WMTBOC 2016: Relay preview

The Relay competition ends a week full of emotions. Thus finish, in a festive atmosphere, the World MTB Orienteering Championships that brought to Portugal four hundred athletes from 23 different countries.

With a scenery defined by extensive vineyards, which give a well-deserved place of honour in the Bairrada Wine Demarcated Region, the county of Mealhada county is sought for its varied tourism offer, able to satisfy all audiences. In addition to its gastronomy - which has gained a new momentum with the launch of the project "Water, Bread, Wine, Piglet - 4 Wonders of Mealhada Table", Mealhada has an offer of excellence in areas such as hydrotherapy, health and welfare, the sports, oenology and, of course, Carnival, one of the most acclaimed and crowded of Portugal.

Finishing the WMTBOC-week, there will be a true high-speed relay. The area above the centre of Mealhada allows a very high running speed. However, there will also be tricky legs, which require precise navigation in terms of speed and distance. The final part of the race will challenge the athletes once more, asking for top performances, as it will be highly technical, very physical, and of course, requiring tactical intuition.

Program Overview

Saturday, 30th July (Mealhada)

Relay

07:30 – 15:00 - Opening hours of the Event Office at the Relay arena in Mealhada

09:00 - Mass start first leg Relay (EYMTBOC, JWMTBOC)

09:15 - Finish quarantine for EYMTBOC and JWMTBOC activated

10:45 - Mass start for remaining athletes (EYMTBOC, JWMTBOC)

10:45 - Start quarantine activated (WMTBOC)

10:55 - Finish quarantine finished

11:00 - Mass start first leg Relay (WMTBOC)

13:00 - Mass start for remaining athletes (WMTBOC)

13:30 - Mass Start first leg unofficial Open Relay

15:00 - Prize giving ceremony for Relay

19:00 - Closing ceremony and Party MTBO’16 at Cantanhede

Course Details

	ME	WE	M20	W20	M17	W17
Length (km)	17,7	13,8	12,5	11,1	10,8	8,9
Climb (m)	190	150	100	90	95	80
Controls	21	17	14	14	15	12

Map scale: 1:10.000 (with 1:5.000 blow-up section)
Contours: 5 meters
Map size: 33 x 30 cm

The Relay will take place in a forest area and farmland, with small urban areas; the forest characteristic features are typical Mediterranean forest, consisting mainly of Eucalyptus plantations and vineyards, with multiple paths and roads, dense vegetation. The forest areas sometimes have underbrush that can hamper the shortcuts. Thorny vegetation can be found. Therefore puncture protection is strongly recommended.

All the competition areas are open to public traffic. The courses use and cross several public roads. There will be marshal’s with whistles at the most critical places to help safe crossing and minimize disruption. The competitors should follow the instruction of marshals. Still, it is the riders’ responsibility to observe traffic rules and avoid unsafe practices. Some dogs could be found some chained and some loose, there has been no experience of problems in the past, however the organization cannot control that all will be chained and that they will not, trying to follow the competitors or bark at their passage.  

The favourites

Somewhat surprisingly, the world title achieved by the team of Austria in the Men Relay of the last World Championships has proved, once again, that any predictions about the winner may perhaps be quite far from reality. In any case, the results achieved by the Austrian team in the last three individual leading up to the Relay puts them off of the favourites to the victory. Thus, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic seem to be the main candidates to the medals, before a wide range of five or six teams who will fight for the immediate positions. In this batch is included the Spain and, of course, the Portuguese team, that has here a real chance to improve the 7th place achieved in 2015, entering the podium places for the first time ever.

What was said in the previous paragraph also applies to the Women competition, but here the team of Finland has much more chances to retain the world title, sharing the favouritism with the Russian team. Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Switzerland and Austria formed a well balanced range of contenders, legitimately aspiring to a medal at the Championships' closure.

Everything to follow at http://mtbo16.fpo.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Long Distance maps

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Long Distance preview

Overcoming its first half, the World MTB Orienteering Championships WMTBOC 2016 reaches the final two days of competition. Tomorrow will take place the last individual final, with a Long Distance which is going to demand the best from the athletes.

Crossed by the river with the same name, the city of Águeda extends on a slight slope in a wide valley. It's an important commercial and industrial centre of an extremely fertile agricultural area in the production of corn, fruit, wine and wood. Águeda has been highly developed in terms of engineering, the manufacture of engines for motorcycles and construction materials, and bicycle manufacturing. Because of its economic activity, Águeda deserves the epithet of “bike land”.

