Week of fantastic racing in Andorra is done & dusted. Literally, as there was so much dust on the downhill track from the Pic de Cubil. Our riders Oli Clark & Aimi Kenyon were selected for this race, and both had a good week. Except for the final run.
World Championships are a special event in every sport, same is true for the mountain bike racing. The location in Andorra makes it even more special as riders need to compete at the high altitude, and together with their teams overcome all of the challenges that this venue has to offer.
We had two riders on the champs, Oli Clark and Aimi Kenyon. Oli had number of great results in the season, including two top-10 finishes in the World Series, so there was no doubt about him racing for team New Zealand. Aimi was struggling with injury in the first part of the season, but was getting up to speed in the recent month, which earned her a spot on team UK.
Oli went on the track first and loved the track instantly. He was 15th in the qualifications, with tons of time to gain. Similar can be said for Aimi’s week, as she attacked the course with confidence and determination. She qualified with 34th time.
Finals didn’t go well for any or our riders, there were just too many small mistakes and with such narrow gaps it was so easy to loose lots of positions. Oli was 15th, while Aimi was 36th. But the outtakes from the races are positive and motivation ahead of Loudenvielle is high!
Aimi Kenyon: “Been a tough season so far but I’m really happy with the progress in my riding and confidence this week. Not stoked with my race run with some very silly costly mistakes. Next part of the puzzle is to carry the speed from practice to my race runs. Excited for Loudenvielle to try and piece it all together!!”
Oli Clark: “I enjoyed my first World Champs. The track was really fun, I had a few crucial mistakes in my race run, but it was great learning experience. It wasn’t the result I was after, but there is always next year. But before that it’s next week, off to Loudenvielle now! LFG!”
Next world champs are not far away, Vid Peršak has been of course selected for the enduro world champs that will take place in Italy in September.
LINKS
Oli on Instagram
Aimi on Instagram
Results
Photos: Grega Stopar
