Portugali karikasarja 1. etapp - Leiria UCI C3

Wuhuuu! Hea meel taaskord Portugali XCO karikasarjas poodiumi kõige kõrgemale astmele astuda!

Leiria rada on mulle alati meeldinud, eelmisest aastast on palju inimehitatud rada, mis just mulle väga ei meeldi, kuid pool rajast on siiski ka singlil ja huvitav.

Eelmisest pikast maratoni nädalavahetusest puhkasin korralikult välja, trennid olid ainult rahulikud, pulsigraafik võistlusest näitab, et täpselt õigesti tegin, suutsin lõpuni punases sõita.

See nädal on kuiv olnud ja rada oli päris kiire, hommikul küll seenevihmatas, kuid rada jäi muutumatuks, tuul oli hirmtugev, et osades kohtades isegi metsas oli tunda.

Naiste eliidil oli kavas viis ringi. Stardist minnes oli teistel palju kiirem kiirendus ja tõusule jõudes olin seal kuuenda, seitsmenda positsiooni juures. Tõusu lõpuks sain juba paar kohta parandatud ja olin neljandal possal. Esimesel kahel ringil oli päris palju juuniormehi, kes jalgu jäid, paljud siiski hõikamise peale andsid teed, mõned aga olid nii totud, et singli peal arvasid, et ei pea teed andma. Seega neil kahel ringil tuli vahesid naiste vahele ka seetõttu, et osad said kenasti mööda, osad jäid kellegi taha toppama. Palju oli meil neljal seal ees positsiooni vahetusi, kolmandale ringile minnes olid mul veel ees Lucia ja Joana. Sain nad ringi esimesel poolel kätte, siis oli üks pikem tõus, millel järgnes huvitav laskumine koos palkide takistusega, eelmistel ringidel olin alati kellegi taga ja ei saanud päris oma kiirusega minna. Tõusu lõpul siis otsustasin, et kiirendan ja proovin saada laskumisele esimesena. Õnnestus ja sain oma kiirusel minna ja palgitakistus ei olnud muud minu jaoks kui lihtsalt hüpe üle neist, wuhuuu. Kohe oli ka naistega vahe sees, jätkasin korralikus tempos, mitte just maksiga, kuna veel oli pool võistlusmaast minna, kuid piisavalt kiiresti, et mulle enam järgi ei jõutud, tugeva tuule tõttu ei tahtnud ka kedagi vedama hakata. Sekund sekundi haaval kasvatasin vahet, alati nähes konkurente mõne kurvi tagant. Kiire rada soosis ka väikesid vahesid, ehk lõpuni oli kõik võimalik. Kuid ma sõitsin kindla peale, kontrollides oma tempot ja riske laskumistel.

Mulle meeldib sõita samas nii, et iga sekund loeb ja konkurent hingab kuklasse, lisab pinget ja samas ka rõõmu finishijoonel.

Suur suur aitäh teile mu toetajad ja pöidlahoidjad!

Oh ja seekordki sain anti-dopingus kaks tundi istutud ja neli potsikut pissitud, alles neljas läks läbi, et oli piisava tihedusega, kuigi vett ma peale sõitu ei tarbinud, kuna teadsin, et see võimalus on, aga söök ja puuviljad aitasid. Hea meel, et kontroll taga ka mitte-olümpia aastal :)

Wuhuuuu! It is great to step once again onto the highest podium place on Portuguese XCO Cup!

I have always liked the Leiria track, although from last year a lot has been man built, which is not to my liking, but still half the track is on single and interesting.

From the last marathon weekend I rested well, the trainings were all only easy zone, the heart rate chart from the race shows that I made it correct, I could race all the way in red zone.

This week had been dry and the track was fast, there was bit of rain in the race morning, but that didn’t change the track, the wind was super strong, that even in the forest some parts we had to consider it.

Women elite had five laps. From the start others had so much better explosion and arriving to the climb I was there in sixth, seventh position. At the end of the climb I managed to better my position to fourth. First laps we had quite a lot of junior men, who were on the way, most of them gave way to our shouts, but some still thought that its not necessary on singles. So on the first laps some of the caps appeared because some of us could pass easy and some had to wait for a chance. Between us four in front we had quite a lot position changes during the first laps, going to the third lap I had still Lucia and Joana in front of me. I managed to get to them in the first half of the lap, then we had a longer climb which went into interesting descend with some logs, first laps I had always someone in front and couldn’t go with my speed. So at the end of the climb I decided to attack and try to be the first one to go into the descend and it worked. The logs were just a one big jump for me, wuhuuuuu. Immediately I had a cap with other women, I continued with good pace, not full gas as I still had half of the race distance to go, but fast enough so no one managed to clue to my wheel, with the wind condition I didn’t want that. Second by second I managed to bigger the cap, always saw others in some corners or switchbacks. The fast track was with short caps between us, so until the end all was possible. But I rode with control, I controlled my pace and my risks on the descends.

And I actually like to ride like this that every second counts and other is just somewhere there, it builds the tension and adds joy at the finish line.

Big big thank you to my sponsors and supporters!

Oh and got to spend two hours with the anti-doping guys, once again my urine didnt have enough density, although after the race I didnt even drink water, as I knew that can happen to me, but normal food and fruits helped. Its great to see that even on non-olympic year the controls are made :)