Nové Město na Moravě is getting ready for its cycling festival: for three days, Vysočina Aréna will be a place where racers from more than 35 countries will engage in an epic battle for medals. From Friday, May 24, to Sunday, May 26, fans of mountain bikes will have the opportunity to watch races of seven categories in three disciplines: short track, cross-country, and marathon. More than 700 riders registered include 40 Czech cyclists, which means that the home team bikers will start in all categories and disciplines. Let us now have a look at the best of Czechs.
Young guns with great prospects
We shall start with the youngest ones, i.e. with female and male juniors. A race that is a part of the UCI Junior Series was included in the events of the World Cup in NMNM, and it will feature categories of seventeen and eighteen-year-old cyclists. Even though this is not a “real” World Cup, it is a prestigious race with the world’s best girls and boys on the starting line.
Having finished in the Top 10 in the last European Championships in Romania, Amálie Gottwaldová is one of the Czech hopes for medal. In boys, David Friedel and Kryštof Bažant are leering at medals. Last year in NMNM, David managed to take the bronze, Kryštof demonstrated his shape at the European Championships in Romania, having finished only 25 seconds behind the winner. And it should be added that in the same race, David lost the prospect of sure medal in the very last lap – he had a flat tire and slumped from second to 18th place.
The junior races are starting at 8 in the morning on Saturday, but the youngest home riders will find spectators’ support very helpful!
U-23 category and Srnská, a native of Nové Město
Two disciplines are planned for the U23 category: short track on Friday, and cross-country on Saturday.
The Czech Republic will have quite a lot of girls between 19 and 22 years of age on the starting line. The truth is that experts are expecting one of them to take a medal soon. Namely, it could be Adéla Holubová whose best result so far in the World Cup races has been a fifth place! Patricia Srnská, a native of Nové Město na Moravě, proved to be in great form in the last round of the Czech Cup, beating both current Czech champions and Henderson of Australia, who is the winner of three World Cup races. However, Simona Spěšná or Nela Viktorová should not be forgotten either, and all Czech U-23 women can finish in the top 15. Well, if spectators support them...
In the male U-23 category, Jan Zatloukal and Jan Sáska are names that stand out among the Czechs. Their main ambition is to squeeze through to the top ten. They are followed closely by their colleagues in the national team: Patrik Černý or Ondřej Novotný.
Elite stars whose shine does not fade
The elite categories will start their races on Saturday (Short Track) and continue on Sunday (Cross-Country). Naturally, elite races are the most attractive highlight of the racing programme, as they will present the shiniest of the many world’s stars that will start in the Vysočina Aréna.
Jitka Čábelická, who is trying to qualify for her second Olympic start, has been one of the best Czech females for a long time. Even though she achieved her best result – 12th place in a World Cup race – quite a long time ago, it may be that the atmosphere in the Vysočina Aréna will drive her to a good result.
Among men, no other name can pop up but Ondřej Cink, though he was not very lucky in Nové Město in the past years. Being ill, he did not start at all last year, and in 2022, he had not been able to finish the race due to the huge amount of pollen generated by spruces around the Vysočina Aréna. So his best result – 4th place in the World Championships race in 2016 – is still to be beaten.
Be an early bird to see the Marathon racers
Marathon race should not be forgotten, as the race will start very early on Sunday morning. Marathon World Cup series is just getting started and the Nové Město na Moravě event will be the debut of this year's World Cup.
Women will start into their 123km-long race with vertical distance of 2.500 metres as early as at 7:00 AM. At 8:15 AM, men will follow. The finish of the best and their arrival at the Vysočina Aréna is planned for the time between the Women and Men XCO Elite races.
What are the names to look forward to in this race? The return of Jaroslav Kulhavý, who fractured his collar bone at Cape Epic in March and had to be operated on later, is the highlight. The world vice-champion Martin Stošek and Czech champion, Lubomír Petruš, will be starting as well, and Filip Adel – native of the Vysočina region – will have great ambitions in the international field of riders, too.
Karla Löffelmann nebo Nikol Flašarová will represent the Czech team in the Women’s category.
Come to support Czech hopes on their journey to the best result possible. It may be that you help them take one of the medals!
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