MTB riders concussed in Maritzburg
The first day of training for the UCI MTB and Trials World Championships was held in sweltering conditions at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg.
Junior and Under 23 riders shared the cross country and downhill courses with the some of the sports legends, with World Champions and World Cup winners keeping the fans gathered around the courses enthralled.
After the UCI MTB Masters World Championships both the Cross country and the downhill courses have taken a fair amount of strain but they both drew rave reviews from riders enthusiastic about the standard and quality of the courses.
Being able to ride on the course has been a real benefit for the riders and former junior women’s world champion Andrea Waldis has been very impressed by the course on her first visit to South Africa.
“I have really been enjoying the course here,” the number eight ranked rider said. “It has been a lot of fun being in South Africa already and this year is going to be interesting because it is my first year of under 23."
Being the bottom end of the under 23 age group, Waldis has not set her sights too high and has placed a lot of emphasis on gaining experience and enjoying the spectacle.
“I just want to go out there and have a good race, I obviously want to do well but I am hoping to just to gain some experience,” the Swiss rider said.
Australian rider Paul van der Ploeg is just soaking up the beautiful weather at the moment and is enjoying the change from the Australian winter.
“I can’t believe the weather here!” the Australian said. “Back home we are in winter and so to be out here and experiencing this weather is great.”
The appreciation for the course was shown by the Australian who went through quite a few laps in preparation for his race.
“It is a really wild course, I went through the course a couple of times but I also spent quite a bit of time focusing on a couple of the sections. It is super dusty out there and a bit of rain would be great for the course,” he mentioned.
A number of the top riders were seen getting acquainted with the Cascades course and late in the afternoon world number one Nino Schurter took to the course that he is fairly familiar with. The defending champion has not noticed a remarked difference from the course he raced on last year in the UCI World Cup.
“It is an awesome course but it is really slippery at the moment because it is so dry. Coming from summer to this sort of weather it isn’t really an issue for me and I am feeling pretty good after a couple laps today. I have ridden the course a couple times before and it hasn’t changed a lot since I rode it last, a couple minor changes with rock gardens and drop offs but otherwise it is pretty much the same,” the favourite for the title said.
It was a tough first day for a lot of the riders and following the heated debate about closing A lines for the Masters World Champs the UCI erred on the side of caution and officially closed all of the A lines for the junior girls and will be opening two of the four lines tomorrow.
As was the case with the Masters world champs last week, the first day of practice produced plenty of spills as riders got to grips with the technical sections of the cross country and downhill courses.
The dusty, slippery track coupled with a number of riders riding the course for the first time meant that the course got the better of a couple of the riders.
The medical teams had a fairly busy day and it meant that they evacuated five riders to hospital, three with concussions, one rider with torn shoulder ligaments, and one with a broken hand.
The UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships takes place at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg from 26 August to 1 September 2013.
(File Photo:Gameplan Media)
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