MTB TRILOGY

Three seasons ago we travelled to the Czech Republic for the first time, and since then, we returned each year.
Why?
Great trails, beautiful country, mostly friendly people, lowcost and we could always combine the 4 day Trilogy with another beautiful marathon a few days before, so perfect acclimatisation.


This year was different due to Corona regulations messing up all calendars and objectives.
No DRASAL marathon, so directly to Teplice Nad Matuje for one of the most difficult marathon/enduro stage races of the season. Talking about a cold start...

Due to COVID19 restrictions the event was shortened by one day. So we had a crazy prologue and two stages to go.

Weather was ok, and the organisers did everything they could to give us what we came for. Crazy tracks, endless steep technical climbs, and even longer stages to compensate the loss of one stage.

Kristien Nelen did the EXTREEM enduro version! 

And some dutch riders Hans Becking & Rob Meeuwessen

Being there for the third time this year, we are considered  their Belgian Ambassadors, so we invited some friends of us to enlarge the Belgian pool of participants. 2021 will be a UCI S2 Cat race, so it was worth to already get familiar with the tracks and trails of the region.

As usual we stayed at the local camping site at a few hundred meters from the venue.
Food is provided by the organisation, so we have breakfast at the local kindergarten, as well as supper. No 5* meals here, but all you need as an athlete to make it through the day.
at noon, we are on our bikes, so the feedzones on the track have to do the job.
Drinkbottles are handed over by the volunteers, and there's enough for everybody, even the last riders on the track will find this a positive experience.

Prologue warm up 😅

The courses for this year aren't much different from those last year, so we could almost ride the prologue this year with our eyes closed. 10km of totally insane tracks with over 550m of altitude  were on the menu for the prologue on friday.

Technical downhill trails stage 1 👀

Post race nap 😴

Saturday and sunday were the days for the marathonstages, which were a little longer this year then previous editions.

Dirt, roots and rocks...

Sara rode to her first victory of the season during the first day. Marathonstages went well also, but with twice a second place (which resulted in an overall second place in the elite category), it was not possible to take the overall GC. Riding the Trilogy as first competition of the season, is something we were not used to.
Me, myself and I was riding a good prologue with an 8th spot at the prologue and an 11th and 12th spot on saturday and sunday.
The team managers were satisfied... 😁

MTB TRILOGY will be worth being a UCI S2 category event next year. The organisers as well as the multiple volunteers make this one a remainer.
In contradiction with the smooth organisation during the event, the prize ceremony has to be revised.
Athletes don't want to wait hours to come on a podium. So there should be some changes to make this a complete 5* event.

Carry on and we hope to see a lot of you next year in Teplice Nad Metujie.

Peter

Recovery @ Bodensee Germany 💑