Caught flagging. Photo: John Houlihan/Witness

Following on from yesterday’s World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships report, we’ve just received word from British competitor John Houlihan (Stif/Santa Cruz) describing the team’s performance at the event.

Ten British riders travelled to the venue, close to Paris, to compete in the inaugural competition, with six men and four women making up the squad. They were up against 200 riders from 28 countries in three different events. Compared to events held in the UK, the Championships focused on a shorter, fast and furious format that saw winning times in the 90-minute league for the Sprint event.

Houlihan himself was the best placed British rider; the team Captain coming ninth in the Sprint event and 11th in the Classic event, while Steve Heading took 48th in the Sprint and 40th in the Classic. The Women fared equally well, with Janet Prior taking 24th in the Classic and Charlotte Somers-Cocks achieving 28th in the Sprint.

Houlihan was more than satisfied with the British performance; “I am very happy to have attained my personal goal of a top ten place, but I am also really pleased with the way the whole team performed. This was the first taste of international competition for most of them and we managed to produce some solid performances across the board and have learned a lot. I’m sure that some of the squad are already looking forward to the next World Champs in Australia in 2004 and to World Cup events in Europe next year.”

Unsurprisingly, the Scandinavians and Eastern Europeans proved strong competitors due to the popularity of orienteering in those areas, with the French and Australians also doing well.

For anyone interested in competing in an MTBO event, there is an established series of events in the North of England run by Steve Willis and the EBOR orienteering club. Other events take place across the UK, including the National Championships at Cannock Chase near Birmingham on July 28th.

For full results from the World Championships click here, and for more information about UK events visit Trailquest.co.uk.