Last year’s CX80 World Cup winner Krystof Bogar, Czechia, took the Sprint gold today by 41 seconds to follow his silver in Middle two days ago. Kaarina Nurminen, Finland took victory in the women’s race by 18 seconds. Silver in both races went to Finland.
The terrain in Loulé, southern Portugal was in two highly contrasting parts – largely flat and straightforward at the beginning and end, and a highly complex motocross circuit with a multitude of tracks for the middle section. An added dimension was that direct routes across terrain were allowed. The Finnish team proved well prepared for the conditions, gaining five top-six placings in all including three medals.
In the women’s race it was Finland first and second, Saara YliHietanen taking silver, with both riders making very few errors. Another Finn, Ruska Saarela, led by 14 seconds at the first radio point and finished fourth. The bronze medallist, Czech rider Veronika Kubinova, recovered well from being 1.13 down at the first radio control.
Krystof Bogar was 15 seconds down on Finland’s André Haga at the first radio, but Haga made two big mistakes after that and finished well down the field. Bogar then led throughout, building a good lead over silver medallist Miika Nurmi, Finland. The gap down to bronze medallist Lauri Malsroos, Estonia was 1.13.
In the Junior and Youth Championships, sisters Tilda and Minna Palm, Sweden, won W20 and W17 respectively, Minna by the big margin in a Sprint of 1.57. In M17, yesterday’s Long distance winner Eemil Koskinen (Finland) won the Sprint by an even bigger margin: 2.13. The M20 title today went to Adam Cernik, Czechia.
The final race in the Championships, the Mixed Relay for teams of three including at least one woman, is tomorrow. Each nation can enter up to 4 teams. The mass start is at 9.00 (GMT + 1). Follow the race on IOF LIVE!
CX80 World Cup standings after 3 races
Danish rider Nikoline Splittorff, with 1 first and 1 second place, leads the women’s standings with 217 points, followed by fellow Dane Camilla Søgaard with 153 and the Lithuanian rider Gabriele Andrasiuniene with 146.
The men’s list is headed by Czech rider Vojtech Stransky with three top-6 placings including 1 EMTBOC gold medal; he has 185 points. Krystof Bogar, Czechia is just behind with 180 points, and third is Samuel Pokala, 154.
The full list of current standings can be found on the European Championships IOF LIVE pages.
Leading results, Sprint
Women, 7.6 km
- Kaarina Nurminen FIN 23:41
- Saara YliHietanen FIN 23:59
- Veronika Kubinova CZE 24:17
- Ruska Saarela FIN 24:44
- Jana Hnilica AUT 24:59
- Gabriella Gustafsson SWE 25:17
Men, 8.9 km
- Krystof Bogar CZE 21:04
- Miika Nurmi FIN 21:45
- Lauri Malsroos EST 22:17
- Tomi Nykanen FIN 22:55
- Fabiano Bettega ITA 23:12
- Vojtech Stransky CZE 23:33
W20 gold: Tilda Palm SWE by 10 seconds
M20 gold: Adam Cernik CZE by 10 seconds
W17 gold: Minna Palm SWE by 1.57
M17 gold: Eemil Koskinen FIN by 2.13