With the DH finished I trundled (and very much a trundle, thanks to tired legs and a heavy bag) to the start of the XC races, where I hid under the footbridge in a desperate attempt to escape the baking sun and stay cool. The organisers had also been keeping an eye on the race conditions, and slashed the race times to counter the adverse conditions.

Unfortunately due to a tight schedule (and my own determination not to miss my flight home like last year), I only had time to snap a couple of pictures of the start of the race, but thanks to the magic of press releases I know that Christoph Sauser won the men’s race and Georgia Gould topped the women’s podium.

Gotta have a race face if you’re to be a contender…

You could almost be jealous, if it wasn’t for the knowledge that he’s about to slog his guts out for an hour in the heat.

Todd Wells isn’t waving to say hello, he’s merely pointing out to the giant wall of photographers that they’re standing directly in the path of over 150 riders. Christoph Sauser (#118, right) made up for yesterday’s flat in the Short Track by winning the race by over 4 minutes ahead 2nd place Sid Taberlay.

 

The women’s start was much more civilised. Georgia Gould (#201, centre right) snatched victory from Lene Byberg by a minute.