European MTBO Champs 2015 Idahna Nova Portugal

http://trentinocorrierealpi.gelocal.it/sport/2015/06/13/news/luca-dallavalle-quarto-agli-europei-1.11611311

The Eurpean Champs are over. I spent a nice week in wild places where we found very interesting competitions and terrains. Also the organization was simply perfect.

About orienteering the navigation was not difficult but in all races the physical conditions and the route choices choosing were decisive.

The results I got this week during the 5 competions are the following

sprint mix relay : mp    full result and gps
sprint : 19 th               full result and gps  
middle : 9 th               full result and gps
long : 4 th                  full result and gps
relay 6 th                   full result and gps

I can say that the beginning was quite difficult for me. In the mix sprint relay I didn t see a control on the map  passing by without punching  so we got disqualified.

The day after, there was held the sprint event. It suited really well for me but physically I was not really fast, riding a too safety race, so I lost 1:20 min from the first time despite my performance was without mistakes.

Wednsday was the day of the middle distance. I decided to ride aggressive from the begging struggling a lot with the heat (35°C) and the uphills. My navigation was perfect but I lost a lot of time in the decisive route choices Anyway I got a top ten result that gave me more self confidence for the next races.

On Thursday the weather changed and it was not so warm like the days before. After spending the rest day riding easily through the big stones I was definitely ready for the long distance. I started really slow (maybe too much as I lost about 2:30 after 20min) because it was not easy to get in the map then after the second control I got a good pace. Physically I felt very strong so I could finish the race close to the podium in 4th place despite during the race I did not take any risk and was not really aggressive.

The long distance podium

The week was closed with the relay. I was with  Riccardo and Piero. We got a 6th nations place that is not bad for Italy but I have to say we were a little bit lucky that several teams were not at complete or had mechanical problems.

So the first main event of the season is done. Now it is time to plan the next 8 weeks before the World Championship. It is going to be hard with a lot of events this summer but my motivation it still high.

Some pictures below

easy riding in this wild land

during the rest day

piero is taking healty food

the local transports

flat tire in model event

typicall village

Here a nice video