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World Masters MTBO Championships 2013

Posted: 16/10/13

The GB MTBO Masters Squad have recently returned from the Costa Alentejana region of Portugal after competing in the World Masters MTBO Championship. 15 members took part across all categories & returned home with 4 medals & a string of top ten finishes.

The Event centre was situated in the town of Grandola & after 3 days training the squad attended the opening ceremony in the centre of the town. Friday morning saw the Middle Distance event take place in the Cork Forests on the outskirts of Grandola. With the temperature up at 30 degrees the hilly area meant the riders had to keep an eye on hydration as well as their route choice. Charlie Somers-Cocks came home in 2nd place to pick up the first medal for GB with a well earned silver in W50. Other notable placings were in M40 where Killian Lomas came in 5th, Andy Conn 8th & Andrew Windrum 9th. In M50 Nick Dallimore rode a brilliant race to take tenth & in W40 Sarah Bayliss came 6th while in W50 Beth Clayton claimed 5th.

On to Saturday & the competition moved South to the small hamlet of Cosatto. The full cloud cover dropped the temperature considerably but the loose sandy trails gave some hard riding. Plenty of route choice & some long control legs saw Charlie Somers-cocks leading the team home with another hard earned silver medal in W50, Beth Clayton again coming in a strong 5th. In M40 4/5/6 places went to Andy Conn, Andrew Windrum & Killian Lomas respectively. In M50 leading Brit was Graham Fielding in 26th after Dallimore mispunched while Sarah Bayliss went one better than yesterday to record 5th in W40. In M60 Eric Harper's luck ran out with a shredded tyre but in W60 Denise Harper came in 4th place.

The final day of racing saw the field move to the old town of Santiago do Cacem & the Sprint event. The short fast & furious course was a mix of urban, woodland & cobbled terracing. The sun was out again but the heat not as intense. Killian Lomas produced a strong ride in M40 to claim a bronze medal whilst Charlie Somers-cocks once again took silver behind her nemesis of the week Carolyn Jackson of Australia, Beth Clayton again taking 5th. Andrew Windrum 5th in M40 & Nick Dallimore 11th in M50 were other notable achievements.

A final word goes to Edwyn Oliver-Evans who rode strongly in the Elite World Cup races. Although still only 17 Edwyn was up against the best riders in the world & produced some creditable results.

When Ed arrived at the team headquarters in Melides on Wednesday he probably felt like he was walking into an old folks home!!

So, a good week had by all & we look forward to next year's event in Poland.

Pictured is Andrew Windrum leaving the start in the Sprint race.

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