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World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships, Israel 2009 Report by Mark Stodgell |
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After the British Championships in June and my selection for the British Team Mid July saw me part of a team of three British men and five women traveling to Tel Aviv in Israel to take part in the 7th World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships. The events spread over the week consisted of long distance qualifier, middle distance, sprint, relay and long final.
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European Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships and World Junior Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships – Denmark by Mark Stodgell |
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Competitors from 23 countries, after spending a day on training maps and bike fettling after long journeys, first headed south to Bagsveard for the Sprint Race, held at the site of a rowing club, complete with spectator bleachers offering fantastic views of both the spectator control and finish straight.
Here is a wikipedia link to explain all the MTBO stuff to normal bikers
The map was very small (A4 1:7500) and the planner used the complex track network to its full potential by taking all the courses through it twice, with a spectator control / map exchange at the mid point. The British senior elites struggled with keeping the balance between speed and navigation in this terrain but Killian Lomas produced a solid 50th only 6 mins off the pace and Charlotte Somers Cocks gained the only world ranking points of the week with 33rd. Chris Brand Barker riding in JWOC gained a creditable 29th - 6.5 mins down on the Czech Gold medallist who won by a clear 45 secs.
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