I’m going to jump a bit in the story here and leave out the weekend in Windham – it was remarkably rubbish, mainly due to the fact that the throat infection was killing me. On Monday, when the very kind guys from mtbs.cz gave me a lift up to Mont Sainte Anne, I started to feel better, I rested on Tuesday and yesterday, when the first actual race was held, I felt almost 100%. The only problem I have now is that one week of not eating properly and taking antibiotics simultaneously have took its toll and I am rather weak now, but I had my first burger last night so I’ll regain my strength in no time. But enough of the chit-chat, let’s see photos from yesterday’s races.
The day started with the team relay race and I used it as an opportunity to map out the xco course. I quite liked it but it became obvious pretty soon that I won’t be able to cover the whole course: it’s just too stretched out to do that. I caught Katerina Nash at the beginning of the lap, she was the third rider of her team.
This ascent turned out to be pretty tricky as the surface loosened up and it became too loose for most people to be able to climb up.
It was probably his badass trucker ‘tache that helped Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos on top of the climb – he was the only one who could do that that morning.
Pauline Ferrand Prevot is only 18 years old but acts like a pro already: she immediately started to smile once I pointed my lens toward her. She also seems to know the secret to a sparkly smile.
Different teams took different approaches to combat the exhausting heat. The Swiss took a more high-end road and used these cooling vests.
The US team went for rather lo-tech solution, also known as the icepack.
Young Canadian riders prepare for the race with serious grinning.
And then off they went.
Valerie Meunier tackles the longest and probably hardest climb in the cruel heat.
German rider Helen Grobert finished third place. This descent is much worse in reality than it looks here.
After the high-tech Swiss riders dropped out of the race, no one really threatened Ferrand Prevot’s win.