The courses of the Long finals will be fun, but at the same time physically exceedingly challenging. The area requires full physical effort from the athletes. Whoever masters combining speed and technique and staying calm in the heat of competition will run into the top positions tomorrow.

Program Overview

Friday, 29th July (Águeda)

Long Distance

08:30 - 20:00 - Opening hours of the Event Office at the Event Centre

09:00 - Start of Long distance course (EYMTBOC, JWMTBOC, WMS, Open, and B Final WMTBOC)

10:00 - Finish quarantine activated

11:25 - Start quarantine activated

11:30 - Finish quarantine finished

11:30 - Start for WMTBOC long distance course

16:00 - 19:00 - Opening hours of the Event Office at Event Centre

16:00 - Deadline for names/start group allocation for Relay competitions at the Event Centre

16:30 - Prize giving ceremony for Long Distance

18:00 - Team Leaders Meeting at Event Centre

Course Details

	ME	WE	M20	W20	M17	W17
Length (km)	39,1	29,1	30,2	23,3	24,3	18,1
Climb (m)	755	620	585	390	440	295
Controls	25	20	20	18	16	14

Map scale: 1:15.000
Contours: 5 meters
Map size: 35 x 31 cm

The Long Distance will take place in a steep forest area to the South, punctuated with derelict farmsteads, meadows and rolling meadows and scrubland to the north. The forest characteristic features are typical Mediterranean forest, consisting mainly of Eucalyptus plantations, with multiple paths and roads, dense vegetation. The area is a working forest with recent felling. The forest areas sometimes have underbrush that can hamper the shortcuts.

On some of the steepy valley sides, in the Eucalyptus plantations, there are many parallel extraction lanes that could be viewed as tracks. They are too numerous and close together to map accurately in places. Due to a very wet winter some track junctions are difficult to see, however the indistinct track junction symbol has not been used. Efforts have been made to clear track junctions and over grown tracks wherever possible. Thorny vegetation can be found. Therefore, puncture protection is strongly recommended.

The favourites

After the convincing performances in the Sprint and Middle Distance races, the top favourite for the gold in the Men competition is the multiple World Champion Anton Foliforov (Russia). Defending his World title, Anton will try to get the gold for the fourth time in this distance, matching his team mate Ruslan Gritsan's achievement and reaching the impressive amount of three individual gold medals in the same event, which would happen for the first time ever in the Championsips' history. But he has to pay attention to Ruslan, third placed in yesterday's Middle Distance final, and also to the French Baptiste Fuchs, the Czech Krystof Bogar and the Italian Luca Dallavalle.

In the Women Elite class, the fight will be really tight and, once more, the Czech Martina Tichovska is one the big favourites, defending the title achieved last year on home ground. However, the British Emily Benham seems to be ready to thwart Martina's goal, as well as the Russian Olga Shipilova Vinogradova, the French Gaëlle Barlet, the Finnish Marika Hara and the Danish Camilla Soegaard.

Everything to follow at http://mtbo16.fpo.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido

Olga Shipilova Vinogradova: “This victory could mean my continuation in MTB orienteering”

In a recent interview, Olga Shipilova Vinogradova stressed the idea that “sometimes you need to take a break to get motivation”. The two-year break brought her the motivation she needed and the result was “only” the victory in the Middle Distance of the World MTB orienteering Championships WMTBOC 2016 - her second individual gold medal in the most important competition of the MTBO's international calendar.

The Middle Distance final was about to end and Olga Shipilova Vinogradova couldn't hide her anxiety. Her final time was going to be worth a gold medal and some of her opponents had already finished the race, recording lower times. But others still missing. Olga spoke, spoke, following the words with effusive gestures. Above all, she was pleased with her performance, but she felt that a bad option in the final part of the race could determine other medal than the gold one. Now that the last athlete reached the finish and the standings in the lead didn't change, Olga could finally enjoy her medal: “I couldn't be happier. This victory could mean my continuation in MTB orienteering, to do what I really like. For us, Russian athletes, a medal means support, money, without which it is very difficult to guarantee a proper preparation and achieve good results. This medal is all that and means, above all, to keep my way of life.”

