Photo: Thomas Bonne Wuhuu, back to racing after a 8 month break from the World Cup Circuit . I’ve been racing in Albstadt three times before, since the city often is the host of one of the rounds of the German Bundesliga Series. The first time I was here was in 2009 and the race was very special to me, since it was the first time, that I ended up on the Podium in a Bundesliga Race. Back then, everything regarding international mountainbike racing was completely new to me, and I just absorbed every race and experience like a desert hungry for water. In the meantime I’ve become more experienced in many ways and have achieved far greater results, and so have become more aware of my capabilities. The biggest disadvantage is, that I know, what my level is, when I’m on topform and the biggest challence is to accept any result less than that. In the days leading up to this year’s first world cup, I had difficulties finding out, if I was nervous or excited. Actually I think, I constantly switched between those to feelings, being a pain in the a… to my surroundings. In this year’s race in Albstadt, I was wearing start number 30, and so tactic was pretty easy, just going forwards. When the gun went off, I did my best to get forward, which wasn’t easy, since finding free space to move ahead was difficult. Luckily the newdesigned course in Albstadt still is loyal to its steep climbs, where I was able to move forward. After the first hectical lap with a lot of crowding, I had moved up to 14th position. I still managed to see the front, since the field was strung out like pearls on a string. During the next few laps, I picked up positions, and moved into the top10. Unfortunately I started to make small mistakes, which bothered me and made me loose positions again. Going into the very last lap, rain started pouring and the course got extremely slippery. In a corner my frontwheel slipped out, and I flew into the bushes hurting my leg. I took a few seconds collecting myself and continuing my race. From here I more focused on getting safely to the finishline, and so I crossed in 14th position, only 3.30 min off the front. First I was dissapointed with my performance, but seen more clearly now, I did a solid job! This first WorldCup race was a great wake up call and an extremely motivation for the next world cup race in Nove Mesto (CZE) on sunday. Did you miss out on the action? Then catch the replay here: http://live.redbull.tv/events/213/uci-mtb-world-cup-2013-albstadt-crosscountry-women/ On Redbull.tv you’ll also be able to see the live streaming of the worldcup next sunday at 11.30
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