The long qualifier was held 40km south from the event centre at Haruvit. The 1:20000 map had a dense track network splitting small fields from olive groves and stands of trees.
After a tape cutting ceremony by the local mayor (in which Sarah starred in the TV coverage) I started in the 3rd group of three men, each riding a different gaffeled course. The top 20 from each course go through to the final on Saturday so I had to have a good ride to get in. The heat wasn’t too bad at the start and I spiked the first 5 controls but losing time on the climbs to the stronger riders. Number 6 gave 3 route choice options and I decided on a straight route up and over. Though the track became sandy and v difficult to ride, it wasnt much slower than the southerly option on the road but the northerly option over the saddle seemed quickest on looking at the splits.
I made an error on number 7 missing a track junction, perhaps only losing 1 minute, but got filmed by the TV decending into it and bike on shoulder running back up the hill.
I rode an otherwise clean race taking advantage of some sneaky shortcuts and felt reasonably strong towards the end. After finishing came the agonising wait to see if I would qualify for the final. In the end I missed out by 1 place coming in 21st. 🙁
I take the positive though that I am only 9 or so mins down on most of the worlds best, but I am disappointed to riding in the B final.
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