To Olga, this was an unexpected victory: “I knew that I could do some good races, but I wasn't expecting to win. During the Model Event, last Saturday, I met Emily Benham and we exchanged a few words. Both agreed that we were there to have fun, but she told me I was going to win. I gave her a big smile and today, before the start, we met and I smiled again. Twice. Emily Benham is a fantastic athlete, she is in good shape and I'm just starting again after becoming a mother for less than a year. Moreover, I had throat problems during the winter, which conditioned my preparation. Honestly, my goal was just to do a good race while having fun, nothing else.”

About her race, Olga couldn't be more pleased: “The small mistakes I made along the course, I just noticed them at the end when I saw the splits. But I finished very happy with my performance, I had great fun and I'm specially delighted with my orienteering.” At this moment of joy, Olga doesn't forget the family, to whom she dedicates the victory: “This victory is mine and my family's. Without the support of my husband and my mother I would have never been able to achieve these results. Both in my training and in competitions I need to have them close to me. They convey me the mental strength I need so that everything goes well.”

As for the Long Distance final, Olga prefers not to think about it for now. “I don't know if I have the power to face a race which will be very hard. We now have a rest day and I hope to recover well. In any case, I'll face the race with the same spirit that I faced the race today: Just for fun. The result, we'll see.”

Joaquim Margarido

Anton Foliforov: “I face each new race, each new challenge, with a single goal: to win!”

Second final of the World MTB orienteering Championships WMTBOC 2016 and second gold medal for Anton Foliforov in another nearly perfect race. Immediately after finishing his race, the Russian was the perfect image of satisfaction and recovered the emotions of another golden journey.

“It was a very fast race and I didn't made any big mistakes”, started by stating Anton, adding: “I tried to concentrate on the technical aspects, meet my pace and keep it throughout the race”. Race which had, in the final part, a nuance that could have been fatal to the athlete's dreams, but eventually left just a few spots in his body: “I had a crash, a really bad one, but luckily my bike didn't suffer significant damage which allowed me to retake the race and finish without any major problems.”

When passing in the spectators control, Anton Foliforov had just assumed the race's leadership and the golden dream was close. The applause and encouragement of the public were certainly an important lenitive, in a time when fatigue took hold of the athlete and the heat pressed intensely. Hence it's this part of the race that Anton recalls more deeply: “The last up-hill before the finish was really hard and I saw Kevin Haselsberger ahead running with the bike. I tried to pedal but I couldn't stand the effort and realized that I would have to do the same. It was a good decision and I am very pleased with the final result and with my second gold medal here in Portugal.”

The physical and technical qualities of Anton have a parallel in his mental strength and resilience, which lead him to win world titles one after another - this was his sixth title in the last three years (!). Anton shares his little secret: “A good friend of mine told me once: If you go up to the podium, you are the Champion; otherwise, you're nobody. Then I face each new race, each new challenge, with a single goal: to win!”

In the last individual final of the WMTBOC 2016 - a hard and demanding Long Distance which will take place tomorrow, in Águeda - it's sure that Anton Foliforov will present himself at the start with this great goal of victory. If this happens, the Russian will add another historic fact to his brilliant career: being the only athlete to win the three individual gold medals in a single edition of the World Championships so far. But now, the athlete's concerns are in conveniently recovering from this tough Middle Distance final: “I am very tired and I can't predict what will happen on Friday. I hope the rest day in the Championships may be enough for a good recovery but, any way, I'll be in the fight for the medals in the Long Distance race.”

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Moments (5)

These images may be used free of charge with the following credit: “Images: Joaquim Margarido / www.portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.com". Please send a reference copy to margarido61@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Moments (4)

These images may be used free of charge with the following credit: “Images: Joaquim Margarido / www.portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.com". Please send a reference copy to margarido61@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Moments (3)

These images may be used free of charge with the following credit: “Images: Joaquim Margarido / www.portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.com". Please send a reference copy to margarido61@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Foliforov and Vinogradova got the gold in the Middle Distance

Anton Foliforov and Olga Shipilova Vinogradova, both from Russia, were the winners of the Middle Distance final, in the second day of the World MTB Orienteering Championships 2016. In the younger categories, France deserves to be highlighted for its two gold medals achieved in M20 and W17 classes.

