Nilai Malaysia Worldcup
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The pressure heading into this World Cup was high, as it is the only one on our schedule this year. Delivering strong results was absolutely crucial, as we need to score major points on our path to qualifying for the World Championships. Before this event, we were not in a comfy qualifying position, worstcase we would have had to stay at home. That would have been a huge disappointment, especially since the World Championships in October mark the first step in the Olympic qualification process.
Preview
On the first day, the elimination race was on the program for me. In my opinion, a rather unforgiving race since it can be over very quickly. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened in my case. The frustration was huge when I got eliminated early! Trapped at the bottom, I reacted too late and just like that I was out.
I had to forget it as quickly as possible and refocus for the Omnium the next day.
Day II Omnium, I managed to start strongly with a 6th place in the Scratch race and in the following Tempo race, starting only 30 minutes later, I was even able to take the win. In the elimination race, I learned somewhat from my mistakes of the first day and finished 11th, which put me 3rd in the general classification going into the final points race.
The points race was quite unusual since no one really wanted to take responsibility, which caused the general classification to change significantly. midway through the race I dropped to 6th place. With 18 laps to go, it was time to go all in. I launched an attack that almost worked, but I got caught again.
Still, I managed to collect 5 points in the penultimate sprint, giving me a final chance to fight for 3rd overall if I could win the last sprint. I gave it a try, but there was not much left, and I had to settle for 6th place in the end.
Day I & II
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The next morning, getting up was a bit of a struggle. after a good breakfast and a strong qualifying ride for the Madison, the confidence and the good legs came back.
I raced the Madison together with Noah Bögli and it was the very first time we competed together in that race. Still, I could trust him completely, as I know he has a very solid engine. We approached the first half of the race calmly, feeling our way into it, observing the competition, and seeing how the race would develop.
We managed to gain two laps and stayed in contention with the top teams until the end. It was a really tough race, total chaos after the first half, but we were both satisfied. I would say that for our first time racing together, our team worked very well.
7th place, we take it. A solid base to build on.
Hopefully many more races together to come!
Day III
Results:
P6 Omnium
P7 Madison
P20 Elimination
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