11 Aug 03 - Marathon World Championships, Austria

With the Olympics only 8 weeks away, I decided not to do the two canadian rounds of the world cup. The decision was made easier with all the bad luck in the first rounds, so that I didn't have an overall ranking to ride for anyways. So now the focus is purely based on the Olympics.

As I was needing some good long distance training anyway, I decided to experiment a little and try my hand at a marathon race for a change. And hey, what better a race to start in then the world champs! These days there are many riders who focus purely on marathon distance events, which is becoming more and more important to the sponsors each year. Technically, this course was very much on the lame side, with about 90% gravel roads. But it was the distance and climbing that had everyone talking. 100km with 3000+ meters of vertical! Not exactly a XC! Then on top of that, as always when we race in Austria, it rained solid before the race to turn all the dirt sections into thick mud... great!

My Bianchi/Agos team mate, Thomas Dietsch, was one of the big favorites to win the race, so I agreed to try and help him as much as I could. On the first steep climb I was shocked by the speed that Dario Aquiroli set. I could not even hang on, so I had to chase back hard on the descent to catch the front group. After this the speed was much more reasonable, and I was able to ride quite comfortably with the other 7 riders in the front group, and even go with a few attacks, so to keep Thomas relaxed in the pack. With 30km to go I was out of energy and had to let the group go. I tried to keep my HR up above 170, but on the final climb I was so blown that I could hardly hold 150HR! I was passed by many riders, and eventually finished 22nd.. but it was a big eye opener, and I feel like it could be something for me in the future.

Thomas eventually finished 2nd to the Italian Massimo de Bertolis, and Bart Brentjens was 3rd. In the womans race Gunn-Rita Dahle won by 20min!!!!

Now I will be doing a few road races, before the O-Tour at the end of the month.

Ciao
Kashi  ¶ 7:58 PM