Today is the start of the European Championships and the Junior European and Masters World Championships in MTB Orienteering, and also comprises the World Cup Round 1.
The village of Nagykovácsi, 38 km NW of Budapest, is the Event Centre for this large gathering of the world’s best MTB orienteers. There are competitions in Sprint, Long Distance, Middle Distance and Relay, and for the Masters also a curtain-raising Mass Start event.
The terrain ranges from flat urban park forest for the Sprint to hilly karst terrain, much of it forested and with height differences of up to 400 m, for the Long. Here, some very tricky route choices can be expected, and competitors are warned that many tracks will have rocky patches, small gullies and ruts, especially difficult if the conditions are wet. Half of these tracks are, moreover, “seldom travelled”.
The Middle and Relay events will be on “Mediterranean karst” with semi-open rolling hillsides with height differences up to 100 m. Somem parts have a dense track and path network, others less so.
14 nations are represented in the Championships. Full details can be found on the event website www.mtbo.hu/emtboc2018/en.
Outline programme
Wednesday 27 June Masters Mass Start race
Thursday 28 June Sprint
Friday 29 June Long Distance
Saturday 30 June Middle Distance
Sunday 1 July Relay