The MTB Orienteering World Cup 2016
Round 1 finished today with a home winning. In Guebwiller, the “trio”
of France was unbeatable, with Russia getting the silver and Finland
the bronze.
On Pentecost Monday, national holiday
in France, the MTBO's tribe returned to the spectacular Alsatian
scenery. Kept for the last act of a program full of strong emotions,
the Mixed Relay brought together 29 teams of three elements each - at
least one of them female -, for a final journey of good wheeled
orienteering. All teams aspiring to the podium places “played”
their “female card” at the start and, after a quick look on the
splits, its possible to conclude that the first leg was truly
decisive. France and Russia formed a separate group fighting for the
gold, followed by Finland, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech
Republic trying to get the bronze.
After her victory in the Middle and the
second place in the Long Distance, the French Gaelle Barlet was once
again at the highest level, getting a clear one and a half minute
advantage on the Russian Svetlana Poverina and more than four minutes
on the next teams in the first leg. France could improve the
advantage over the Russian team on the second leg, with Yoann Garde
winning another one and half minute on Valeriy Gluhov. On the last
leg, Anton Foliforov's brilliant performance wasn't enough to annul
the Russian's disadvantage and Baptiste Fuchs could keep a well
celebrated victory with the time of 2:44:38 against 2:45:36 of
Russia.
What they said
In the end, Gaelle Barlet was really
satisfied with her “good race”, while Yoann Garde would talk
about “a tough leg after yesterday's race”. He admitted “some
mistakes in the beginning”, but he could improve his orienteering
after that. “I just did my job, I think”, he concludes. Finally,
Baptiste Fuchs talked about knowing he had a three minutes lead, but
“some little mistakes in the beginning put lots of pressure on me”.
“The last loop was quite difficult but, in the end, we managed to
get the victory”, he said. Anton Foliforov also expressed some
opinions about the race: “I could see Baptiste in the forest but I
lost him after a really bad routechoice on the second loop which
costs me one minute”. But one victory and two second places in the
French World Cup round are always reason to celebrate: “Yes, I'm
really satisfied with my results and I would like to say a big thank
you to my team mates, Valeriy and Svetlana. They did a really good
job and I'm happy with the team performance overall”, he concludes.
In the fight for the bronze, Finland,
Austria and Switzerland left grouped together for the last leg. Pekka
Niemi would be faster than Andreas Waldmann and Simon Braendli,
getting the bronze to Finland, 1:25 before the Austria team. Niemi's
opinion: “We raced together for a couple of controls and then I
didn't see Austria team at all. Me and Simon went together after that
but I think he did some kind of mistake in a long forking and I
didn't see him anymore.” After being disqualified in the Long and
“some mistakes” in the Middle, Niemi was “really satisfied with
my race today”, having his mind already in the World Championships:
“It will be hotter but not as hillier than here, I think, and I'll
be well prepared for it”, he guarantees. With Ana Filipa Silva,
João Ferreira and Davide Machado, Portugal finished in the 9th
place, 29:25 after the winning team.
Results
1. France (Gaelle Barlet, Yoann Garde,
Baptiste Fuchs) 2:44:38 (+ 00:00)
2. Russia (Svetlana Poverina, Valeriy
Gluhov, Anton Foliforov) 2:45:36 (+ 00:58)
3. Finland (Ingrid Stengard, Jussi
Laurila, Pekka Niemi) 2:48:32 (+ 03:54)
4. Austria (Marina Reiner, Kevin
Haselsberger, Andreas Waldmann) 2:49:57 (+ 05:19)
5. Switzerland (Maja Rothweiler, Beat
Schaffner, Simon Braendli) 2:51:29 (+ 06:51)
6. Czech Republic (Marie Brezinova,
Radek Laciga, Marek Pospisek) 2:51:35 (+ 06:57)
(…)
9. Portugal (Ana Filipa Silva, João
Ferreira, Davide Machado) 3:14:03 (+ 29:25)
For further information, please visit
the event's webpage at http://www.mtbo2016.fr/en/world-cup/
[Foto: Hans Jørgen Kvåle /
instagram.com/iof_orienteering]
Joaquim Margarido
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