Top 25 for GHOST Factory Racing Team
03 .July 2023
reading time: 3 minutes
author: Patrick from GHOST
UCI World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy
Val di Sole has often been a good race for the team in the past. For example, Anne Terpstra and Caroline Bohe won silver and bronze at the World Cup a few years ago. Last year, the Dutchwoman unfortunately lost the overall World Cup due to illness in the last race.
In the "Valley of the Sun" the name said it all, with hot temperatures and dry trails our girls faced a difficult race.
Short Track
The Cross Country Short Track in Val di Sole is characterised by a very physical course. The relatively long ascent runs partly uphill on the 4X course and thus ensures standing and running riders again and again. Nevertheless, an exciting race was guaranteed again this year, even though the GHOST athletes had nothing to do with the outcome at the front this time. Caroline Bohé was not yet able to ride at the usual high intensity after missing training due to her wisdom tooth at the beginning of the block and finished in 24th place.
Isla Short had to skip the short race distance due to a finger injury in order to compete in the XCO race.
Nicole Koller showed a spirited race from very far back and could be quite satisfied with 17th place after her shoulder injury. Anne Terpstra was not entirely happy with her 15th place and did not know what the reason was at first:
The legs were good, but I missed the connection at some point and that was the end of it. I think it should be better for Sunday, because there is nothing wrong with my form.
Anne Terpstra
Cross Country Olympic
On Sunday, Isla Short crossed the finish line beaming, having been almost last at the start. But the Scotswoman found her way into the race better and better and was able to push steadily forward and in the end follow up the strong result from Leogang with another good result. Despite the injury to her finger, which is responsible for the rear brake, she crossed the finish line in 25th place.
Nicole Koller was a bit crestfallen at first as 23rd, but could be very satisfied with the result. After several weeks without off-road training, she felt a little technically unsure, but played it safe and didn't want to risk another fall. A good basis for the rest of the season and the following races.
Caroline Bohé was also not really satisfied with 17th place, but threw everything into a tight race and got the best out of it.
Anne Terpstra could still see the suffering of the race at the finish. The Dutchwoman could not keep up with the pace of the leaders at the beginning, but then recovered and fought her way back to 10th place from 16th:
That was a hard piece of work and for sure I am not really happy with the results this weekend. But the race block was very long and probably a bit too long for me. In Lenzerheide I was fighting for the win, on a harder day you can also finish 20th. The density is incredible and even though I would rather be on the podium, that's what makes our sport so attractive. So I'm looking forward to a few days at home and then preparing for the next big races.
Anne Terpstra
Outlook
First of all, our GHOST Factory Racing Team will take a short summer break, which will certainly come at the right time due to the minor injuries. Our athletes will then attack again on the weekend of 25 August in Vallnord, Andorra.
In the meantime, preparations are already underway for the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, which will begin on 13 August.