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.

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.

I lost 2-3 minutes in an area of vague track detail around a bonfire area, which at this level put me right down the table, but I was very pleased with my control flow through the rest of the course, particularly some standing punches, where you do not put your foot down at a control.
Medal hopeful Emily Benham in her last JWOC before turning senior for 2010 lost approx 1 min in the first few controls as she settled into the map “The most intense sprint race ever, so many paths and controls !” she said afterwards, before riding well for the rest of the race securing 4th place just 1 min down. Helen Clayton, in this her first international event gained 24th in the same class. The event circus then moved to Farum for the Middle race, this time centered on a beach on the end of a swim lake, however the starts were a 7.5 km cycle away and it was extremely hot. There was another map exchange and 2 passes of the spectator area again adding to the complexity of the course. It was a very much a course of two halves with the first part about long legs and route choice on large tracks, and the second part consisting of short sharp legs on a wooded hillside with a complex network of small paths.
Again Killian produced the best Men’s elite result with 43rd with Jimmy Taylor 63rd, however I had a very poor ride. I had taken on the team manager role and managed to get very dehydrated and generally stressed in the delayed meeting and opening ceremony the night before and a final interruption from my employer in the UK asking me to do some work that evening and lack of sleep took its toll, probably contributing to a disappointing result (77th) and reminded the team that at this level focus is everything and that poor preparation can often lead to poor performance.
In the women’s elite Charlie 43rd  pipped Sarah 47th whilst in the junior races Chris slipped a few places to 30th  and Helen to 27th. Emily had a disappointing race losing time on route choice to the leaders and had a minor mechanical but still brought in a solid 6th place just over 3 mins down.

The morning of the long race was extremely hot but was very close to the event centre, this time centered on Denmark’s forestry school, and used Spring Cup area Gribskov, a large expanse of forest, bisected by a small local railway line which had to be crossed several times avoiding the trains and offering Star Posts style track junctions. The Seniors all had solid rides in possibly one of the most technically demanding long courses most had competed in, with lots of route choice and a couple of controls in very complicated areas of extraction lanes, but again with a spectator control and map exchange to keep everyone on their toes. A downhill gravely finish left several riders scrabbling for the finish punch as they skidded past it. I had a really good ride in this probably my worst discipline and was chuffed with my result of 59th beating fellow Brit Jimmy Taylor.

In the Junior races Chris had another good ride to gain his highest placing at a JWOC, 22nd whilst Emily gained yet another podium with 5th  position, finishing the weeks competition a little disappointed but not missing the podium on any day is a great achievement at this level and sets her up well for a move to Senior elite at the World Championships late this summer.

The relay day was back down near to the sprint and was very similar in nature with a tightly packed complex network of tracks. Again multiple visits to the spectator area were a characteristic of the event. Killian after his good performances all week went off first for the men, but a couple of mistakes dropped the team down the field to 18th as he handed over to me on second leg. I had a great ride until some confusion at the spectator control and map exchange saw me ride 7 controls in the wrong order (no control descriptions in MTBO) I skidded to a halt in a car park after realizing what I had done, counted to 10 to sort myself out and then blasted off back round the controls in the correct order and then catching a Spanish rider starting a head to head race which Jimmy continued on last leg outsprinting them in the finish straight to finish 18th.
Debut junior rider Helen Clayton was picked to ride in the women’s senior team together with Emily and Charlotte. Emily rode solidly on first leg bringing the team round in 11th place, just over 5 mins down before handing over to Helen who again rode well, finishing off a great week gaining experience at international level before handing over to Charlotte on anchor who brought them in 14th overall.

The team had plenty of support from GB foot O superstars Jamie Stephenson and Graham Gristwood during the week, but could not be persuaded to give the spectator races a go. There were quite a few incidents to keep them entertained at the finish , together with the many spectator controls, as the planned light bar finish gave way to a normal punching finish causing several spectacular finish line crashes as riders braked from high speed on the gravel surfaces at the last moment.

I am now preparing for the expected high temperatures and rocky terrain of Israel where the World Championships will be held in August, where apparently there will be punctures galore