When the CX80 MTBO World Cup Round 3 kicks off with the Sprint in Bulgaria Friday morning, Camilla Søgaard will ride with butterflies in her stomach under the Danish national team shirt.
The 31-year-old Dane has a huge lead of 69 points in the World Cup standings before the Sprint and Long distances in Bulgaria, that will decide the overall CX80 World Cup 2022.
– I’m really looking forward to the races. I have never been racing in Bulgaria before, but the videos I’ve seen on Facebook looks promising as well as the old maps of the forest area, Camilla Søgaard says.
In addition to the two individual races, the World Cup Round 3 ends with a mixed relay in the forest.
Off-track riding
In northeastern Bulgaria where the races take place, the MTBO athletes will be allowed to ride off the tracks and through the terrain, and there’s a chance for controls in the terrain as well.
– It’s a lot different compared to what we are used to in Denmark and the WMTBOC in Sweden, so I’m excited to see what the forest is like: If it is worthwhile going through the terrain and how dense it is outside the tracks. And because we haven’t been there before, we don’t have any knowledge to draw on. So, we’ll have to wait for the model event on Thursday to see. I think it is a cool challenge, Søgaard says.
Impressive season
The World Cup leader travels to Targovishte in Bulgaria with lots of confidence after a great season so far. She won a gold medal in sprint at the European MTBO Championships in Lithuania in May, and two months later she brought home impressive five medals from five races at the World Championships in Sweden with the Mass start gold medal shining the most.
When asked how she managed to do so well this season, there is no clear answer. But several things might play a role in her success.
– I think that I found a calmness around that I’m able to perform. So, I don’t stress after making a small mistake. I know that I’m able to race fast and orienteer well at the same time, she says and continues:
– I’ve been working full time for the last year and a half, so I haven’t been able to train as much as when I was studying. In the beginning, I was frustrated but I have settled more into the fact that it’s the terms. I ride my bike to and from work, so that’s an hour of cycling every day, and when I’m out training, I make an extra effort now, Camilla Søgaard says.
Chasing first overall World Cup victory
At home, Camilla Søgaard has WMTBOC gold medals from Long distance, Mass Start and Relay and several other championships medals – but there is still room for the first overall World Cup victory after she finished second in 2018 and 2021.
– I really hope I can finish off the season by winning the overall World Cup. The overall victory shows who is the best over the course of a whole season. It’s hard to compare to a gold medal at the WMTBOC, but it’s definitely up there. I was so close last year – just one place better in one of the competitions, and I would have won. So, it would mean a lot to me. But nothing is decided, so I still must race well, Camilla Søgaard says.
Top performing Danes
Her main competitor to the overall World Cup title is fellow Dane Nikoline Splittorff, who is in second spot with 226 points.
Splittorff won the Middle distance at the World Championships in July and has the chance to overtake Søgaard’s World Cup lead with some great perfomances in Bulgaria this weekend.
– It’s great to have another Dane pushing me. She keeps such a high level and has been doing so since she started. Together with Cæcilie Christoffersen we were been able to win the WMTBOC Relay last year and took silver in Sweden. It’s awesome that we have been perfoming so well, even though we are not that many MTBO athletes in Denmark, Camilla Søgaard says.
– Of course, both of us want to win, but if she’s better than me in Bulgaria: Hats off to her! I’ll congratulate her, because we can easily be happy for each other. But in the forest, we’ll fight for it, she says.
Follow all the CX80 World Cup races in Bulgaria at IOF LIVE – there will be a basic TV production, live GPS-tracking and live results.
Go to CX80 World Cup standings
Program for CX80 MTBO World Cup Round 3
(Time Zone – EEST UTC+3):
Friday, Sep. 16
11.30 Sprint, first start
Saturday, Sep. 17
12.00 Long distance, first start
Sunday, Sep. 18
9.30 Mixed Relay, mass start
Photo: Lars Gustafsson / WMTBOC 2022