Xterra France

This weekend saw the 4th European Xterra round, set high up in the French Alpes in the ski resort of Auron.

After tactically missing the Czech race last weekend I knew I had to score some good points to get me back up the standings.

I suffered a bit with the altitude, especially at the swim which was at 1800m above sea level, where i lost 2.5 minutes, which is about a minute more than i should have done.

Again on the bike i lacked that little edge on some of the climbs, due to the altitude, but I was riding well technically and in my first race on my new full suspension Cannondale Scalpel I came off the bike in 4th place, in good company behind Current world champion Conrad Stoltz, ex world champion Nico Lebrun and ex pro mountain biker Jorg Sheiderbauer. The bike handled fantastic especially with the Schwalbe Racing ralph tyres and i'll be using it at the next round in Austria.

Onto the run and again i felt the altitude and the hard work i'd done on the bike and i lost 3 places to finish an exhausted 7th, but gaining essential series points. I am currently lying in 7th place in the European standings, but I can drop the Czech round which i didn't race where as some of the athletes ahead have to drop a result still.

My next goal is retaining my Masters title at the national Mountain bike champs in 2 weeks time. I'll be having a week off hard running this week in preperation for this.