World Cup kicks off in Nove Mesto

UCI World Cup in Nove Mesto, CZ

On the second weekend in May, the time had finally come! Our GHOST Factory Racing Team started in Nové Město, Czech Republic after weeks of preparation in the new UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

The Czech witch's cauldron is calling! The biathlon stadium and the surrounding forests in Nové Město na Morave are thus the setting for the first big meeting of the top stars of the cross-country scene. Year after year, the World Cup races in the Czech Republic thrill fans and riders around the planet. Whether it's the rooty and challenging course, the ideal on-site logistics or the incredible crowds of spectators, the date of this World Cup race will be thickly marked on the calendar of just about every mountain bike enthusiast.

For the first time, not only competitions in the disciplines Cross-Country, Short Track and Downhill are held under the umbrella of the World Cup Series, but also the disciplines Enduro and Marathon are now part of the World Cup program. The World Cup Series is therefore now held under the name UCI Mountain Bike World Series.

Short Track

The Cross Country Short Track took place on Friday on a once again changed course, which was characterized by a very tactical race course. Due to the relatively easy profile, a large group stayed together for almost the entire duration of the race and there were numerous crashes - unfortunately the GHOST athletes found themselves on the ground several times through no fault of their own, but were mostly uninjured. With twelfth and thirteenth place, Nicole Koller and Anne Terpstra were able to secure a place on the second row of the starting grid for Sunday, while Caroline Bohé narrowly missed out on the first three rows of the starting grid with 25th place after several skirmishes.

Cross Country Olympic

In the XCO race over the long race distance of 26km Anne Terpstra was the fastest GHOST Factory Racing Team rider. In an exciting race Anne and Caroline had to admit defeat to Alessandra Keller in the sprint for 5th place in the final sprint and thus take sixth and seventh place.

Nicole Koller rides to 23rd place despite a double crash and Isla Short lands in 46th place in her first race for the GFRT despite previous illness.

This puts the GHOST Factory Racing Team in third place overall after the first race.