Joyful cheers mixed with clonking cowbells, roaring chainsaws and gears shifting - that's the sound of the Swedish nationals!
It's a special feeling when the championship weekend is around the corner. Borås CA invited us all to a festival as the Swedish championships in XCC and XCO were to be held in the rocky terrain of Kransmossen. Borås CA have arranged SWE-cup races for many years and the track is already known for its rocks and roots, for the nationals they somehow managed to find even more and even bigger ones!
Young and old have been preparing for weeks, months and maybe even years to win that goldmedal they've longed for. The mountainbike community of Sweden gathers and the atmosphere is fantastic!
Friday 21th of July
Time for XCC (shorts track). A number of laps will be completed on a shortened version of the XCO track and the racing time is estimated to be about 20 minutes. It is therefore full gas from the first pedal stroke and no time for mistakes.
First out are the veteran and youth classes and we can state that the future looks bright with all the stars out on the track, thank you for the show!
14:00 Time for men junior to line up, where among others we have Leo Lounela (Strängnäs CK) and Edvin Elofsson (Serneke Allebike CK) to start. Edvin who recently won the silver medal in European championships in XCC.
The start goes off and a there's a high speed from the very first pedal stroke. A fierce battle for the positions begins and first out on the gravel road is Leo, Edvin and Markus Karlsson (Alingsås Sportsclub)
A few minutes in Leo and Edvin have increased the speed further and a quartet has formed with a small gap down to the chasing riders. First time out of 6 up in the famous "Pulkabacken." Even if only half today - the other half awaits on Sunday.
After 22 minutes and 27 seconds of racing, Leo Lounela crossed the finish line as winner and the first goldmedal of the weekend is secured. Edvin Elofsson claims the silvermedal 12 seconds after.
Sunday, 23rd of July
11:30 and once again it's time for men junior to line up. To start we have the newly crowned Swedish champion in XCC, Leo Lounela and Edvin Elofsson, who've also proved some very good form during the season.
5 laps will be completed on the 3,8 km long track filled with roots, stones and climbs. A really hard track that offers very little chance to rest, you have to keep 100% focus for the entire race. A track which suits both Edvin and Leo very well.
The start goes off and the cyclists leave a cloud of dust behind them as they enter the start-loop. A few minutes into the race, they master the demanding hill for the first time out of 5 and the cyclists wind like a long snake up the steep slope.
One lap in and Leo and Edvin have managed to create a gap down to the chasing group of cyclists. It is two determined cyclists that we see for the first time by the challenging spectator section, two cyclists who will maintain the lead throughout the whole race.
They take turns trying to shake their opponent off, but no one succeeds and once they reach the hill for the very last time they are still gathered. The last kilometer of the lap offers a real show for the audience before Leo finally gets a couple of meters down to Edvin and crosses the finish line as winner - with a margin of only 4 seconds.
15:00 Time for men elite to line upp. 7 laps will be completed on the tough track. To start we have, among others, Oscar Lind, Emil Lindgren, Hugo Porath and Dennis Wahlqvist. The fight for the blue and yellow jersey begins immediately and the speed that is set up is hard to describe in text as the cyclists leave the arena in a cloud of dust.
As soon as the cyclists have left the arena and set out on the start-loop, a parade of people moves towards the steep hill to watch the cyclists sprint up for the first time out of 7. With enough power to light up Sweden for six months, the cyclists press their pedals and push themselves up the hill at a pace hard to understand when you see how steep it is.
Once up, the turn directly back down, past the technical zone and up the next slope - the root section.
One lap in, we see the cyclists for the first time through the technical spectator area, where the track winds in different loops which gives us a good overview of the race. A front quartet has been formed consisting of Oscar Lind, André Eriksson, Jakom Söderqvist and Axel Lindh. Closely chasing behind is Emil Lindgren, among others, in fifth place.
Lindgren gets a puncture which need to be fixed in tech-zone, the rest of the race is about chasing but the battle for top placements is gone. Lind though, who started his season with an injury in the back of his thigh, makes a big impression in the front group together with the other three cyclists.
With two laps left, André Eriksson from Varberg puts in another gear and succeeds to split the group. Oscar tells afterwards how he "yo-yoed" for a while but eventually ended up solo and set his sights on defending the bronze.
André crosses the finish line first of all, closely followed by Jakob Söderqvist and Oscar Lind in second respectively third place. A tired and satisfied Oscar hugs his opponents before happily smiling at the camera. After a though spring and early summer, it feels like a victory to be able to race injury-free, to also pinch a bronze medal didn't make the day any worse!
"My goal was to race hard and smart. I had no idea if that would be enough for a victory or a top ten, but the hopes for a top five were there. It feels really good considering the year I've had so far. After weeks of rehab, this is a great step towards where I want to be!"
For Oscar, the focus will now be on preparing for the World Cup in Andorra later this summer. Before that he will ride Cykelvasan as an intermediate goal. Leo and Edvin will recharge before the world championships in Glasgow starting on the third of August.
