Massi Copa Catalana MTB Race #3, Camprodon
Two-time World Champion, Marga Fullana (ESP, K2-ZERO RH) won the third edition of the Massi Copa Catalana Series in the ski village of Camprodon. Trish Sinclair (CAN, SCOTT USA) only trailed the leader by 1:12, followed closely by New Zealand's Sonia Foote (AVANTI).
I finished sixth, after riding three laps of a rocky course that didn't stop kicking my wheels around. I pre-rode the loop before the race and couldn't get over how sketchy I was. Several of the climbs had big rocks sticking out of the dirt and there just wasn't a smooth line. I was frustrated, but on the first lap, everyone got thrown off their bikes and had to run, so I didn't feel like such a dork anymore.
I had a great start, probably because of my experience with the riotous World Cup pace from last weekend. The big descent on the back side of the course was fun, rocky and technical, but frustrating because it was so narrow and, therefore, impossible to pass. I don't know what it is with Spanish men, but they just cannot descend quickly (excepting, of course, most of the elites), so I got stuck in a big, slow train. Of course, there's nothing I could do, so I just concentrated on staying smooth and using the time to recover, so I could hammer again on the climbs.
I was playing cat and mouse with Beth Serrano (Coluer-Manaval) again, but she beat me for keeps on the descent of the third lap. By that time, I was feeling mentally tired and couldn't respond to her attack. Beth is a super fast descender. Also, my forks decided not to function anymore, so my downhill skills were no longer lightning-quick. I didn't realize until after the race why my back and arms were so sore and why the stutter bumps and descents had felt so rough. Ah yes, riding rigid is oh-so-fun!
All in all, not a bad effort, although I don't know why I keep placing 6th in every Copa Catalana! I need to start doing something about that....
Martina had some bad luck. One of the aforementioned Spanish men who can't descend crashed in front of her and decided to take a break in the middle of the trail. Martina tried to pass him, just as he moved his bike and got his handlebar got caught up in hers. She did some sort of an acrobatic flip off her bike, twisting her leg and possibly tearing something in her quad. She is now a gimpy limpy, but hopefully she'll be okay to go for Madrid. Juerg convinced her to stop riding, although she was bent on finishing. She told me that in order to override the 'bad' pain in her quad, she was punchine it to get it to hurt differently. She claims she didn't hit her head, but I'm not so sure....
See photos >>
Results
Women, 21km
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1.- 514 *ESP19720409 FULLANA,MARGARITA F-ELI K2 - ZERO RH + 01:29:30
2.- 528 *CAN19690205 SINCLAIR,Patricia F-ELI SCOTT USA a 1:12 mts.
3.- 531 *NZL19780802 FOOTE,Sonia F-ELI AVANTI CYCLRZON a 1:24 mts.
4.- 501 *ESP19801206 MASCARRERAS,Cristin F-ELI TOT VICI EN BIC a 3:36 mts.
5.- 515 *ESP19760418 SERRANO,Beth F-ELI COLUER-MANAVAL a 6:25 mts.
6.- 523 *CAN19800327 WALTER,Sandra F-ELI ADVENTUREBOUND.CA a 6:30 mts.
7.- 504 *ESP19820221 TUSELL,Mercé F-ELI MASSI ABARTH a 10:26 mts.
8.- 509 *ESP19780330 CATEDRA,Mariona F-ELI CICLES AYATS-GU a 10:27 mts.
9.- 503 *ESP19780110 SANTANYES,Sandra F-ELI BICISPRINT-PELA a 13:07 mts.
10.- 505 *ESP19830629 VILLAR,Anna F-S23 MASSI ABARTH a 14:04 mts.
Men, 35km
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1.- 26 *ESP19781023 GISPERT,Martí ELITE MAXXIS-MSC 01:56:32
2.- 4 *ESP19800422 BOGAS,GUILLERMO ELITE CORRATEC-MORENI a 2:20 mts.
3.- 17 *ESP19800320 GARCIA,JOSE MANUEL ELITE MAXXIS-MSC a 2:45 mts.
4.- 2 *ESP19780301 TRAYTER,Marc ELITE HARIBO a 3:03 mts.
5.- 201 *ESP19840925 MANTECON,SERGIO SUB23 MOTO CLUB LOS a 3:32 mts.
6.- 1 *ESP19780702 LLORDELLA,Joan ELITE AMBISIST a 4:00 mts.
7.- 305 *CAN19850529 PLAXTON,Max SUB21 MAXXIS-MSC a 5:28 mts.
8.- 22 *ESP19770425 DIAZ DE LA,ALEJANDR ELITE MAXXIS-MSC a 5:29 mts.
9.- 7 *ESP19760529 GISPERT,Eloi ELITE MASSI ABARTH a 5:33 mts.
10.- 9 *ESP19780702 FREIXER,Francesc ELITE HARIBO a 7:19 mts.