Wednesday’s Middle Distance race took place at Moedaku Sports centre, approximately 15km east of Rakvere.  The area contained a mix of both ATV tracks and ski tracks as well as a balance of forest and farmland. The area south of the main road also presented the athletes with short sharp climbs and some technical descents.  Our team showed consistency again in what was another tough course to deal with.

Carolyn Jackson, only minutes from the start, during warmup was knocked off her bike by another athlete and required medical attention.  Carolyn was able to re-gather herself and put down a clean ride.  Callum, who was our last starter of the day, unfortunately took another tumble and as a result damaged his chain.  This eventually gave way after the spectator control but the chain was repaired in quick time and he went on to post some of Australia’s quickest splits.  Thursday is a rest day for the athletes before the relay on Friday and the Long wrapping up the championships on Saturday.

Athletes Comments:

Ricky: Overall I was happy with my ride today.  I had very marginal mistakes and whilst it was hard to plan on the go, I managed to pick good routes out of the control.

Chris: I flowed through the controls well at the start of the race but later on in the physical part I was trying to make it more complex than it was.  Physically, I was in the red zone today.

Alex: I was happy with my route choices, quick plans and the execution of my plans.  However my route choices were based on tracks not contours so I was faced with unnecessary climb.

Results

M20

1st Cedric Beill  Fra  40:50

15th Tom Goddard  Aus 45:04

34th Karl Withers   Aus 50:11

46th  Angus Robinson Aus  54:48

Mens

1st Tonis Erm  Est  47:41

43rd Alex Randall  Aus 54:40

57th Ricky Thackray Aus 57:16

58th Chris Firman  Aus  57:30

Womens

1st Marika Hara Fin  39:31

43rd Carolyn Jackson Aus 52:27