Czech Adventure Race 2011
Czechs Lead as Several Favorites Pull Out
Jan Smolik / 18.08.2011
However, the start was not an actual start for all teams. Seven minutes before start, Ledec heard a huge explosion. A tyre of a bike from Team 360 had exploded! T hey were able to change it quickly however they missed start and begun the race about two minutes later.
The first real stage was 110 kilometers of mountain biking. The stage itself was pretty straightforward. Teams were moving fast. But what was most interesting was a special section called ‘Bols cross’ after a guy who has designed these sections on all editions of the Czech Adventure Race and many other races.
You can always expect something special. It is a sort of race in itself. This section was in a flooded quarry. The basic idea was that teams descended to the water in various different ways and climbed back in even more different ways. They had to swim at least five times. There was a rope ladder on a net for the way up, and ropes with knots or simple diving for the way down. At one point teams had to climb a three meter tall wall which required a lot of team cooperation. Mostly the first members climbed on the shoulders of the last one and then pulled him up on slings.
Unfortunately this section was the end of the race for team Sport Nature Ville-La-Grand, one of the favourites. One of the team cut his knee and needed a few stitches in the hospital. He is OK however and the team continues incomplete and unranked.
During the first stage, Czech teams Accom/Nutrend/Merida and Czech Adidas Terrex were setting the pace. They were racing head to head and arrived at the first TA together. Accom was slightly faster in the transition and left earlier. The only other team to match this speed was Polish team ‘Code 34’ who arrived third approximately 20 minutes behind the Czechs.
Spanish team Columbia Irontec Vidaraid arrived fourth, but they did not seem to be in a hurry. They spent 35 minutes in the transition area which was the longest time of the strong teams at the front.
This stage also meant the end for Team 360. Igor Blachut of the team had some health issues and race medics did not recommend continuing in the race. After a long wait in TA to see if he recovered the team finally decided to give up the race and continue unranked as a three member team.
[Ed. Columbia Irontec Vidariad and Code 34 both subsequently became unranked, so 3 of the favourites fell out of the ranking on the first day.]
The pace of the race is really fast and it is possible that teams will pay for this later in the race. Some teams are pushing harder than they would like to and it is clear they will have to slow down.
The race continues with inline-trekking stage, where teams can choose whether to walk or to skate.
SleepMonsters will be carrying daily news and you can also follow the news on the main race <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.adventurerace.cz/en/home')" class="main">website</a>.
We've also posted the video of the first day of racing.
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