On May 15 in Izhevsk for the first time there was the International competition in ХСО «FORMAT X-RACE» under the auspices of the UCI. The organizer was the Cycling Federation of Udmurtia. The event was held near the Neftemash stadium and was attended by 69 athletes of different categories.
The track was a circle 4 km long, full of slopes and ascents. Men in the Elite category had to overcome 7 laps, women in the same category - 6 laps. Junior boys and girls had to overcome 5 and 4 laps respectively.
The team-list of FORMAT-Udmurtia was the following: Yevgeny Pechenin, Anna Konovalova, Stanislav Antonov, Alexey Belokrylov and Vladislav Maksimov.
In the men Elite category the winner was Ivan Seledkov (Moscow) whose finishing time was 1:32:11. The second was Pechenin Yevgeny (Izhevsk, FORMAT-Udmurtia team). Ranking points earned by him steel helped in the fight for the right to participate in the Olympic Games in 2016 in Brazil. Maxim Gogolev (Samara) got the third place with the finishing time 1:32:43.
"I am very happy with the result, I distributed my forces in a right way throughout the race and the triumph was close, but the best man has won ..." - shared his impressions Yevgeny Pechenin, the rider of FORMAT-Udmurtia.
All the rest men of FORMAT-Udmurtia team got the 13th and the 27th places.
The race leader Ivan Seledkov: “There is always a deep field at the races, one never knows who will win. It happens that those who ride behind can win the race. I was waiting for the attack by Yevgeny Pechenin and Maxim Gogolev: who would be stronger ... But I went for extra mile. Perhaps, I was successful in this race thanks to numerous starts in Europe and practicing and training there. "
Among women the leader was Anna Konovalova (Izhevsk, FORMAT-Udmurtia team), who finished with a minute margin from Akhmadullina Guzel (Moscow). The third position among women took Gogoleva Elena (Samara).
Anna Konovalova about the race: I thought it would be a long struggle, as from the very start the race was rather difficult for me. But then I began feeling vigor, and as a result, it has been distributed properly throughout the race. At the ascent after the feed zone, I pulled ahead, leaving behind Guzel and that was my chance to lead with confidence to the end.
Among the juniors the results were the following: Skryabina Julia (Sverdlovsk Region) was the first with the time 1:17:16, Kadysheva Angela and Savelyeva Victoriya were the second and the third respectively. From the very start Sharabrina Anastasia was the leader of the race, but because of disappointing fall she got only the 8th line in the chart.
“My tactic was to start powerfully, to do my best at ascents and ride quietly in a straight line. I think this tactic worked. It is a pity, of course, that there were no any leaders from St. Petersburg, I would like to compete with them ... but, in general, the rivals were very strong, especially the girls from Chuvashia” - tells Skryabina Julia.
Among the junior boys the leader was Vladimir Yakimenko (Moscow) who finished just with a split second margin from Zakhar Levashov (Izhevsk). Ilya Goryachev rounded out the top three. (Tatarstan).
Vladimir Yakimenko, the leader among junior boys: “After the European Championship the track didn’t seemed to me technically complicated. But I want to note the rivals, the boys were up to standard! Generally, I like the race and if such a race will be held again I will take part in it with pleasure.”
At the award ceremony the right to congratulate the winners got the head of Format project Yuriy Nechayev, Minister of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of the Udmurt Republic Krasnov Igor Vasilyevich and his deputy Sergei Artamonov.
The international commissioner of the UCI (Greece), the President of the board of commissioners of «FORMAT X-RACE» Rigas Charalambous took a favourable view of the configuration of the route, the level of organization of the event and stressed the importance of holding such competitions in Russia.
For «Format» to be a sponsor of the race is an another reason to support cycling in Russia, to discover strong cyclists and improve the skill level of active athletes, as well as a step in the development and promotion of cross-country.
Detailed score-sheets of the race can be found here or on http://www.uci.ch/mountain-bike/results/
