After a solid race in the first World Cup I was confident I would be able to finish even further up the tree in round two. Unfortunately, after the first round I was fighting a bit of a head cold and feeling sub par, which wasn’t going to make my life very easy.
I snuck into short track with the second to last call up. I was patient on the first laps as the field was strung out with no real chances to pass without expending a huge amount of energy. It was a fast pace and in the last few laps the gaps really started to open up. I didn’t have the legs to jump up in the top 24 and earn myself a third-row start, finishing in 30th place.
Once again in the XCO I started deep in the pack, and got a bit caught up behind a tangle of bars from the rider in front, finishing the first lap way down the pack.
The body felt a bit flat and it was a scrap the whole race but I kept in the fight, winning the sprint for 40th place in the end. It was disappointing not to have improved on my round one result, but it was always going to be a tough task while fighting a bit of illness.
I’m looking forward to getting back to Europe for the next World Cups and having a good training block at home beforehand.