The Middle Distance of the World MTB Orienteering Championship WMTBOC 2016, held this morning in Valongo do Vouga, hardly won't be erased from Vojtech Ludvik's memory. The Czech was the first to start, and also the first to finish his course; and with a time that would prove to be amazing, standing at 47:18 for a distance of 19.3 km. The truth is that he had to have nerves of steel to withstand the pressure of leading almost until the very end, just beaten by the Russian Anton Foliforov, the penultimate to start, and that would record a new best time by 43 seconds. Placed 3rd was another Russian athlete, Ruslan Gritsan, 47 seconds slower than his teammate. With this result, Foliforov kept the Middle Distance's world title, reaching his second gold medal in these World Championships after winning the Sprint that opened the competition last Monday.

In the Women Elite, the Russian Olga Shipilova Vinogradova was the winner with a time of 44:02 for a distance of 14.5 km, confirming that the two years pause didn't affect her at all. Second placed, the British Emily Benham, currently the World Cup leader, finished her race spending three seconds more than Vinogradova, after winning the Sprint title, last Monday, by a difference of two seconds over the Finnish Marika Hara. The third place went to the Danish Camilla Soegaard, taking her second individual bronze medal in the World Championships after Italy 2014, then in the Long Distance. The previous World Champion, the French Gaëlle Barlet, was the 5th ranked, 1:31 after the winner.

Among the younger categories, this time the focus is on France, thanks to Samson Deriaz and Mia Raichon's victories in the Junior World Championships and the European Youth Championships, respectively. Deriaz found the strong opposition of the Finnish Sauli Pietikaïnen, winning by a margin of 3 seconds. Meanwhile, Raichon reached a comfortable victory of nearly two minutes over the Czech Vilma Kralova. In the W20 class, the Czech Veronika Kubinova turned out to be unbeatable, repeating the gold achieved last Monday and getting her fifth World Junior title in the last three editions of the World Championships. Finally, the new Youth European Champion is Danish and goes by the name of Thomas Steinthal, having beaten the Sprint European Champion, the Czech Jan Hasek, for just three seconds.

Results

MElite

1. Anton Foliforov (Russia) 46:35 (+ 00:00)

2. Vojtech Ludvik (Czech Republic) 47:18 (+ 00:43)

3. Ruslan Gritsan (Russia) 47:22 (+ 00:47)

4. Cédric Beill (France) 47:56 (+ 01:21)

5. Lauri Malsroos (Estonia) 48:28 (+ 01:53)

6. Vojtech Stransky (Czech Republic) 49:01 (+ 02:26)

WElite

1. Olga Shipilova Vinogradova (Russia) 44:02 (+ 00:00)

2. Emily Benham (Great Britain) 44:05 (+ 00:03)

3. Camilla Soegaard (Denmark) 44:43 (+ 00:41)

4. Svetlana Poverina (Russia) 44:51 (+ 00:49)

5. Gaëlle Barlet (France) 45:33 (+ 01:31)

6. Martina Tichovska (Czech Republic) 45:50 (+ 01:48)

M20

1. Samson Deriaz (France) 40:43 (+ 00:00)

2. Sauli Pietikäinen (Finland) 40:46 (+ 00:03)

3. Nojus Kalvaitis (Lithuania) 41:00 (+ 00:17)

W20

1. Veronika Kubinova (Czech Republic) 37:10 (+ 0:00)

2. Alena Fedoseeva (Russia) 39:47 (+ 02:37)

3. Doris Kudre (Estonia) 40:30 (+ 03:20)

M17

1. Thomas Steinthal (Denmark) 33:03 (+ 00:00)

2. Jan Hasek (Czech Republic) 33:08 (+ 00:05)

3. Teemu Kaksonen (Finland) 34:06 (+ 01:03)

W17

1. Mia Raichon (France) 33:06 (+ 00:00)

2. Vilma Kralova (Czech Republic) 34:55 (+ 01:49)

3. Marina Oparina (Russia) 35:39 (+ 02:33)

Complete results and further information at http://mtbo16.fpo.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Middle Distance maps

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Middle Distance preview

The second final of the 2016 World MTB orienteering Championships will take the athletes to a hilly area in Valongo do Vouga. Time to overlook the competition area and the program, to watch the favourites and to get some tips.

