We are now less than 48 hours to go until the start of the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Montello, Italy. So it’s high time we have a look over the start lists for who the favourites might be.
Marathon World Championships have typically been run within existing Marathons. 2011 is now different, with the Gunn Rita Marathon being the chosen event. This course should be familiar to a lot of the field, as it was used as the European Championships in 2010. In a move that is a little different to previous years, the non-XCM Championship event will start before the UCI event, at 9am. Although this reduces the depressing chance of backmarkers being caught by non-licensed riders, hopefully the hour gap will allow for a spread out field that won’t hinder the front of the Mens Championship event, which starts at 10am. Their course iw 115.7km with 2860m of climbing. The Womens event is starting half an hour after the Mens, at 10:30am – although they are on a shorter course of 98.3km with 2290m of altitude gain.
A brief analysis of the start lists has only a few surprises. Most of the strongest Marathon racers are present, and it’s interesting to see some countries sending quite young athletes, including some who would only be in their first year out of the Junior ranks.
Austria have last years Champion, Alban Lakata. A perennially strong rider, Lakata has the support of four other riders, including young riders Martin Foger and Michael Reichl. Columbia are following a similar trend, as Jaime Chia and Jhonnatan Botero are 21 and 19 respectively. Jonas Pederson (Denmark) is another Class of ’92 rider. It will be interesting to see how the younger generation fares in the long format. Denmark have another 6 riders, including probable leader Ben Justesen.
Australian fans can at least find solace in Ivan Rybariks (Czech Republic) selection. He is a familiar face in an Australian summer, and this is as close as Australia will get as having a representative for 2011.
With Jukka Vastaranta being the sole representative from Finland, he may have his work cut out for him. Although he is on stunning form after coming 2nd at the European Championships a fortnight ago, Marathon powerhouse countrries Germany, Switzerland and Italy are fielding big times, with expendable firepower. Like Finland, France are sending a minimal squad with Julien Absalon and Thomas Dietsch. But like Finland, they are sending the best they have.
Germany has an immense line up, with 15 riders travelling south to Montello. With riders like Karl Platt, Hannes Genz, Jochen Kass and Tim Bohme in the line up, they have a formidable team. Of note, that also represents both the Bulls team and Merida-Multivan team. Trade team allegiences play a large role, so tactics within a national team and within trade teams may be decisive.
With 21 riders on the line, Italy have strength in numbers. However they also have riders such as Massimo De Bertolis (2004 XCM Champion), Mike Felderer, Mirko Celestio, Johann Pallhuber and Johnny Cattaneo. These are all strong riders, with Cattaneo having a recent run of form. A stage win at the Alpentour Trophy, and second place at the Black Forest Ultra Marathon is evidence of legs and confidence.
The other super team is Switzerland. Even with the withdrawl of Ralph Naef (2006 XCM Champion), they still have Christoph Sauser (2007 XCM Champion), Urs Huber, Lukas Buchli, Andreas Kugler, Alexandre Moos and Thomas Stohl, who won the Black Forest Ultra last weekend.
Others to keep an eye on are the South African duo of David George and Kevin Evans. After helping fill the podium at Willingen a fortnight ago, it seems the cold conditions in Kirchzarten were not appreciated last weekend. Russia’s Alexey Medvedev should be a marked man. As the winner of the Alpentour trophy, and then the European Marathon Championships, he is riding on a wave of form and confidence.
The womens event is going to be exciting. Gunn Rita Dahle-Flesjaa finished 2nd here last year, and has been buidling to even greater strengths this year. Finlands Pia Sundstedt is a stunning athlete, who peaks well for big races. Great Britains Sally Bigham came second in the European Championships last weekend, and is a consistently strong performer. With fellow GB rider Jane Nussli perhaps they can keep the other competitors in check.
Again, Germany has a large team, with Sabine Spitz, Elisabeth Brandua, Nina Gaessler and a supprting cast of six more talented riders. Italy have a mixed squad of 10. Marathon performers like Michaela Benzoni are supported with XC talent like Serena Calvetti and Daniela Veronesi. Reigning 2010 Champion Esther Suss is representing Switzerland, as is Sofia Pezzatti and two more strong racers.
Can predictions be made? Marathons are long races and anything can happen. Perhaps we will see National teams racing, or maybe we will see trade teams racing. It is somewhat dependant on whether the team or the nation sees higher value in the rainbow stripes. But you have to be in it to win it.