team story.

Chilling with rum and coke in the days before the race

The race went smoothly for me with no mechanicals or crashes. Luck obviously plays a role but excellent preparation in terms of course reconnaissance (thanks to Ben Thomas for his company) and equipment plays a huge part too! I don't underestimate or take for granted the importance of our staff in our success. We have the best mechanic (Peter Felber), the best physiotherapist and massage therapist (Torsten Walter and Craig Gerber), a meticulous team manager (David Padfield) and soigneur extraordinaire (Robert Novotny, aka Gio).

Starting with race plate number two perhaps was a sign of what was to come! Finishing second to multiple XCO World Cup winner Jolanda Neff is a result that I can live with - after 4 hours I crossed the line 2 minutes back. However, as a marathon rider the World Championships is the most important race - marathon is not an Olympic discipline - and it is this rainbow jersey that I'd dearly like to pull over my head.

Thanks for following!
Sal