Valongo do Vouga owes its name to the natural characteristics of the terrains that surround the small village of Águeda county. The word “Valongo” proceeds from the Latin "Vallum longum" which means “long valley”. The valley, is furrowed by the Vouga River, and then the second half of the village's name. A valley, then, with mountains all around, and huge challenge for the athletes who will compete in the Middle Distance final of the World MTB Orienteering Championships WMTBOC 2016, tomorrow morning.

The climb and, again, the heat - the temperatures still remain above the 30º Celsius - will be major adversaries to those who want to succeed. Utilize and optimize his/her own energies accordingly and remain full focused throughout the race will be the key for the best possible place.

Program Overview

Wednesday, 27th July (Valongo do Vouga, Águeda)

Middle Distance

08:30-15.00 - Opening hours of the Event Office at the Middle Distance Arena (Valongo do Vouga)

09:00 - Start for middle distance course of World Masters Series + Open

09:30 - Finish quarantine activated

10:00 - Start for Middle Distance course (EYMTBOC + JWMTBOC)

11:45 - Start quarantine activated

11:50 - Finish quarantine finished

12:00 - Start for WMTBOC Middle Distance course

16:00 - Prize giving ceremony for Middle Distance at arena

16:00-21:00 - Opening hours of the EO at the EC  

Course Details

	ME	WE	M20	W20	M17	W17
Length (km)	19,3	14,5	13,9	12,6	12,1	10,3
Climb (m)	395	330	315	265	275	200
Controls	20	16	18	16	15	13

Map scale: 1:10.000
Contours: 5 meters
Map size: 37x30 cm

The Middle Distance race will take place in a mainly mature forest with some areas of recent clear felling and young trees; the forest characteristic features are typical Mediterranean forest, consisting mainly of Eucalyptus plantations, with multiple paths and roads, dense vegetation. The forest areas sometimes have underbrush that can hamper the shortcuts. Small urban areas will be crossed.

Thorny vegetation can be found. Therefore puncture protection is strongly recommended.

It's unlikely that the competitors will come across any vehicles or forest machinery but they have to be careful as normal to watch for other forest users. Due to significant spring growth following a wet winter, some paths have become overgrown. The organizers have done their upmost to clear and flatten vegetation and avoid the worst affected areas, however some track junctions can be difficult to see on the ground. The unclear track junction mapping convention has NOT been used due to the fast changing nature of this problem and for consistency.

The favourites

Anton Foliforov, Russia, and Gaëlle Barlet, France are going to defend their world titles on the Middle Distance race. Anton leads the MTB Orienteering World Cup, won yesterday's Sprint race, want to recover the IOF World Ranking leadership and is the big favourites to the victory in the Men Elite class. Luca Dallavalle, Italy, Vojtech Stransky and Krysztof Bógar, both from the Czech Republic, Jussi Laurila, Finland and Cédric Beill, France, are Foliforov's biggest challengers. 

As for the Women class Gaëlle Barlet, France, shares the favouritisme with Emily Benham, Great Britain, Marika Hara, Finland, Olga Shipilova Vinogradova, Russia and Martina Tichovska, Czech Republic, in the Women Elite class. A very strong start field, indeed, for an open race regarding the winner. Would you risk a prognosis?

Everything to follow at http://mtbo16.fpo.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Unofficial Mass Start maps

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Davide Machado and Monica Aguilera won the Unofficial Mass Start

On the second day of the World MTB Orienteering Championships WMTBOC 2016, took place the Unofficial Mass Start. A total of 203 athletes participated in a competition where Davide Machado and Monica Aguilera were the winners in the Elite.

After having been the stage of a model race thinking on the WMTBOC 2016, in March 2015, the beautiful region of Luso, in the municipality of Mealhada, hosted today the Unofficial Mass Start, in which participated a little over two hundred athletes. In the Men Elite class, the Portuguese Davide Machado was the strongest, finishing his course in 54:00, with an advantage of 2:02 over the second classified, the Norwegian Hans Jorgen Kvåle. In the Women Elite, the Spanish Monica Aguilera registered the time of 1:02:30, reaching a four minutes victory on the british Clare Dallimore.

Leonid Tsevtkov and Uliana Sukholovskaya won the Junior classes and the winners in the M/W17 classes were, respectively, the Czech Jan Hasek and the Swedish Erica Olsson.

