04.10.2020

UCI MTB World Cup Nove Mesto

Finally the World Cup season started this year. Although there were only two races, I was really looking forward to the two races in Nove Mesto during the last weeks. Normally there’s only one World Cup race per venue, but this year the organizers decided to hold a World Cup race on Thursday as well as on Sunday.

So the trip was even more worth and I was able to race two races on my favorite track. In the U23 category I was able to achieve my best World Cup result there with an 8th place, but such a result wasn’t realistic this year as I was now competing in my first Elite World Cup.

Like the last years we travelled again with our camping car. So we could stay directly in the race venue and didn’t have to stay in large crowds (for example at the airport or in hotels).

Although I had the starting number 139, I started the race extremely motivated and confident. Since I will be competing in the elite category from this season on, I have to fight my way back up the grid and improve my position in the UCI ranking.

I had a good start in both races, but more than a top-70 position after the first lap of the race wasn’t possible.

On Thursday I was able to fight my way forward from lap to lap and in the end I was able to secure a very good 51st place in the sprint. However, my legs weren’t extremely good and I didn’t have the strength to push through every climb. Nevertheless, in the last lap it was enough for the 25 best lap time. This point and the tight time gap between the riders made me hope that with better legs on Sunday even more would be possible. One goal was definitely a top-40 result.

As hoped, my legs were extremely good on Sunday. I had a lot of power, made no big technical mistakes, always had the right position in my groups and lost less time to the winner of the race than on Thursday. Actually, everything went perfectly and accordingly I was disappointed when only the 69th place at the finish line lighted up.

 

This year there are only two World Cup races and they will take booth place in Nove Mesto.

139, Ryf, Joris, Joris Ryf / JR Racing, , SUI
139, Ryf, Joris, Joris Ryf / JR Racing, , SUI

After my first two Elite World Cup races I'm extremely motivated for the next season. Then hopefully there will be six World Cup races again.

I’m very satisfied with my first two Elite World Cup races. I realized that I could keep up with the elite riders both physically and technically. In both races I had a lot of power until the end of the race and had exciting fights with other riders until the finish. For a better result, my high starting number is still a handicap at the moment, but also my lack of experience in how elite World Cup are raced.

It’s a pity that the World Cup season is already over now, because I would have been extremely motivated to learn from my experiences and to implement this in another World Cup race this year. It’s clear that I’m really looking forward to next season and hopefully with six World Cup races again.

Now I’m on my way to Leogang and on Wednesday the last big race of this year’s season is scheduled. Namely the E-XCO World Championship. I feel extremely ready and I’m really looking forward to this race.

 

//Joris 

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