After two weeks at home, some gardening and fun rides with Keith I felt recharged and ready to race. I felt like I could push the pedals hard and that mentally I had more desire for racing. I carried this good energy with me to Offenburg.
Waldek had done an excellent job finding our hotel (Edy’s) in Ortenburg. The restaurant was amazing and we were well fueled and rested for race day. Offenburg is definitely one of my favourite venues. The area is beautiful and the course a lot of fun.
Race day was sunny and the track was in perfect condition. I went into the race hoping to grab the lead before the first single track, but a rider veering into me right off the start altered that plan. Instead it was Georgia who took the lead and quickly established a strong tempo. I settled into my familiar game of catch up working my way through the field until I had reached Georgia by the second descent. Georgia and I then rode together for about 2 laps.
There were a lot of chasers behind us and my coach Dan was on course giving us splits. By third lap it was time to go so I dug in for the climbing legs. For the next 3 laps the gap between Georgia and I was anywhere from 10 to 28 seconds with Marie Helene and Ester Suss chasing hard.
Everything went perfectly for me though. My bike worked well (thanks Chris), Waldek kept me hydrated and I was smooth in the woods and aggressive everywhere I needed to be, attacking hills and descents. It felt so great to be riding at the front, and motivating to have Georgia right there with me. Of my 3 world cup wins I think it was the hardest earned with such a tight field I could never relax.
Coming into the finish was pretty emotional. I knew my parents and Keith would be watching on freecaster and my team thrilled with Georgia and I pulling off the 1,2 at a world cup. (Katerina had decided to sit out this round, but I’m sure she would have been up there too.) My icing on the cake was learning I would also be taking over the World cup overall title and jersey. So for Luna it was 1,2, top team and World cup leader. Pretty sweet for less than a week in Europe!
I don’t know howm many liters of Champagne and beer we won, but it was a lot! The spectators were amazing and so loud all race. Thank
We capped off the day with some champagne, lots of toasts and great food.
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