Results

MElite

1. Davide Machado (Portugal) 54:00 (+ 00:00)

2. Hans Jorgen Kvåle (Norway) 56:02 (+ 02:02)

3. Anton Foliforov (Russia) 57:54 (+ 03:54)

4. João Ferreira (Portugal) 1:00:52 (+ 06:52)

5. Luis Barreiro (Portugal) 1:01:15 (+ 07:15)

6. Kevin Haselsberger (Austria) 1:01:51 (+ 07:51)

WElite

1. Monica Aguilera (Spain) 1:02:30 (+ 00:00)

2. Clare Dallimore (Great Britain) 1:06:37 (+ 04:07)

3. Marina reiner (Austria) 1:12:37 (+ 10:07)

4. Naoko Kano (Japan) 1:14:32 (+ 12:02)

5. Tania Covas Costa (Portugal) 1:16:26 (+ 13:56)

6. Rachel Furman (United States) 1:16:38 (+ 14:08)

To see the complete results and for further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://mtbo16.fpo.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido

Anton Foliforov: "Winning this race was not a goal of mine"

Before the start of the World MTB Orienteering Championships WMTBOC 2016, the Russians Ruslan Gritsan and Anton Foliforov shared the title of athlete with the most gold medals won in individual races in the most important event of the international calendar, with six gold medals each. Yesterday in Cantanhede, Foliforov was stronger, breaking the tie.

Speaking of his race - and his victory (!) - Foliforov started by highlighting that “really, winning this race was not a goal of mine.” Heavy legs, the extreme heat and the waiting time in the quarantine - “I took three or four showers before the start” - meant that the plan was just “to do my best and see what might happen.”

But things turned to be quite interesting in a particular moment. Anton remembers: “Suddenly I saw Lauri Malsroos, who started two minutes before me. Lauri is very strong, a great runner, and I felt like that wouldn't be possible, maybe I did some kind of big mistake”, he says, laughing. Considering that this was “a hard test for the legs but restful for the mind”, emphasizing the physical demand over the technical part, Anton added: “I think I was able to keep a good pace throughout the race, I lost just a few seconds in a couple of hesitations, but actually I made a very consistent race and the result makes me very satisfied.”

In the Middle Distance Final, tomorrow, in Valongo do Vouga, the goal is “to be in the fight for the gold. I know that my adversaries are really strong and it won't be easy, but I'll try to do my best and we'll see”, he concludes.

[Photo: orienteering.lt / facebook.com/orienteering.lt/]

Joaquim Margarido

Emily Benham: "I am so unbelivably happy!"

IOF Athlete of the Month of September 2014, Emily Benham said then: “The last four years have seen dramatic changes to the top 10 ranked athletes, and quite possibly we have seen a lot more new names being World Champions than we did before 2010”. One of those new names in the World MTB Orienteering Championships' Book of Honor it's, since yesterday, precisely Emily Benham. Big figure of this challenging discipline in the last years, Emily Benham had already won everything there was to win, but a World title. It happened yesterday, in the Sprint race that kicked off the WMTBOC 2016, in Cantanhede, Portugal.

“I am so unbelievably happy, I just can't believe it”, were her first words, expressing the deepest feelings at the moment. The natural follow up question would be: “Did you expect to win?” And the answer: “No, not at all. I've been focusing on other areas of my cycling, trying to get faster and be more technically skilled and this year I've only done a few MTBO races and one MTBO training so I came here with no expectations, just ride for fun and see what I could achieve. So it was really amazing to win today.”

Asked about the secret of her victory, Emily just said: “I don't know!”. But she knows, as we can see: “I just had a really full control, every junction, I just knew exactly where I was going and I just didn't make any mistakes. That was absolutely the key to my success.” Analyzing the race, Emily said that “physically it was fine and technically with the orienteering as well, it was also fine today”. Along the course, she kept on thinking “I need to ride faster!”, but she knew that she was pushing hard and that she was focused: “Then I saw Martina in the distance, so I knew it was going well”.

Tomorrow, there will be another final and a second gold medal isn't out of Emily's thoughts: “I don't know, it's hard to say that. I'm in really great shape at the moment and I think mentally I'm in a very good place so, we'll just have to see what Wednesday brings.”

