I was really looking forward to being back in Europe at one of my favourite race venues of all time. Nothing beats the atmosphere of competing in Nove Mesto in front of a passionate crowd and a stadium arena to start and finish in. I also like the track and have had my best performances here over the years so was hopeful of a strong result.
I was feeling good out on track and confident about the race, but with my points not yet high enough to be in short track I would be starting back on the 6th row for the XCO.
When the lights went green, I gave it everything but was unable to move forward at all, instead getting caught up in what felt like every bar tangle and near miss. On the first descent I was off and walking at a bottleneck, watching the leaders ride off into the distance.
After what felt like an eternity of standing still the field finally decongested enough that I could get back on my bike, crossing the line after the start loop in 79th position and 1:04 down – on a start loop that took the leaders less than 5 minutes to complete.
I set about chasing down riders and was making some progress before my gears started to play up, and my chain was skipping all over the rear cassette. I tried to manage the issue but on the third lap I was no longer able to put any power through the pedals at all without the chain skipping, so had to stop in the tech zone to tighten what turned out to be a loose rear axle.
I got back on the bike, down in 60 something position again, before I managed to pass a few more riders on the last laps to come home in 53rd. All in all, a very frustrating day on the bike when I felt like I was capable of so much more!