World Championships – Val Di Sole, Italy

It was a return visit to Val Di Sole for me as I raced the European Championships here in 2005. The track was quite similar, just steep from top to bottom winding its way through roots and rocks making it a very challenging track. Since my last visit a new chairlift had been installed and I think we were the first people to test it out ! It whisked you up to the start in no time, sometimes too quick as it was so easy to do loads of runs and get really tired !! The World Championships is always a long week as practice started on Tuesday. The first couple of days the weather was grim, just rain and cloud most of the day. The rain made the track so hard as all the rocks and roots were so slippery. I was really enjoying the challenge. Fortunately the weather for the rest of the week was amazing…sunshine everyday and temperatures near 30 degrees most days.

I had a shocking seeding run, I managed to go off course twice straight into the tapes after hitting a root that just spat me in completely the wrong direction ! I also found it really hard to put together a full run as with some tracks that are steep like this I really seem to suffer from my arms just fatiguing really badly, that I end up having to use 2 fingers to brake. This was one of these tracks that I would struggle on, being able to really attack the whole way down. I ended up in 6th spot with another day of practice to get those sections good.

Race day came and it was once again a scorcher ! I had an ok practice session in the morning, just doing one easy run. It was then time for the race. I had a good start, but by about 2 mins into the track my arms started to pump. I felt myself just ease off as I really couldn’t control my bike well enough. I then missed a high line out of a corner and ended up low in some roots and the next thing I was on the floor. A really stupid crash that cost me valuable time and ended up leaving me in 6th position in the final. Without the crash I may have managed 3rd spot, but I really was not riding fast enough to challenge the time set by Rachel, who had a flawless run and claimed her first world title ahead of Sabrina in 2nd.

A disappointing weekend but I still have 4 rounds of the world cup to turn that around and before that I am taking part in the Mega avalanche race in Alp D’Huez in 2 weeks which should be a great experience.