[Photo: orienteering.lt / facebook.com/orienteering.lt/]

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Moments (2)

These images may be used free of charge with the following credit: “Images: Joaquim Margarido / www.portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.com". Please send a reference copy to margarido61@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Moments (1)

These images may be used free of charge with the following credit: “Images: Joaquim Margarido / www.portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.com". Please send a reference copy to margarido61@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: All the Sprint maps

Joaquim Margarido

WMTBOC 2016: Step by step

The 2016 World MTB Orienteering Championships (WMTBOC) is about to start. From 23rd to 31st July the Portuguese municipalities of Mealhada, Cantanhede and Águeda will host an event in which over 400 athletes from 21 different countries are expected to compete.

For the second time in the last seven years, Portugal is the host for the world’s biggest MTB Orienteering event. Well-known for its beautiful vineyard scenery and exquisite gastronomy, the Bairrada region in the centre of the country is the venue for an exciting and intense week of competition. Over 400 athletes will fight for the world titles in the Elite and Junior categories, the European titles in Youth categories, and for the best results over the two stages of the World Masters Championships in the Veterans categories.

Responding to the trust placed upon them by the IOF, the Portuguese organisation decided on the municipalities of Águeda, Cantanhede and Mealhada as the event venue. This is a region with much natural beauty, and terrain with a high potential for quality MTB Orienteering. The technically difficult terrain will most certainly provide great challenges for the competitors.

For the local authorities the event is very important for the promotion of MTBO, but also for promoting the region as a whole. “This is a good example of partnership in promoting a territory, with all the right conditions for putting the Bairrada region on the map”, said João Moura, Mayor of Cantanhede, during the Event Presentation Press Conference. Also Edson Santos, Councillor for Águeda, highlighted the implications “at the level of local economic development,” while Rui Marqueiro, Mayor of Mealhada, considered it as “an opportunity to show the best we have to a few hundred people of different nationalities.”

Detailed program

Sunday, 24th July

11:00-15:00: Model events Sprint and Relay (Cantanhede)

15:00: Deadline for names/start group allocation for sprint competitions at the EC

17:30: Team Leaders meeting (TLM) at Mealhada (WMTBOC, JWMTBOC, EYMTBOC and WCup)

18:30: Opening Ceremony (Mealhada)

Monday, 25th July

11:00: Start for Sprint EYMTBOC (Cantanhede)

12:00: Start for Sprint JWMTBOC (Cantanhede) (Cantanhede)

13:00: Start for Sprint WMTBOC (Cantanhede)

14:30: Start for Sprint Open Classes (Cantanhede)

15:30: Prize Giving Ceremony for Sprint (Cantanhede) - EYMTBOC, JWMTBOC, WMTBOC, Open

Tuesday, 26th July

10:00: Mass Start for ME + M20 (Luso)

10:10: Mass Start for WE + W20 (Luso)

10:30: Mass Start for M17, M40, M45, M50, M55, M60, M65, M70, M75 (Luso)

10:40: Mass Start for W17, W40, W45, W50, W55, W60, W65, W70, W75 (Luso)

12:00-16:00: Model Events Middle and Long Distances (Luso)

16:00: Deadline for names/start group allocation for Middle Distance competitions at the Event Center

17:00: Masters Series Information session at Event Center (Águeda)

18:00: Team Leaders meeting at Event Center (Águeda)

Wednesday, 27th July

10:00: Start for Middle Distance (Águeda)

14:30: Prize giving ceremony for Middle Distance (Águeda)

Thursday, 28th July

15:00: Deadline for names/start group allocation for Long Distance competitions at Event Center

18:00: Team Leaders Meeting at Event Center (Águeda)

Friday, 29th July

10:00: Start for Long Distance (Águeda)

15:00: Deadline for names/start group allocation for Relay competitions at the EC

17:00: Prize giving ceremony for Long Distance (Águeda)

18:00: Team Leaders Meeting at Event Center (Águeda)

Saturday, 30th July

09:00: Mass start first leg Relay (Mealhada)

14:00: Prize giving ceremony for Relay (Mealhada)

19:00: Closing Ceremony and Party MTBO’16 (Cantanhede)

Note: All timings are in local time (GMT timezone).

One of the best start fields ever

78 male and 53 female athletes will compete in Portugal in pursuit of the Elite world titles, and it is fair to say that the Portuguese event will bring together one of the best start fields ever. The top 25 in the IOF World Rankings will all be present apart from the Finn Susanna Laurila, no. 7 in the women’s list.

The Italian Luca Dallavalle, who heads the the men’s Rankings, defends in Portugal the gold medal won in the Sprint race in 2015 in Liberec, Czech Republic. Portugal is a kind of talisman for Dallavalle, and in Montalegre in 2010 he won the first medal in a World Championships in the history of Italian MTB Orienteering with third place in the Middle Distance race. Anton Foliforov, Russia is another big name in this competition. Leader of the World Rankings until 13th June after 759 days at the top, and current World Champion in both Middle Distance and Long Distance, he started his gold medal harvest in Portugal when in Montalegre he won the first of six individual gold medals so far in World Championships.

As for the women, the Czech Martina Tichovska will be defending her world titles in Sprint and Long Distance while seeking also to retain her lead in the World Rankings. Her biggest challengers will be Emily Benham, Great Britain and the French rider Gaëlle Barlet, second and third respectively in the World Rankings, the latter holding the world title in Middle Distance. After a long pause from what is the most important MTB orienteering competition in the IOF calendar, Christine Schaffner, Switzerland comes back in search of the top places she occupied between the years 2006 and 2012 when she won five individual gold medals and a world title in the Relay. And the Austrian Michaela Gigon, the most ‘golden’ athlete ever in this discipline with eight individual golds plus a Relay title, will also be competing. Both were World Champions in Montalegre and both now return to Portugal six years later. Also the Czech Krystof Bogar and the Russian Olga Shipilova Vinogradova return to MTB Orienteering’s biggest wheel after long breaks.


Junior participants number 140

One last note for the younger categories, with 75 athletes entered in the 9th edition of the Junior World MTBOC and 65 in the 2nd European Youth MTBOC. The Swede Oskar Sandberg will seek to keep his Junior world titles in Middle and Long Distance and recover the Sprint title won in 2014, having lost that to the Australian Angus Robinson last year. In the Junior Women’s class, the Russians Alena Fedoseeva and Daria Mikryukova will be trying to retain their world titles at Middle Distance and Long Distance respectively, while the Czech Veronika Kubinova will try to achieve her third consecutive Sprint title.

The European Youth MTB Orienteering Championships is in Portugal again for its 2nd edition. Many of the athletes competing last year have moved into the Junior category, but two big names are present in Bairrada to defend their European titles, the Finn Eerik Nurminen (Sprint) and the Russian Kirill Lepeshenko (Middle Distance).

Terrain and useful information

Event	Map	Classes	Courses	Climb	Controls	Winning times	Terrain Description
Sprint	1:7500, E 5m	M21E	9,7	20	21	22'	The Sprint area is a combination of suburban forest, park and urban area of a town with a varied terrain. The area has a dense network of tracks and paths with good rideability.
		W21E	7,2	15	17	22'
		M20	8,1	15	17	18'
		W20	6,1	10	15	18'
		M17	6,1	10	16	17'
		W17	5,1	10	15	17'
Middle	1:10000, E 5m	M21E	20,3	395	25	60'	The Middle Distance area is a combination of pine and eucalyptus forest and small urban areas, on the Long distance there will be small parts of rugged and hilly terrain with a dense network of roads and paths, mostly with good rideability.
		W21E	15,4	330	20	60'
		M20	13,9	315	18	48'
		W20	12,2	265	17	48'
		M17	11,9	275	16	45'
		W17	6,7	190	12	45'
Long	1:15000, E 5m	M21E	42,4	810	29	110'	The Long Distance area is a combination of pine and eucalyptus forest and small urban areas, on the Long distance there will be small parts of rugged and hilly terrain with a dense network of roads and paths, mostly with good rideability.
		W21E	20,2	620	20	110'
		M20	30,2	585	22	90'
		W20	23,4	390	18	90'
		M17	24,3	440	17	85'
		W17	18,4	295	14	85'
Relay	1:10000, E 5m	M21E	17,4	190	22	45'	The Relay area is a combination of Pine and Eucalyptus forest, wine yards and park area, with a dense network of roads and paths, mostly with good rideability.
		W21E	14,4	150	18	45'
		M20	12,6	100	15	40'
		W20	10,0	90	14	40'
		M17	11,6	95	15	37'
		W17	9,0	80	12	37'

For further information, please visit the Event's website, at http://mtbo16.fpo.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido