Live-Stream | HERO Abu Dhabi Hudayriyat Island XCO

The inaugural edition of HERO Abu Dhabi takes place on the Hudayriyat Island. The destination is situated south of the main Abu Dhabi island and is accessible via Al Bateen.

Hudayriyat Island is home to a wide range of world-class cycling facilities and infrastructure that cater to athletes of all levels.

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And the xtrail circuit this is a completely man-made created circuit uh for road bikes and of course for mountain bikes and we are hosting the very first hero Abu Dhabi here at hudat Island today with some of the world’s greatest mountain bikers at Cross Country this is also an a

Qualifying event for the Olympics 5.4 kilom is the circuit to 70 M of climbing six laps for the women whose race is coming up very shortly that’s a very sunny picture out there at hudat island but uh it the story today is it has been raining I’m David reev you’ll be joining

Me and uh Marco Fontana in the Box Marco Fontana will now give you a short preview of the course and welcome to Abu Dhabi here is the course we see in yellow the short track which we had on Friday and the EXO road is on red as you can see it’s 70 m

So it looks quite easy but I tell you what it’s not it’s a fast rolling course lots of up and downs and corners and some technical stuff of course it’s part of this 15K Loop they created for mountain bikers to ride here in this little island but uh they build up a

Course for a proper cross country mountain bike race so we’re going to see some proper action very soon David yeah the story today is of course that they did predict rain and we were hoping that perhaps it might not happen but it might make for an even more interesting race

It has been bucketing down with rain all morning but this of course is a course pretty much all made out of sand uh Marco it’s a completely different way of riding in fact often as you see the skyline of Abu Dhabi in the background it it’s sometimes it’s it’s actually

Quicker it’s easier to ride on this sort of stuff when it’s got some rain on it because you get some grip except for the odd sections yeah absolutely as you as you said it is uh grippier in in in sections but uh in some part it might be

Like less grippy so the challenge for the Riders is to understand where to push and where not obviously uh end the of the loop here here we can we can see the start and finish it’s a bit sketchy it’s a bit dangerous but uh all in all is pretty grippy and the Riders

Practiced the course early on and they say it’s quite good at the moment but they have to pay attention yeah of course there’s a couple sections in where you grab an alternative route now there are some logs out on the course where just for safety reasons cuz of

Course logs got no grip whatsoever they put a little route that can go around the outside if they uh they wish to but in general it’s going to be pretty fast the problem here will be at the back of the groups not so much in the women’s as

Um not so many riders uh in the start lineup but with the men’s which is a bigger race it might be a bit difficult if you’re stuck at the back it’s all about starting isn’t it Marco in any it was the same when I was racing 30 years

Ago it’s the same now fast start that’s what what do you need yeah start is really important and then of course depend on the course you know when you have like a kind of Alpine ski resorts you know like Le or some of these World Cup races we’ve seen in the past and

World Champs where you have a wide steep long climb you have the chance to overtake but when you have fast rolling course like this one and it’s a bit tight then it’s going to be tough some of the leading Riders being introduced at the moment this is ingr

Yakobson the Norwegian Rider she’s uh current national champion yeah this is the first uh first row as we used to uh we used to have in the World Cups as well so uh they call they call the the top the top guys she’s uh Sophie pedon the the den Ryder from V Victoria

Team yeah wrong graphic coming up there that is pedon so top eight they can Peak the L line and uh and uh and so they can choose where to start you know so uh obviously the the first in the ranking is the the first one to choose uh the

The Gate of the start and here we see Rebecca Henderson yeah this is Rebecca Henderson she’s the current Oceanic Champion also the national champion of Australia we were talking about um this being an Olympic qualifying event uh you’re qualifying for your nation rather than individually defly here and it

Could be pretty tight for some of the smaller nations in this early part of the season so this could be an important race here’s the lineup Martina ber of Italy really want to watch and also Rebecca Henderson was very quick in the xcc uh griding race yeah it was amazing

The overtake she did over the last two or three corners in on Martina Berta was a really tight racing was really nice to watch uh women and and the boys to compete for uh for this big price money and uh let’s see if we’re going to see something similar over the finish line

And the last lab here eh yeah it be interesting because that last Corner as you say is could be pretty slippy especially when they start carrying sand onto it after lap one or two there’s uh five laps for the girls I think I guess six six left for the girls possibly

Seven for the for the boys it depends on how the race goes you can pull people out at the back of the race the 80% rule will pull people out if they’re going too slow I didn’t expect that to happen but uh you never know

30 sack to the to the start so what do you expect to see starting off the line here Marco who has the really fast start who’s going to get into those Corners first absolutely I say Rebecca or Martina are the favorite for this start but uh they’re going to play a little

Bit cat a mouse at the beginning of the race I believe there’s a lot of uh tense faces there they’ve been practicing this over the last week or so in completely in the dry they will have been out just to have a look at it today the way they go very

Fast down by Berta and she takes it into the first Corner couple of riders at the back being a little bit more tentative that’s the camera bike at the back by the way with with the pack on that’s not a a racing machine we used to

See also starloop in some of the World Cup races here we have uh six full full laps so depends on on the track and how they uh they think is going to work out the layout of the track here is pretty fast and you can have some overtake so

Uh this is going to be the first one of six laps Martina Berta and Sarah covis in second and third position we’ll see if the Santa Cruz girls will play a bit of a game uh team team tactics yeah Zoe C has taken the early lead here uh the

New Zealander pulling away just a little bit maybe a bik length or two being a bit tentative around the top H and really not sure what the conditions are going to be like you can see how much water is actually standing on some of this sand this hard packed

Sand that is C where is second yeah we used to um we used to see Riders from uh New Zealand and Australia pretty strong at the beginning of the Season as we all know the weather uh down there is pretty pretty good at the moment over winter where in Europe

Obviously uh it’s a bit more raining and cold so uh you know I was expecting some the New Zealand or ‘s up in the front and uh there we go it’s a quick replay of the start tell you also has got a very good start on the left of Berta

There you can say left left of here guu of Greece this is important race for Greece uh they could do with the points that’s for sure um and she’s doing well I think she’s lying in fourth at the moment if we go when we go back to our live feed on she’s under

23 Yeah you mentioned you mentioned before the the Olympic points which is a a key um a key part of this uh this season because of course we have Olympics in uh in Paris and um for those who who don’t know really uh the as you

Said the the Nations has to qualify for uh the Olympics so every nation has uh uh three the top three Riders can make points collect points over the last two years all the way till May this year and uh and then it’s uh it’s up to Every

Nation to pick to choose the riders that will go to the Olympics and we’re going to see how it plays also in the lead mans with Peter Sagan and we have a lot of of of things to say so keep in touch for all these things because they’re all

Important and they play the game for results and results but if we got now to three or four riders or three riders in the back it’s nugl of Slovenia um also at the back that’s nage just uh being a little bit tentative the Hungarian Rider in there as well and

Elizabeth brandal the German so already quite a gap to those final three and they don’t look comfortable at all yeah first first part of the course the first k k and a half it is uh uh quite easy let’s say a bit you know rolling and

Flowy and then it comes into the hero challenge which is the most technical part of the course and we’re going to see some action going on yesterday with amateurs we’ve seen some some big crashes over there nothing serious obviously but you know part of the game well here’s one of the sections where

They might have to be a little bit careful there we go they kind of get Stu one r on the fit oh dear got to get back on but you lose so much time on a course like this is such a f course and away let’s go that’s uh pazar the Iranian

Rider making a way up through the field a number of Rocky sections put in here I suppose these these are the most difficult bit um I would imagine in these conditions marker would you what would you be looking out for uh running around here today thinking well the

Conditions have really Chang you’ve got some wood out there you’ve got some rock out there what’s the the danger points around here uh well as you can see you know you see some of the sections are kind of um well W for sure but kind of

Slippy you you really can see now one Rider gets out of the course I remember you that you have to get back where you kind of get out for you know for for UCI rules uh uh but obviously especially on rocks and and logs the the key point is

To go straight it looks uh funny but it’s the truth you know you don’t have to kind of corner into or onto this logs or rocks so you have to let it roll kind of get the speed before enter the rocks or the you know the locks or the

Technical section and then let it go you know you don’t have to hold on the brakes or do uh crazy stuff on the bike and just let it go it goes H she goes she goes head of Martin Berta and then Henderson and pson just behind that Rizo

Was the rider who uh was having to walk up the Rocks it’s very very narrow as well uh this section and once you’re into here that’s it really passing is almost impossible here through the rocks it is impossible it’s completely what they’ call what in old school terms

Single track there there’s there’s no way around anybody there yeah I have to say you know on a course like that which is super fast and rolling it’s uh it’s a good thing to have technical sections pretty tight and single track because you know sometimes you can you come with

Speed on this wide uh open technical section and it might be you know it can be dangerous so uh I think it’s it’s a good choice for this first uh uh first race of this new era let’s say so well mountain biking has changed over the years if you’re new to mountain biking

And you’re seeing this for the first time this is the way mountain biking is going it’s very very much the Olympic sort of course it’s short it’s flowing it’s compact it’s within an area where you can see lots of Spectators there is a village at the star Finish Line where

Spectators are enjoying themselves were certainly were enjoying themselves this morning and yesterday during practice in the amateur races we had huge amount of amateurs coming out especially children we had like 200 other kids in different yeah huge amount this could be a little bit difficult here we go she’s riding

Really really good I tell you what Technically she’s doing some uh you know good good lines and having a bit of a gap on Martina Berta which is one of the best technical races in the business so zo is doing really really good and let’s see this is the steepest part of the

Course pretty uh obviously steep climbing part and then we got into this Sandy um small descent which is technical in a way yeah this is um a very very hard compact area this is the hero challenge in fact the fastest Rider uh up this section of any Rider at the

Weekend be it amateur or professional gets ,000 pocketed which is always nice talking of money this is possibly Marco the richest ever cross country race I’ve ever seen certainly other people are saying this is incred €2,000 top prize for men and women oh yeah that’s quite big and kind of

Reminds me uh one of these uh you know different events really that we we have on on Red Bull TV like Red Bull Rampage crank perks you know sraak all these races that I used to commentate on Red Bull TV and uh and yeah normally you don’t see that on cross country races

But actually on UCI uh you know World Cup World Championships look at Zoe I mean she is riding absolutely comfortable and smooth you know Martina is struggling to follow that is unbelievable to me to watch because Martina is one of the best world cup wrers in the world let’s see the

Ranking says number number four in the in you know in the world ranking which is super super high you know so zo is riding great Zoe cuet ranked 53rd in the world at the moment 660 points to her name in the overall rankings uh Martina Berto who talking about ranked fourth she’s got

1941 points in in total but she’s she’s really struggling to stay up in fact when there’s the fast climbs she’s catching the back wheel of C then then the New Zealand is riding away but these two look like they’re making a little bit of a break yeah I’m I’m wondering why Rebecca

Henderson is not with those girls because we see her really uh really fast during uh short treack and we know I mean she won World Cups before so she knows how to win big races but she’s struggling to follow huh she is and we caught up with her yes yesterday just

Before the race yeah down the rock feels a little bit unpredictable but um it’s super nice to have the first race done and get a few of those rhythms back in place and um yeah I’m really looking forward to do a cross country race on Sunday uh it’s

Really hard to know the strategy um you know I think it we have to feel the race it’s the most unique cross country race I’ve ever done but yeah I mean I’m so Lu one of my advantages of being from Australia is that I have summer all

Season long and I have really good training conditions and I can stay home and calm and have a big break from the racing scene um so it’s really nice to be back and I feel fresh and mentally um excited about racing again thatp one of six for these Riders we’re coming

Through to finish the first lap there is the Greek Rider we were talking about earlier she had a very very fast start she slipped back a little a little bit as cord’s put the hammer down at the front Martin Mara looking a little more comfortable I think now she’s on the

Wheel of Zoe and I think the Gap is closing a little bit from behind as well well there’s Henderson got herself back in pedison as well thinking a bit we have the last kilometer of the course 10:46 the time at the moment so we’re going to be looking for like a 12

Minutes is uh uh lap time for lap number one they’re closing a bit so either zo slow down a little bit cuz she couldn’t do a big big gap on on uh on Martina or you know the group from uh uh Henderson came back strong I mean we I

Think it’s probably a bit of both actually isn’t it I mean Zoe was obviously very comfortable first of all but uh and she put the The Frighteners on Martina B in I think but she’s managed to to closed the Gap a little bit as has Henderson Noel buy was also in that

Chasing group who closed the Gap a little bit Pon the Dane Henderson as as I told you before won a few World Cups uh over the last years and she’s one of the best cross country racers in the business she was in the leading of the

World Cup for quite some races and then she didn’t win the overall but you know one of the best in the business always being really really uh comfortable in technical conditions so I expect to see her a bit you know uh faster than then lap one hopefully competing with uh New

Zealand and Italy for for the win at the moment well it might have been a fast start for a Galu the the Greek but that is the camera bike behind her now yeah and just Ahad of her is the Norwegian Rider I think yakobson yeah because Pon is up up in the front

From Willer tritina together with J specia two of the the fast girls uh especially in the Italian races but they’re doing really well also uh in the World Cup I mean I know um Pon competed in the U23 category last year and she was really really strong here is as well

Cortinovis another Italian girl Italians are doing pretty well in the in the World Cup especially in the girls but we’re going to see the Italian Championship as well in the boys LCA bot another teammate of martinaa they coming to the Finish Line there they are this is the most uh possibly the most

Difficult Point well they’ve been putting sand onto that track now for the next lap Zoe cut still got a little bit of a lead oh my she’s pushing H she’s pushing every little bit it’s nice to see spea really trying to close the gap on everybody the Italians are brought

Quite a apart from uh uh Martina buron is’s we say she’s older she’s 26 years of age ESP and coton nois the you know under 23 cycle cross Champions they’re very much of the next Generations it’s good to see them up there yeah they’re they’re pretty good they’re not you know

The fastest Riders on this kind of course you know Martina is way more Punchy and and fast in this kind of condition uh as we also saw in the in the short track where you know cortinovis and uh and Jada space as you can see they are thin they are light

They they they like more the course like you know properly climbing Classic mountain bike course but as you said before and this is was this I think was really important this is how you know mountain biking is going as well you know we’re not losing the classic races

Back in the days but we’ve uh uh We’ve hading some of this you know a very fast and and nice technical course so I think every Rider even if you know more of a climber needs to improve their skills you know their speed how to you know

Technical and tactical to to compete and race in these kind of conditions if you’re coming to this as uh as an old school mountain biker like I am I’m nearly 60 now and I started riding in about 1984 I think in mountain bikes 85 was my first purchase um we’re

Always told in the day that these sort of short fast courses that these are the real elements of a cyc cross Rider is that still the case you know cyc cross Rider except selling in these sort of short fast flowing courses absolutely but for a few reasons uh one of course

You know there’s not much climbing involved so obviously most of the cyclocross races other than you know namur and some of these you know old school cyclocross races in in Belgium uh they are fast and then because of this all you know uh continue acceleration moments you know and points so Corner

Acceleration wave acceleration jumps acceleration and this is where you know cycle cross e is really uh strong and and and can push for you know for one hour flat out all the time so um of course we saw uh more and more cycle cross riders coming into uh mountain

Bike especially cross country and I’m happy to see that because I always I always did in the past and uh and yeah the the only problem I see you know with both discipline right now is that we have more and more races to you know in

The calendar so it’s not easy you know either you are mat you vpol your vanet or some of the top the names in in the girls where the calendar is really big and it’s not easy to uh you know to follow the whole calendar without you

Know kind of going blow out uh before you know end of season yep and now we throw gravel in the mix as well it’s and something else to talk about but that’s another story for another day nice little group has got themselves away here zo C but still needing oh no that

Looks like Patterson has now the the Dane has now taken over the first place they’ve got themselves in the little group I was was wondering whether Zoe CU was going to sort of suffer a little bit because now the group had got behind it they were just happy to sit and watch

Continue to face Maybe Pon the Dame has decided Well I just need to keep this flowing I need to keep it going it wouldn’t be that long before the Riders behind start to close the gap in fact there’s two riders coming across now spak is the riding probably Thea

Right it’s funny to see you know and there’s um places where you know the group is a bit split and there’s a little bit of a gap and then it comes into a technical section especially on this fast course and then everyone from the back comes back you know because you

Have a Breaking Point and everyone kind of kind of have to has to break and then you come back you know into the group and again pulls like we see from the the Danish Rider you were likening it yesterday and I I completely agree to uh

Almost like a Criterion race it’s uh if you you want a road analogy it’s almost like a criterium race and you’ve got all these areas where you can flow through it but then suddenly you get a haing Bend or a technical section where you’re on the anchors and everybody closes up

And there’s a chance for those people to close behind but of course first person out of the section gets the jump they can pull away and you have to try and stay on that wheel there pedison the Dane now dictating the pace ahead of Zoe cber of New Zealand the early Pac maker

Behind there is uh Martina verta which always kind of struggle when uh when they pulls a bit the trigger like normally Martina is a bit more like fresh and on point all the time here we see Martina in the in the climbing bits coming back but in kind of rolling

Flowing tactical is losing a little bit from those two uh Young Guns well she’s just going to have to sort of buy her time I think and um maybe that’s what she’s doing she’s not sort of pushing herself out there a little bit too much

But there’s a gap of what about 10 12 bike lengths back from rear wheel to Martina Bera and then there’s a whole gaggle of riders behind Bera is pedison the Dane here she’s the uh current European cross country Champion just pulling away Noel bur is the rider behind Martina

Berta looking comfortable we’re getting into the technical section of uh hero Challenge and into this steep climb ahead after after this we have a little bit of a you know kind of few jumps logs and stuff and then there we go they skip the first one going to the

Ride and then they hit this one as you said before it’s a bit slippy and you see they they closed the the next jump on on the left cuz it was a bit of a you know in a corner bit of a gap now back to Henderson she’s lost a little bit of

Ground as Pon pushes on ahead there’s a nice slowmo shot of the Dane all these sort of rolling these rollers here are quite interesting you just got to let the bike flow underneath you I don’t think anything’s changed over the years in that just let the bike

Do a lot of the work for you of course they they’re all riding on suspension uh these days front and rear the limited amount of travel but uh even so this is the challenge section the fastest Rider up here of any class amateur professional gets a ,000 in their pocket

Who said that’s even less not yeah former Italian Champion former World Cup winner former you know uh medalist at the European and worlds she was one of the fastest Riders uh in uh in the past era in Italy still competing still fast she’s 39 years of age now EV Le

That’s fantastic really just goes to show cycling keeps you f yeah I tell you what one of the interesting points you know that you mentioned before was about you know uh bikes suspensions and you know full suspension uh front and rear and drop aate post and you wouldn’t

Imagine that they’re good into this races you know where you know it’s uh fast and rolling but I tell you what it’s actually sometimes the opposite when you have this fast rolling course you can let the bike roll the bike is smooth you know and you don’t you don’t

Waste energy so sometimes you know you’re going to see old school races you know where you have a long long climb on the grass and a technical descent and they compete on a hard because it’s light and you know you don’t have to carry speed you climb or you descend

We’re here you know obviously this is a very fast course and it’s the beginning of the season and we’re going to see some uh some guys uh some guys especially in the boys racing the hard tail some but you know you wouldn’t expect that but it’s a really useful

Bike in this condition a full suspension bike that’s interesting EV just going through the uh the Gap 39 years of age now I think she’s actually on a hard tail by the look of it I saw it earlier possibly yeah um maybe that’s because she’s come from an

Area where hard tails what she do most of all but we don’t tell her it doesn’t sound right for girl you never say that to a woman you never say that to a lady group of five now up ahead Lea still trying to fight to get on to

Those Henderson a bit struggling and I I think so Henderson was trying real hard through some of those techn seconds to get back and she looks like she’s got back onto this group of five she needed to do so spea just behind her and poor oliv I think’s been tailed off again

She’s um she might fight her way back there she is in the back of our picture Y and there she is on our shot Zoe cuffer taking over the front of this group again doing a little bit of the pacemaking it’s just as valid here as it is for any other cycling

Discipline just a yeah the short track at the first race here at the hero Abu Dhabi uh I was a little bit unlucky because I there was a crash immediately after the start after 10 met and then I was uh already uh back of the group and

Uh it was difficult to chase because it was a really fast course this winter I did uh a lot of cycl course races so yeah I had some good season where I had some fun and uh could enjoy the races and yeah now I’m looking forward to the

Mountain like season first of all I want to I want to be okay in the start to not crash and uh then I would just try to do my best uh trying to stay in front as possible to have fun on the course and uh trying to do my best back to the

Live While okay let back with live nice to hear EV after all these years still as enthusiastic as she ever was that’s got a bit rotted yeah it’s one of these climbs where you know the dirt is a bit you know the sand is a bit more uh soft and

There was a r as well in practice I was practicing the course uh the days uh before the race was actually nice to ride and you know have a chat with some of the Riders and and see how much it rolls and how tough it is you know cuz

As I said 70 M of altitude from uh uh old school Riders perspective it might sounds like ah easy but I tell you what it’s not at all the pace is super high you have to keep pushing keep playing as we see now with these little bits and

Pieces technicals um you really have to play with your body and it really um takes commitment in term of energy uh to to to keep rolling fast you know cuz obviously you can roll it easy and this is one of the you know uh one of the

Things they wanted to build you know kind of an easy or uh a nice cross country trail 15ks long for everyone that wants to play sport play Mountain bike here in Abu Dhabi but uh as a racing you know racing speed then it’s then it’s tough yes this is a purpose

Built track is 15 km in total this XT Trail track this particular uh race track for the weekend 5.4 kilometers intersects that and some of it’s Unique to this weekend they’re really trying hard to make this an international destination they want the World Championships here in a few years time

They are going for UCI bike City status in Abu Dhabi they’re even building a velodrome with get wait for this a Vel Drome inside and a track on the roof which is ABS absolutely fantastic wouldn’t be much good today because the story of this morning when we got up was it has been

Raining uh and it just has changed the dynamic a little bit the sound itself is pretty hard packed you can see I mean you can see from the the tires there’s no clogging up it’s not like an old school muddy mountain bike race where you I remember the races back in the day

You us to get off and take it you know pull it out of your tires cuz it’s just so so much but you were talking about the the fast flowing nature of this this is essentially a sort of Sprint race um compared to those people are used to recreational mountain biking in big

Hills or big mountains I I guess the difference there is for those people who race those sort of things as they comeing to finish lap two with Zoe cuet going over the line first good little group have got together here now they were five they’re now coming back to

About six or seven the pace is fluctuating a little bit Henderson’s come back Spa’s come back uh that’s Anna Santos the Portuguese Rider she’s tacking onto the back of that group as they enter lap three as well I’m just about to say and there’s Lea the um the

Difference being that you know you a big mountain marathon Race For example or old school racing you can get into your pace you can sort of sit there you think right you know I don’t want to lose too much time on this climb but you can find

A pace and you can keep going at it um because they’re long they’re pretty much steady but here it’s on off on off the gas all the time time yeah you actually as you said on a long long climb you cannot really overp you right like if

You have that speed you hold that speed you can go a little bit faster but not much just for a tiny bit where here you can go way over your limit as we see you know L trying to get back you know and once she going to she going to be back

She’s going to struggle big time because yes in some places she can you know hold the wheel but sometimes she’s going to be pulled out you know from from a corner and then she’s going to struggle so this is why some of these races are actually harder than an old school

Mountain bike course and um we didn’t mention before but for those who are not familiar on on mountain biking uh they just passed before the Finish Line the feed Zone feed and TCH Zone uh we have two of uh Fe two feed zones in U in this

Race feed and attack means that the Riders as you could see they can pass by take a a gel or a bottle you know of water or uh you know some some some gels and stuff and uh um and then if they have any issues like you know tires or

Chain or settle or whatever they can fix it in the fit Zone because as um as you might know they cannot change the uh the bike they can change Wheels they can change handle boys but they cannot change bikes that’s one of the great things that’s remained through the whole

Of the mounted bike racing era ever since mounted bikes came about is that although they’ve added Tech zones now in these shorter races much like cyc across Tech um you still are very much on your own and if you’re doing marathons which are you know much bigger or in Duro then you

You carrying your stuff with you you’re fixing your own bike really that’s it has to be that way and I like that bit of self-reliance that you have to have this is a different animal though this is a a great course actually I mean for somebody like me who unconverted I have

To say Marco because you know I’m an old school big Hills fire roads gravel big mountains type mountain biker but this is this is fantastic stuff and it reminds me so much as you say of that sort of road race Criterium uh job as Eva Lea is inching her way up onto this

Group but as you say there’s no way that you can sit in you can’t sit it’s not like the road you can’t get into this group and sit there and take a a breather take a rest you just going to keep going yeah and uh well Eva is back

In the pack also because is um now Jas pcha pulling uh the the trigger up in the group and and she’s not as I said before she’s not you know a rider that love this kind of races and and that’s why the pace now slowed down I’m super

Stucked to see so many riders up in the front and I think uh let’s say from now in in one lap we’re going to see a big attack because now the pace is slowing down a lot with jabas pcha up in the front uh everyone is controlling and

Seeing you know how much they spent already in these three laps and uh you know Martina didn’t do any attack uh Anderson is back in the pack now bit with a bit little bit of mistake from lner as you said she’s on a hard Hil from drinks Factory team I saw her

Teammate on a full suspension bike but she can come back because a punto because Jada is not pushing that strong but we’ll see we’ll see I see you know Pon and probably Zoe trying to make an attack look at that evor takes all that time to get back to the group and then

Uh makes a mistake changing the gear as she goes into the rocky section she’s lost thir 30 bike lengths or more she’s got to do all that work again to get back at the moment spea is still on the front which is okay for Lea she can make

The close that Gap but you know what that’s such a we’ve all done it haven’t we in a race you get you close the gap and suddenly you make a mistake and you can do all the work again yeah I laugh because you know when it happens you

Like you say to yourself damn I mean I I push myself all the way to get back and again but as as I said before happens a lot of time especially when you have these little uh technical Rocky sections you know because especially when you are

Position 8 nine or 10 well then it’s you know you lose time it’s you know like a physical you know cuz if if you get like position one or two everything run smooth but if you’re on eight six seven whatever then you lose time you know and

This is what happens but at the same time once they slow down or there’s a b breaking point then you can come back so you have to play SM you know cuz you have to understand that this is going to happen you’re going to lose time once

You get back uh on this technical section but if you think that you know soon you’re going to have another breaking point and you can get back well this is what you have to do and then if you play smart once you are at the Finish Line you have to attack to gain

Some position to get back into position three four maximum because this is where you have to say and this is what Bera is doing because beta is playing really smart at the moment yeah I think so I think she’s just waiting likewise pedison we saw her earlier I think she

Um she’s got a lot of strength in there that we haven’t seen yet Zoe cuthbert’s Keen to stay close or near the front she’s lying second at the moment in this little group then ps’s just behind but we saw ped’s quite happy riding away from Zoe cuot on the end or the

Beginning of lap two Henderson I think is struggling a little bit uh We’ve not seen much of Buri the Swiss Rider she’s lying one 2 3 4 5 six at the moment in the red jersey there uh and we’ll just have to see whether she’s got anything in the

Legs there’s even a little gap between back to Henderson as you can see maybe four five bike length so possibly still not very comfortable the Australian Leo is now closed that Gap this is super technical that’s why she can close the gap they’re going around the outside of

The the planks and logs there Zoe C tried it first lap round showing how skillful she was but decided that the separate section is now they’re going to attack on this challenge climb Mara Berta seem to be going up the outside of pison really digging in hard this is

Steep I tell you what and this is tough I mean it’s short but it is steep and tough and you have to get you know as much speed as you can out of this left hand bur to you know to at least play a bit you know for for some meters Martina

Over took Pon yep third place pass to D testing the legs I think on that section I’m not sure it’s not a little bit too far out from the Finish to launch an attack on the last lap but uh I depends how strong people are feeling I think

It’s a good place to launch an attack that’s always the way if you’ve got the if you’ve got the strength and watch the others I don’t know about you I I used to be terrible I used to get to a CL I used to get to a climb now for a big guy

I wasn’t too bad a climber but I used to sit behind my rivals and puff and pant and change gears unnecessarily and everybody used to think oh he’s struggling he’s he’s struggling he’s struggling and then you put it in a bigger gear and way you go if you can

Get them at the top so um little bit of a gap now beginning to open up that’s Corton noes I think who’s uh in that chasing group oh one two three four Riders at the front yeah spit shat and again then there struggling huh yeah absolutely

Yeah I did she’s just not on not on the pace I maybe she’s waiting but I don’t think so I wouldn’t want to see that Gap growing all the time here’s Elizabeth brandow from Germany she’s been strong over over the last you know years especially you know

Five six eight years ago now she’s still competing still enjoying still traveling the world she’s 38 years of age now brand so one of the uh the older riders in the in the group uh she was riding around with in ingred yakobson the Norwegian who’s the current Norwegian

National Champion but the two of them riding around together a long way back from this leading group though Henderson seems to closed the Gap again on Buri so spiter first then zo C of New Zealand Martin Berta Berta of Italy then Pon of Denmark followed by bur of Switzerland henders of

Australia fantastic to see many many nations been from different nations different brands I like it yeah it’s really good we’ we’ve seen a couple of shots of faraka the Iranian Rider as well we have Greece we have uh constantina Georgio the under 23 Rider from Cyprus Norway Germany uh Portugal and they’re all

Together it looked like uh a race that’s not not like anything I’ve done before it’s uh it’s early in the season and it’s uh different that’s for sure we’re not used to riding in in in sand and and and a kind of different uh buildup of

The track but it looks uh it looks fast and it looks fun my winter training so far has been cold it’s been very cold and snowy in Norway so uh is not the best conditions to ride outside in Norway at the moment and that’s also one of the reasons why we’re here right

Now O Race strategy that’s a that’s a good question try to to play to ride smart and keep uh keep some some energy up for the final laps and then we’ll see how it goes all right there she is yson it’s getting pretty rainy out there

Now yeah just saw a quick glimpse of yobs in the middle of her interview uh the rain is really coming down hard now uh interestingly they seeed the clouds here uh which means that they if you’ve never heard the term they essentially drop um little sort of chemical Leaf

Into the the cloud base and that uh leads to the forming of rainclouds and that’s how they keep the rainfall up here but uh I was talking to somebody the other day who saying that if it rains here it either rains just a little bit or it really starts to hammer down

And uh we have the latter now it’s beginning to rain really quite hard now is this going to change things at all um no not for the not for the girls race let’s see for the boys if it gets more sleepy in places it could be potentially I was just mentioning before the

Interview that you know first first part of the course is the one you know that looks uh kind of easy then you get into this hero challenge where the gaps are uh are made and then you know when you come to the Finish again the group is back together so actually I’m thinking

About how this could play you know in the next in the next laps because we are halfway uh three to go now and they pass the the finish line and so you know if I want to to pull an attack where should I where should I do it or shall I wait the

The Finish Line because I’m thinking about what Martina Berta could think now you know half of the race she’s probably the fastest in the in the business here in the group so he could potentially wait the the last lap but the group is a bit you know big now so you really need

To uh understand where is good to you know to to play your cards even though I think there’s nobody really way faster than than anybody else so I think the CP is now uh back together because uh everyone has some you know some some potentially some

Speed but not enough to you know to uh escape the group and play a solo race maybe you know the wind plays around we didn’t we didn’t speak yet about the wind but the wind is there obviously and you know maybe being up in the front and

And do a solar race and there we go an attack from from Zoe New Zealand Co over the line but look at this Henderson the Australian in second place that is the highest we’ve seen her in the entire race going into uh La four o attack on the attack because I saw the

Uh I think I think I saw Henderson on the outside of Zo and took the lead to get another extra punch because I saw martinaa passing the finish line and getting some gels changing uh glasses because probably the suns were a bit you know uh dirty and uh and we see we see

What happens now because I think it was a proper attack this leading group with Henderson looking a little bit more confident looking a little bit more comfortable and maybe I was a bit mistaken she looked like she was uh losing gaps earlier in or making gaps earlier in the

Race is Luchia bratti DRS Factory racing his dad Luca bramati you might you know know him he was a former uh you know um cross country Italian champion on bronze medalist and he competed at the first Olympics back in uh uh Atlanta 1996 where bar Brenin won you know and

He was I think eight I think it was eight big Bart Brenin I remember big Bart former cycle cross Champion as well yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah which did you prefer R round bike or Cy cross really different you know in term of you know fatigue they’re similar but

Mountain biking is more fun when you have a good good trail but cycl cross I used to say it’s a bit of an nart you know like cyclocross is like thin tires really low pressure into the sand and the mud and you have to kind of flow with

This weird bicycle in a way but it’s it’s really really when you when you get it right it’s magic a Cy like in the mud or in the sand is Magic I tell you what different but magic look at this this is a concerted attack by Henderson of

Australia Rebecca Henderson who was very good yesterday and I was we were surprised to see her just being tailed off a little bit me just obviously just biing her time because she’s taken the lead and she’s put the hammer down and some other big name Riders like Martina

Berto at the back of this group now thinking what’s what’s hit me I don’t know I think as I said at the Finish Line she was taking a bottle and a gel and change glasses and I think she lost some some time exactly where Zo uh pull the trigger for the attack and

So uh and so yeah this is what what happened well she’s still leading Zoe cuthber of New Zealand big Rider cuet tall Powerful that’s a good attack by Henderson we’re looking back at covis Henderson leading a group of 1 2 3 four five six Riders onto this uh more technical section seem to got a little bit more comfortable again now these six Riders it’s always been the same six though uh

Apart from Henderson he’s been tailed off a little bit earlier on but um struggling a bit some tired legs coming in here now some very tired legs into the technical uh Rocky section not the best position for Martina no and she doesn’t look comfortable either to me she looked a

Little bit uncomfortable going over there maybe she got to the Rocks a bit faster than the rider in front of her that is covis just being tailed off a little bit under 23 cyclocross champion from Italy looking good and smooth I have to say you know first first part of the of

The track you can pull the trigger but if you stay in the back wheel well you can save some energy I think the attack you have to pull it from here on you know cuz this is the hero Challenge and we didn’t mention but I mean hero

Started uh you know all this uh all the business in in the dolomites with the hero dolomites this Marathon which is uh worldwide famous 4 and a half th000 M of climbing for you know a lot of uh KS up in the mountains one of the toughest uh

Challenge and mountain bike race you can do and uh and then you know they kind of uh get bigger having a race as well in Switzerland and in and in Germany and now they uh they created the first ever you know hero Abu Dhabi uh cross country race and it’s it’s good

I think it’s it’s a very good um way of developing a brand and that’s why you guys see uh hero as big as you know as we see it in in the Finish Line yeah they’ve become a World Series as we watch kovis I think she’s she’s going to have

To dig in think uh she can pull that lead back I that Gap back I’m not so sure yeah hero have done a great job in providing a sort of World Series and they’ve been up against the odds so much we had uh Co and of course the pandemic

Made the made sure that the first World Series was really cancelled there’s no other way of doing it and then we had uh a big economic recession and that stopped the second iteration of the World Series and now as you say Mar they’ve got three races on in on the

European continent in Switzerland or they they’re sort of sister races really they have they have their own organizations but they’re part of the hero series uh uh but they made their name in the dolomites of course with the mountain Marathon uh race which is a completely different type of riding and

Course altitude as well which means that the Riders Riders from Colombia Excel and things like that because they’re always riding it at altitude this is a completely different thing they have a little bit of form of uh uh racing and organizing in this part of the world in

The Arabian Peninsula they did two additions of the hero Hatter Dubai uh which was also a great race but to again complet different to this very very Rocky uh extremely nasty rocks I wouldn’t want to fall off out there I tell you it was really uh Jagged rocks

Out into the desert and back but this is a world class Olympic style circuit on Sand and we’re seeing some world class racing here from some world class athletes oh just look how strong Martina B is up the the slope here yeah all the time she’s overtaking actually all the

Time the same Rider sopie p but uh but yeah she was a bit struggling in the back of the pelaton now trying to you know gain some positions let’s see here’s a Sandy Sandy uh part Sandy bit of the track it was actually I think more difficult in the dry than now in

The wet because now you have a little bit of a a root that you can uh you can uh follow and uh and yesterday was all Endy and you it was easy to kind of have a you know the front kind of closing and going over the bar we saw some amateurs

Doing that obviously professional girls and boys uh they are way better in technical skills but you know you never know we we saw some crashes early on so you know always pay attention and you mentioned also again you mentioned Olympics uh this is uh I tell you what

Is some something way more similar on every Olympics I’ve done I’ve done Beijing London and Rio de Janeiro and all the time the races are very artificial and fast rolling so uh you know obviously uh for for a proper World Cup race World Champs or an Olympic

Course we need some you know kind of uh bigger obstacles let’s say bigger jumps and stuff but it’s the it’s the way mountain biking is going especially for you know those races like like Olympics yeah the interesting thing here of course is you are in the desert so uh

By its very nature it’s Sandy and open and they making a big effort to sort of green it up there’s a lot of planting every one of these plants that you see here has an individual uh water feed irrigation feed to it and they’re watering all the time to bring the green

Element back into this course and I tell you what in 15 years time this is going to be a green Lush course that’s developed uh that’s been adapted that people have pointed out the really good bits it’s been improved it’s been extended and this whole xtrail park here

Which is part of a huge Sports Complex including uh uh tennis and it will be a vdrome is going to be something to behold yeah already now I mean I have been here for a few days you know and you can play you know puddle tennis

Soccer whatever it’s a it’s a big sport uh center it’s pretty pretty cool um but yeah I mean we’re talking about cycling and I saw the project of the track and it’s insane it’s amazing and uh and as well for for mountain biking as we can

We can see uh and last but not least Road road tracks I mean here on the road it’s unbelievable how you can ride all over the desert on proper tach with some really good roads and you can go for for you know for for KS and KS and KS uh

Pretty um pretty comfy no cars nothing it’s it’s amazing what you can do here in the desert on a road bike yeah they really put a lot of time and effort and money into this well yesterday Dan is caught up with Martina Berta who seems to be suffering a little bit Now yeah yesterday was a good race uh pretty unexpected uh I mean we are in February it’s the first race of the season so uh you never know where uh where you are and where the the others are we decide to start a bit more uh e

Easy than last year because the the season is long and the the Big Goal are in July so I mean we have to be really passion apart from the yeah the bike race uh track there’s also a longer lap that is uh really nice because it’s uh

Without the car it’s really safe and I mean it’s something really important to to grow that sport for for growing in that sport for uh for the child and for yeah all the people yeah positive words from Martina bet about the course about the growth of the

Sport and about this new type of circuit here this is an Olympic qualifying points qualifying event 60 points on offer for the winner here as a C1 category race that’ll be important to some of the smaller Nations as Henderson Sophie Henderson pushes the pace at the front with Zoe cuthber of

New Zealand just behind it still looking comfortable I have to say yeah very sort of Poker Face there SP I think that’s SP no yeah it is yeah in third um we just he um the voice of Martina BTA and she said that she wanted

To start a season a bit slower than than in the past because it’s February obviously and it’s an Olympic year and so maybe that’s why I mean she’s not up in the front pulling the trigger on on the competitors this could be could be potentially because as I said I think

Martina is really strong in these kind of races so I’m I’m expecting her to see uh up in the front uh Mistake by Anderson losing the ball which is uh actually a good point to mention because when you lose your gel Well normally it is because you’re

Not you know 100% uh you know fresh and and cool for the last uh bit of the race so might be a mistake that cost more than what we we just see yeah it doesn’t look like much does it but athletes at this level now especially cyclists are

Everything is time to Perfection you know you know how many jails you got to take you know when you got to take them um everything’s controlled as much as possible cut leads them through the line again ahead of Henderson bur Berta speia pedon Anna Santos of Portugal and C nois

In well the rain seems to have eased off outside our cometary booth I can actually almost feel it might be sunny soon that would be nice though for the elite man r men’s race yeah Elite men’s race coming up later this afternoon and much bigger much bigger

Field but this is a really high quality and we let’s just talk a little bit um Marco about the quality in the depth of quality in women’s racing here now because I mean we’ve got some of the best riders in the world and by no means

All of them it’s a small group here um but it’s all quality yeah absolutely as I said Martina uh she’s no um she she’s been uh in a Podium World Cup Podium several times one of the best uh in the business for in the in the world ranking

And Peterson I mean she won the U23 World Cup uh cross country wise she’s European Champion Eva lechner several times medalist in the uh World Champs uh European Champs former World Cup winner uh Rebeca Henderson I mean the the field is pretty strong and I tell you what uh

It’s just the beginning of the season but see some speed already going on um I’m actually wondering what is going to happen between the here we see this LMO she lost the bottle she lost the gel and this is a sign you know you’re not fresh

Enough to get the B it’s not like a fast rolling feed Zone where you you can miss it obviously it’s wet but I mean uh you shouldn’t you shouldn’t lose it in in this fast in this uh not so fast fed zone no that could be a big mistake

Could be a big mistake we saw a shot of EV now almost cruising around now I think she decided she’s not going to be able to tack onto this league group 14 times a national champion evna this is interesting this is Buri the swi rider on the front and the pace

Has really dropped yeah uh and uh maybe Zoe cuet thinking I’m not quite sure I want to do that I think they’re playing a little bit of cat and mouse here they they’re wondering who’s going to go next they’re taking a little chance to get a

Bit of a breather to take a bit of a rest get that gel working inside them uh um this is definitely a deliberate slowing of pace uh taking a bit of a breather because they know in the next lap it’s going to be absolutely all guns

Blazing yeah 20,000 in on the line cool uh the thing is you have to know that you have to be top three position at the end of the the lap you know on the last lap you have to be top three position if you want to win it I don’t think you can

Make it if you are position four five or six uh especially on this field because if one of the top girls uh goes like flat out well it’s going to be tough to close the gap and we saw also with Martina I mean on on that steep climb she was

Probably the fastest we we’ve seen and uh still she couldn’t really overtake when when she was back in the pelaton no this is the real problem is that overtaking is a big issue here um you’re going to have to go quite deep into some of those Corners to get round

People and and once you get into the technical section as you can see oh bit of a problem for yakobson I’m sorry about the picture breakup that is the weather conditions um this is ing Jacobson gu a flat tire yeah I believe looks like it cuz what

Happened when it’s wet that you go down in pressure you know like PSI or bar whatever you you uh you run but um and the risk to Flat is there you know some of the landing of the jumps even though are not big jumps but still you know and

And and on the Rocks if you have really low pressure the risk to fly the tire is is there and and there we go and that’s why they have fit zones and TCH zones sorry what what sort of pressures would you be want wanting to run today it

Depends on your weight and girls they go 1.1 1.2 bar and I would go 1.3 1.4 in the front and 1.5 in the rear bar yeah but gears are really light so they can go one 1.1 PSI um bar sorry there’s an attack here from the S girl we didn’t

See I didn’t see that coming yeah just up the pace a little bit I’m surprised maybe I mean they’ve got a pretty big gap between themselves and the following Riders but this is on a short course like this you can see some analogies to to the road in the sense

That if you’ve got six Riders who all suddenly slow up and they all sit there and they all start looking each other and have a gel you got a chance for Riders behind mind who maybe got 20 seconds to make up to make up that Gap

And the the Gap that was six suddenly becomes the group that was six becomes eight or 10 or 12 and then it becomes more difficult again so uh maybe Brewery has decided I just want to keep the pace going a little bit but she looks pretty determined this is the the most we’ve

Seen of her yeah I mean she knows that you know if I would be her and I would not feel the strongest in the in the group I would actually take the chance to go up in the front and try to to push it bit because you know you have a gap

From her to position um six at the moment and you know even if you’re not the fastest but if you stay up in the front and push a bit you know you make a little bit of a gap the artist they can do a little mistake so I think it it’s

Smart even if you’re not the strongest but it could be potentially smart and especially now coming to the to the Steep part of the course you know that clim you’re not strong well you stay up in the front and maybe one or two Riders overtake you but if you’re sixth well

You lose time from you know from position five so it’s smart to be up in the front and six at the moment is pedon Sophie pedon of Denmark ranked 18th in the world at the moment s of 1210 there we go there we and this is the challenge Hill and

This is where Martina Berta has really really excelled as we watch pison theane and she stayed in third spot there b you just see her on the top of your shot going out she’s not decided to attack this time around but she’s in position three so I

Guess that’s a good place to be she knows great ride by Zoe CU really really good ride she’s been solid all the way through the only question you’d have to ask yourself is how she left it is she going to leave it all on the track absolutely absolutely because she always

She’s the one that races the best I believe because always position one two or three not you know never never never in position four or five so uh in a way she didn’t spend much energy where Martina yes she’s never been up in the front but at the same time she’s been in

The rear so sometimes she might have suffer a little bit more compared to zo but um but we’ll see one lap to go I’m excited to see you know one hour of the race uh is is gone and one lap to go it’s pretty interesting on how they

Going to play I se I think uh we’re going to see some attack for sure because everyone knows that Martina is the fastest on a on a Sprint finish so if you are Rebecca Anderson or maybe uh you know even um even buy I think they

Have to make an attack to make a gap with Martina because on the Finish Line it’s not going to be easy to to to beat her yeah this is back of the challenge climb is BR the chairman and Eva Le now EV is still hanging in

There H out that’s C nois A young Italian under 23 cyc across Champion uh Buri is still pushing on you know the B bike was flipping about there as she came into that technical section she must have just clipped something with that back wheel but she is pushing um

And uh the others are really having to be on their metal making sure they can stay with her I think a move could be done by the end of this lap so we’re going to see probably the first attack by the end of this lap like proper attack yeah and

Then uh and then we see and then we see if someone uh has the legs to uh keep going the full lap cuz we didn’t see yet like a full full oh oh Anderson getting some position gaining position this is getting a little bit tight at the front here it’s between

These top six now Anna TOS the Portuguese Champion is the next best plays Rider she’s 30 seconds back on this group of six there she is there we go and that’s uh that’s game over for her in terms of uh fighting for a victory but these six Riders are where

It counts and it’s the PA has dropped off a bit again they’re just looking at each other I think and who’s going to who is going to kick it who’s going to pull that trigger as you say Marco really go hard it’s interesting that Henderson’s made a way up into a third

Place spot maybe Martina Berto just decided to uh hang back and now is not the right time this is really tactical now yeah it’s interesting the move of uh of Henderson I think is a tactical move but as well a mind game you know because

You you know you show your you know your competitor that you’re there like hey you know I’m here I’m still here uh and remember that I was the one that uh uh that won the short track so uh it’s a bit of both at the moment you know

Sometimes uh normally in mountain biking always the best wins you know always because it’s a it’s not like a road race but but there’s always a but in this condition where not you know not the strongest might win cuz if you played well tactically and mentally you could

Be you know second best and still winning the winning the race yeah well it’s always the best on the day isn’t it it’s the uh I think I tell you who’s ridden her own race all the way through is Zoe cuet she’s not had to sort of mess around uh

Chasing or you know or worrying about her position as you say before she’s always been in their top three uh and that’s a great place to be she’s ridden a consistent strong race the question is if she gets to that final corner has she got the Sprint has she got the kick and

I’m not sure she has compared to Henderson or Berta I would not be at all surprised uh if we don’t see her giving it a real dig uh in the next half a lap or so to try and pull out a gap C nois and Marco was talking about the

Sort of flow of a a full suspension bike when you think it wouldn’t be necessary you just have to sit on that roted corner and see exactly how well it’s working this is Galu of Greece pushing up the hero challenge part started really really well I’m quite impressed by her actually she was

She she’s done quite well she’s had to ride her own race but she’s a pretty fast starter last K of lab five of six so we’re approaching the last lap and it’s six riders in the front it’s going to be exciting the last lap it’s going to be

Absolutely exciting to see who’s going to take the win here good BR Jones shot there Noel bur of Switzerland Zoe cord of New Zealand Rebecca Henderson of Australia Martina Berta and gadia spea of Italy and Sophie Pon of Denmark those are our leading Riders the rider who’s

Just peeled off of the back is our camera Rider worry about that and here they come into the start finish area and just how many how much nerve is got how much adrenaline is going through these these Riders now they’ll just be looking at each other already bu’s

Looking over the shoulder going what’s going to happen here there we go I see the Australian feeling it yeah I can see that right just looking looking tense in the shoulders this is actually where you know the Australian placed the attack uh uh in in the short track exactly that

Corner before the the Fe and tone Martina B in fourth position position she needs to get some position before heading to the last lap I feel I feel well Henderson didn’t miss out on a bottle this time H nice grab as she went through the feed

Zone this is Anna Santos I think coming through the Portuguese Champion 36 seconds back now young covis 46 seconds back which on a fast track is quite a bit and she did a solo race pretty much from from halfway on but now we want to see the top the top

Girls because o I think it’s uh Henderson yeah Henderson up in the front Henderson bur Cu uh Pon the and then P yeah so two OES three Italians and one from Denmark two our teammates I mean the you know um Jas pcha and Pon from uh from wheeler tritina in fifth and sixth

Position one of the oldest bike manufacturers in the world will from triest Yankee of the oldest bike manufacturers in the world yeah and I mean we mentioned some of the best we’re going to mention also kago which is pretty big here in uh in h oh they’re huge yeah a

Big kago shop here isn’t yeah yeah pretty nice actually if you have the chance come and visit wus bike shop because it’s amazing how nice and well made is the the kago well it’s not even a bike shop is like a kind of a cafe it’s

Really really cool I’ve been a couple of days ago it’s amazing Anderson up in the front yeah she’s dictating the pace at the moment Zoe cuber for the first time drops out of the top three she’s behind yeah somebody’s going to have to try and uh get up the inside if she

Wants to get back in the top three Spa looking as though she’s trying to find a little Gap somewhere to move up they’re fighting they’re fighting for positions they’re fighting for position because it’s a the one one of the few places where you can you know have space to

Overtake now they getting into into this little rocky section that always Mak some little gaps Anderson up in the front bu in second and then Bera looking for a place and a spot for Attack Henderson still everybody’s a bit still nervous I think about taking it I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a bigger attack on this wider section as you say as soon as you get in the Rocks that’s really difficult to do anything unless you suddenly kick it just before

The rocky section go through there really first and then everybody else behind is in disarray they can’t do anything about it you’ve gone by that point but it’s difficult to make a break there watching CIS 1 hour 10 pretty much much gone it’s like three k to go pretty much now Henderson again in the lead no change of the front Henderson bu she’s pushing H she’s pushing properly y but it’s not easy to make a gap here no not at all not a proper gap you know

Just a small one baa looking a bit more comfortable now that the RAC is going on and on I’m surprised how comfortable B is looking she was following the wheel quite quite happily there the the rider who seems to be struggling over the last lap or so is

Pedison yeah she didn’t even try to you know get some position that means you know you you’re properly struggling cuz normally uh you know you might be not the best but you’re trying to fight for position cuz you know how important it is to be in the top three position now

On the on the last lap yeah don’t pay too much attention to that leaderboard graphic it came up I was just showing you the composition of the group not the positions there is Henderson of Australia bur of Switzerland Bera of Italy oh she’s really pushing hard look

At the face there yeah this is now a concerted effort and this little group might start to string out will the Dane Pon be off the back soon spe I think is’s being little bit under pressure as well picture just breaking up the weather conditions here as the rain passes over

And comes down just breaking the picture up a little bit but Henderson the Australian really pushing hard look that’s a determined face there Mar and also look at gy the face of uh of the Swiss rider laier r there it’s it’s impressive I mean she looks comfy

Racing on a laier bike French uh French brand we didn’t mention before yeah laia make some fantastic mountain bikes they’ve been you know they were fairly late into the mountain bike game but when they got there they were pretty good yeah I mean frenches they know how to make a huh Henderson on

Monaker there we go pushing her before the hero challenge one of the places where we’ve seen Martina Berta the strongest couple of Corners two big Burns and then into this steep steep stuff let’s see what happens now this is the one area that uh Riders can get together here we

Go for the hero challenge this is where ver has been really really good of getting up to the top she’s still in third spot Henderson hangs on there bur doing well to stay on right on the wheel of Henderson I think she’s looking real strong yeah quiet for like five Laps on

Six and then all of a sudden bomb up in the front and comy yeah Henderson trying to make a proper fast lap instead of having one you know sharp attack so let’s see if this plays right yeah there’s a gap now there is a gap there’s a power Gap at this a

Bit s kber and there speda just behind her and there is a gap what five six seven no more than that now 20 bike lengths and Henderson’s really put the hammer down the only person he’s really being able to go with her at the moment is bur the Swiss Rider riding

Beautifully smoothly a bit of a lower line on those um those BMS but Martina Bera well she’s got a two or three bike lengths Gap to close up she’s still there but certainly Henderson is putting the the hammer down and verg is the one who’s just being able to respond immediately now the

To the chasing three is uh what maybe 30 40 bik length and now the left hand turn and uh you know low low spein and another acceleration oh look at Henderson pushing really hard Martina Berta trying to uh to get the position in in position two at the moment yeah

Good move that’s a good move she came up the inside yeah these three are going to uh come to the line together I think yeah the four we see is the camera guy so out of these three who would you favor in a Flatout Sprint remember it’s

A very short Sprint as well it’s what 50 m maybe when the last yeah the Sprint is done before the Sprint like you have to Sprint before the last corner and the one who exit the last corner on top is going to take the win other than you know mistakes or

Something and that’s what we’ve seen in the in the in The Eliminator in the short track race sorry Henderson still pushing hard berte now in second spot bur sitting on the wheel of Martina ber maybe just thinking well I feel strong I feel strong enough if I can

Just stay on the wheel of Bera who’s the who’s the top Sprinter here let her Chase Chase the Henderson down yeah because the last uh the last part of the course last let’s say uh kilometer is really kind of a long long uh uh Sprint

So they can they can Chase from the back but that’s a gap from Anderson which is pushing super super strong well she’s gone really really hard because we just switched shots for a second and uh she gone we’ve never seen a gap big like that no impressive Anderson she had something

In the tank we didn’t see before I mean she was kind of struggling at the beginning of the race and then all of a sudden she games from well nowhere is a bit tough to say but I mean she was kind of struggling and now she’s gone she’s

Gone yeah she has gone and uh the other two of thing I don’t think they’re going to be chasing well Martina Belta doesn’t even look as though she’s she’s chasing she knows she’s going to be fighting for second or third and look at this coming

Back is a spa and pedon and poor O Zoe cuthber who did all the early work is now in that six spot yeah gone unbelievable attack from from Anderson I mean I I look at the line the different line between the Swiss Rider oo well carrying a bit more speed into the finish

Part playing nice for position two but Anderson as I said she tried not to do a single attack but a proper long Loop attack and it worked out that’s all over for first spot unless something Dreadful happens or unless there’s some sort of enormous kick by these two behind I

Think that that’s a that’s a clear run to first for Henderson the Australian that’ll be the Cur to the commentator now as soon as I’ve said that something will happen but look at that cap that’s absolutely massive and she’s still pushing she knows the Riders behind her a real

Quality act and she cannot afford to be uh slack she’s just pushing hard now for me out of these two bur looks the more comfortable here yeah and comes from the back you know and always when you have a long long Sprint like this if you have

Some rolling you know and then you have a a smooth transition into the last part from the back it’s easier to make an overtake but as I said she has to do it before the fids in if not well it’s going to be tough Rebecca Henderson riding for Prima

Mandrea she’s the current Oceanic cont ENT Al Champion she’s 15 times an Australian uh national champion at cross country and look at this she’s pushed so hard now Martina B is trying to work really hard to stay ahead of Buri Martina this was the corner I was

Mentioning so she had to do it before this let’s see if the Swiss try to to get her she does she does she does it’s a bar to bar oh my God bar to bar let’s see if the last corner plays in no not she T the outside Henderson coming for

The win a fantastic break she pulled away nobody was going to catch her it’s NE to neck it’s going to be bu I think unbelievable a wonderful bit of cornering by the Swiss Rider out sprinting Martina Berta what a nice finish hey a cat and mouse all fighting each other

And they almost got caught you know by spa and Pon only 6 seconds back great riding by the young Italian close that cap down just not quite enough to make it onto the podium brilliant win though by Henderson Rebecca Henderson 15 times a national champion she’s the Continental Oceanic champion and she’s

Now the winner of the inaugural Abu Dhabi hudat Island hero race here and pockets €2,000 in the process yeah and what a move by buy she tried after the fit Zone on the left side was B toart with Martina closed the door a bit little bit in a safe way and then she

Was um expecting to see uh Martina on the inside and then she was in the outside and she could do the she could make the overtake on the last little bit of the course what a move I really loved it yeah fantastic move this is Anna Santos the Portuguese Champion she had a

Good race early on she was with the leading group for quite a long time and uh she’ll pocket some money as well big big prizes here and of course points all the way down for qualifying for the Olympic games this year in Paris luckily as well the rain stopped

So we’re looking for some uh better weather for the men’s race which they going to come up pretty soon men’s race to with points on offer 60 points so there’s our confirmation Henderson bur Bera our top three then spea Pon Zoe cuber did all the early running Santos of Portugal and Corton

Noes again nice race from the OC zo uh had a fantastic race early on probably missing some energy I’d say cuz she competed in the best way and the right way I mean she was the only one always top three in the race so uh I think like

In term of tactical and Technical race it was uh amazing but maybe missing a little bit of you know the last lap lap and a half yeah was a bit difficult for her in the last lap and a half she seemed to sort of just be didn’t have that kick

She put a lot of effort into it early on but still at 23 years of age she’s uh under 23 she’s three times under 23 Cross Country Champion back in New Zealand she’s still got a lot of uh racing to go in her career you know what you know there was

Some uh talk about you know this uh this race and then this course and uh you know and how it could uh potentially be uh a better you know like a more important and important race in the future I tell you what in term of competition was amazing to see you know

Many riders up in the front you know sometimes you see those classic races and you see one girl and then two minutes another girl and then 3 minutes another girl where here I mean we had all the way to the last lap and the last couple of Corners uh you know six Riders

Up in the front a good mix you know different nations different technique of Rider I really like it yeah absolutely fantastic close racing well we’ve had Dan Jarvis down on the start line and the finish line and he’s been grabbing some of the Riders as as they’ve come over the line but

Fabulous fabulous racing it’s been uh been super stuff very much like a a criterium road race with that sort of level of excitement let’s throw down to Dan Jarvis on the Finish Line I think he has Rebecca Henderson with him so here with Rebecca Henderson the winner of the hero Abu Dhabi cross

Country it’s a double for your backs you took the short track on Friday the Olympic cross country here today for um you told me earlier in the week you didn’t know what your form was like it’s pretty good yeah I mean it’s impossible to know here there was absolutely

Nothing to break the race up as you probably saw um and I think I just like I the race was you know no one was so game in the beginning um to make any moves and I was like well for sure I’m one of the fittest here so I just wanted

To sort of break it up a little bit because you don’t want to bring 15 Riders to the Finish Line um but yeah I’m not even sure I was the strongest I think um just sort of a bit experienced in these kind of situations and I think

Um that worked out for me I still think of you as a youngster but you you know you you’ve got so much experience behind you now you’ve been a World Cup winner you’ve been a world championship medalist you could bring that did you win it in your head as much as in the

Legs you think yeah for sure early in the race I was like I I don’t know what to do here like I you know I had a little go and I like didn’t really lose many and I yeah I think um but you know I’m really like

This year become super aware of like that I am one of the most experienced racing now and I have to like you know I’m not that young and energetic like them anymore and I really have to tap into that experience and knowledge and just that trust in you know where to

Make the moves where to conserve and I think um that’s what one me the race today well yeah so you you’ve made history you know the first ever EXO winner in Arabia of a UCI race and uh also nice little prize money as well for the for the weekend good earner yeah

Absolutely anyone that says they’ve come here not for the prize money is lying um you know it’s obviously What attracted a lot of us to come and for me it was like it was very unplanned and then I was like the opportunity came and I’m like

It’s a week what have I got to lose to go to an amazing place and a new experience and obviously a lot of money on the line um yeah and I think uh it’s it’s amazing what they’ve done and I think it’s a real boost for the sport

And finally yeah your your thoughts about racing in Abu Dhabi you know the the venue that we’ve got here and how close it is to the city do you think do you think that uh this is something special that we brought to mountain bike in yeah absolutely you know I mean it’s

Easy to put a cross country race in in Italy and Switzerland where there’s mountains and I think what they’ve done here is amazing obviously like to break it’s not a typical cross country race but you know you still see that the more or less the best Riders are still at the

Front um and the cream always Rises and I think um you know it’s it’s something so special and we don’t have to be stuck with just mountains it’s you know they’ve brought bike racing to the center of the city and I think that’s what we need is people coming to watch

The sport and now it’s like live on TV how many other series are doing that I think um you know it’s we can only be grateful for for what they’ve done this weekend well congratulations you are the Undisputed queen of hero abui we’ll be seeing you on the podium later but I I

Guess this is going to be in your calendar for next year yeah for sure I think um I’m only coming away with absolutely amazing experience and honestly I just have to say that like every single person that I’ve met here every single encounter even the security guard telling me you can’t ride your

Bike here he says it with a smile and everyone’s so friendly and I think like it’s just been the most amazing experience well you going and get yourself cleaned up uh congratulations again ladies and gentlemen our champion today Rebecca Henderson of primer for M C thank you in 5 seconds second okay

So we’re joined Now by our second place Rider the woman with the fast finish in that Sprint no buy uh is it your first race in the colors now for lapier mavi Unity yes this is the first race for the team and yeah I’m really happy to have a

Good race and so two podiums from two races it’s a great start you know you’re matching yourself with uh all of the big names as well do you you think that that being on the team the new team has given you an extra boost yes of course the

Team is amazing and supports me in every way so yeah it’s a good start and your and your thoughts about Abu Dhabi have you enjoyed racing here yeah it’s really nice it’s a nice place to be and the track is it’s a special track but it was

Fun and it’s it’s the same track for everyone I guess so you know it’s you’ve all got to adapt to it yeah it’s the same for everyone also the weather was the same for every won so it was nice so is there any any tips that you can give

To uh your teammate Thomas litcher for the men’s race and I think it’s important to be in the front from the beginning well you did a great race congratulations two podiums here in hero hero Abu Dhabi and uh have a have a great season going on forwards thank you Come up soon and then After you know after the interview of the winner Henderson we’re joined by our third place Rider the Italian national champion riding for the Santa Cruz Bo shots team martinaa how was that feel uh it was good it was quite uh muddy uh it was quite unexpected to to came here and

Uh see the rain but uh yeah I mean I think it was a bit different from what what we expected but uh yeah it was a good race the beginning was uh quite an easy pace and then back tried to to do the move and uh yeah in the last lap

She she she go alone and so yeah we we tried to fight for the second place but I was a bit uh like out of energy at the on the finish part so yeah it’s it’s at third place it’s it’s okay this early in the season it’s still quite hard to to Jud

What you’ve got in your legs and and how your form is yeah yeah it was I mean it was it’s really early in the season uh I think I’m I’m happy because I’m what I want to be so the goal are pretty far so today it was normal not to be at 100%

And yeah it was a good race to start uh maybe a bit easier so I’m I happy to to come here and uh do that race and uh very different conditions today from what you raced in on Friday in the uh in the short track that was dry and and

Sunny little bit less little bit more European maybe today yeah it was quite strange to yet to manage the terrain because uh it’s a strange one it’s not the the one we are used to in Europe in Italy so I I think in the first two or

Three laps all the rider were uh were looking for to to know like to understand how the the tire and the Teran answer and I mean it was a bit sketchy at the beginning to be fair well you’re three you you’ve made history amongst your uh fellow races here at

Hero ababi so what’s next for you uh now there’s uh a big block of training and then I will be starting the Europe season in Italy in albenga and uh yeah I’m happy to to came here and I hope to to be back in the future oh fantastic congratulations today Martina Berta

Third place at hero Abu Dhabi For no Berry of Switzerland second martinaa third a great Race by speta to close that Gap only 6 seconds down on the final there’s a bit of analysis then on how Rebecca Henderson managed to pull that back uh and you can see in that green zone all the way through Zoe cord the

Big loser really she put all that working early on you can see those three green um time checks early on and then last 34 seconds in the last lap uh very difficult for her pedison to slipping backwards as the time went on but you should just go to see how how hard

Rebecca Anderson was pushing because she’s the only one in the green section in lap six there 1 hour and 17 minutes 41 seconds the total race time today here at hero Abu Dhabi at derat Island the first of uh uh many many races here on this purpose made track I’m sure you

Can see all the construction work underneath the graphic they’re building an enormous settlement here in the background there’s over 2,000 trucks here building things it’s been an incredible uh race an incredible venue to come to and it just goes to show how serious they are here in Abu Dhabi I hope you’ve enjoyed

The racing here for hero Abu Dhabi at hadat Island looking down on the race Village next up on our programming will be the men’s Elite and the big news there or two big newses one is it’s stop racing and secondly it’s the debut mountain bike race at this level in c14 Peter

Saron three times World Road Champion the only man to have consecutively won the jerseys for me David Ree and for my coach commentator multiple Champion Marco Fontana we hope you enjoyed the racing we’ll see you for the men’s Elite from hero Abu Dhabi hudat Island bye for now

Cheers and see you in a little bit for the men’s race Okay Everybody nobody This [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Is the same here go on adventures to find Out [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Okay Everybody nobody needs This [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Is the same here our adventures to find out where you truly Belong Welcome back to Abu Dhabi to hudat Island this is the inaugural hero Abu Dhabi we are at hudat island just on the outskirts of ABAB Skyline you can see before you and the immense amount of construction that they’re doing creating even more Lush and green places on this side hudat

Island is the purpose made sporting complex that the xtrail mountain bike trail sits in the middle of and today’s race route is part of that xtrail it’s 5.4 km the story of uh this morning has been that it has been raining uh all morning on and off it’s

Made for a pretty wet sticky track not not necessarily as um as slippery as you’d think because the compact sand uh stays down a little bit more there’s the lap length 5.4 km only 7 U met 70 M of climbing number of laps for the men seven that’s what it looked like

Yesterday the bright sunshine it’s been a little bit more damp this morning we had the women’s race earlier won by Rebecca Henderson of Australia the oceanic continental Champion a very emphatic Victory as well she rode away from Martina Berta and second place n bu here’s the track then and joining me

David re and the com boo is multiple national champion and Olympic bronze medalist Marco Fontana who can take you through this a lot better than I can Chi hello everyone here is Marco Fontana and this is the cross country race the men’s will uh will compete right now it’s just

70 M of climbing but I tell you what it’s tough as hell because lots of burms Corners little bits and pieces technical sections they actually build up a nice course for like racing point of view we’ve seen it in the girls and the first SP is pretty rolling then

You get into this hero challenge where the spectators area is uh you know technical and Steep and then the last bit is a bit more uh flowy again with some uh uh really nice Corners before the Finish Line This is where the magic happen this is where the action happens

So with seen it in the girls we’ve seen it in the short track um on Friday and uh yeah seven laps for the boys so let’s see what Happens well it’s always about starting in a mounted bike race that doesn’t matter if you’re old school mountain biker like me or one of the younger guns in multiple Champion like Marco it’s all about the start let’s see how they uh they manage today lots of lots of boys

Lots of uh guys in the in the in the St grid so it’s going to be even more important as you just said as you just mentioned yeah they had an a short track race the xcc uh on Friday to qualify uh well i’ say qualify they’re already

Qualified but to grid themselves up eight across the front they can pick where they want to be along this uh front eight but as you can see the lines on the start area there grid them up into seconds of eight and um it’s pretty important to be somewhere near the front

Yeah very important to stay up in the front and uh we know I mean uh pet sag is the big name here so multi multiple time uh three times actually World Road champion and uh you know he came here uh for getting points for competing with

The some of the best in the business and we know how strong uh pet is but it’s not easy to come uh back you know from from road to uh to mountain biking and be strong so uh we see what what he can do what do you think well this is

Philana for the Olympia teamer Olympia wearing number four number 20 in the front row here is uh so from the Scot team number 23 Ryder very strong in a Sprint race in the y talking about pet Z he’s going to come up at some point shortly to to be seen

By everybody but he is the big name here he’s the big draw this is Nadia kidani of the Santa Cruz Rock shocks Pro Racing team again they’ve got a very strong presence here this weekend the Santa Cruz Team Qui Glimpse there of Gustaf pedison number nine 19 that’s yre K of the col team Spanish rer he’s done well here on the front row I have to say for B basty Brothers one the oldest or they are the oldest bicycle manufacturer in Spain from the vast

Country number 18 Thomas Lea of lapia mavic unity he’s the current Swiss cross country champ Champion some real class Riders here all the way through the men’s and women’s competition this is a man really to watch out for this is LCA of the Santa Cruz rock Shots team current national Italian Champion

As you can see by the Jersey there uh so I’ve seen him out three times training already this weekend on this course and he’ll be aware that there are some really big Ries behind you can see in the third row back look just behind the shoulder of the Italian Champion is Peter

Saren not on the front row but you could see him just behind catch a little glimpse of him just between the shoulders of daneli of the carabinieri Olympia team and the Santa Cruz Rider all the introductions of the front row d but the name everybody on everybody’s lips is Peter zaren there the

Top uh three times a world Road Champion lots of riders have won the well not lots but a number of riders have won the world Road Championship three times but Peter zagen is the only man to have won it on consecutive years and just look at the depth of

Field here Ben Oliver’s been very fast around here so is Michael Foster this weekend l in the front row jofre kapz on that front row Ethan Rose Looking fast here as was Wilson it’s probably true to say that some of the antipodes are very fast because they have a a good winter

Season training here we Come this is the inaugural hero Abu Dhabi at hurat island and a very fast start straight away zag be wanting to get up there quite quickly there’s this transition from the tarmac to the sand and they’re into the first Bend yeah first position from Shar to to the sand

Is pretty grippy right there so it’s it’s good to go uh the men started off pretty fast as always but I guess uh they’re going to control the race at least in the third part in the first part uh also uh it’s going to be I mean

We mentioned before Sagan he didn’t have uh you know a good start position we see it deep in the field so he needs to move on right now in the first lap because then when the race really uh you know gets warm then you have have to be up

There we’ll talk about it a little bit now because um the race is just sort of evening out uh as they sort of try and make uh their way up through the field or trying Jos off his position in the first lap but zagen coming back to

Mountain bike racing for those of you who’ve just followed him on the road and maybe a whole generation of people who’ve never been into mountain biking who don’t realize that Peter zargon started off in mountain biking he was a World Junior champion in fact he was a

Teammate of yours when you yeah yeah yeah it was a teammate in ‘ 09 you know he came from uh cycl cross and mountain biking and then uh some of the you know the big names on the road they spotted him and they wanted him to to go into

The liest team so we’ve been teammates for like you know half a year pretty much because he was competing for lias but at the same time for can factory racing the team where I’ve been for eight years and where I actually uh won the most in my career and it was funny

To see such a young guy you know really mad he was going flat out destroying wheels and frames and he was really all over the place he loved mountain biking since then and uh you know he one of these guys that he won so much on the

Road but he always spent a good word from Mountain and biking he always said yes I’m racing on the road because you know celebrities because of these big races to the front and and and so on but he always said well if you ask me the

Best I I like to do is mountain biking and he’s you know getting position and position and now that you know after you know all this career he decided to uh end his career racing mountain bike again because this is what he loves the

Most and we see if he can make it to you know some good position and eventually possibly to um to Olympics they got a bit boxed in at the start there he is right towards the back look there just going through uh 2/3 of the way back and

He really really lost out in the start there that’s not not great I mean he’s coming back to it after a long time must be a bit of a shock I mean yeah he came from mountain biking but this is not what he’s used to and this is a fast and

Furious course in fact a lot of the Riders here won’t be used to this sort of course it’s very much like an Olympic style course uh spectator orientated very quick on off the gas we’re talking in the ladies race this is almost like a criterium race and problems already

There’s no way you can get three people through there come on guys come on guys that is a single track but you know what the big fight is always in the back of the Pelon so you’re going to see his you know overtake that are not really allowed

Because I saw some of the Riders passing left and right where the you know uh the signs were obviously to stay in the middle so always the big fight in the back all the time is the same you know when they used to say it’s easier to

Race in the front it’s true I promise you what I’ve been racing in the back and in the front and it’s way easier in the wrong it is I remember when I first got a coach years and years and years ago he said from the start he said you

Just Dave Smith he was the Olympic coach British Olympic coach at the time and he said you’re just not fast enough because if you can’t if you can’t get off the start fast you’ll just be in a fight for the rest of the race and that’s exactly

What happens and you can see it already in fact you saw poor old farad Shri of the the Iranian from the farad academy sort of looking lurking around the back there going oh I’m not sure I like this uh it was a bit of a bun fight in there

As we in the UK they are pushing up in the front hey they are pushing and I saw uh some of the Italians doing well like filipo Fontana Italian national champion Champions and he just competed at World Championship cycle cross World Championship in Tabor the one won by uh

Mat Vanderpool and other names that everybody knows because you know he races cycl cross mountain bike Roose and uh and yeah I mean filipo Fontana is one of these young Italian G then that could do well just because because as I said comes from good winter cycl cross season

So it might be in shape for this one nice shot of gusta Pon the D it just shows how quickly they’re taking these BMS they are really really going for an out of the saddle here we are this is Peter zagen just going through the shot there he was caught up

In that little FR car in there quickly back on his bike at least he’s ahead of this lot yeah going around the outside once you’re off your bike it’s it’s a disaster here but there are these Little Rock sections that they put in and look how spread out the field is now already

Unlike the the women’s race where we had essentially two groups from the middle of lap one we had a group of about eight to 10 Riders at the front and then the rest uh now we’ve got Riders all over the place and uh this is the first of

The splits they are really moing into the challenge the hero challenge the fastest Rider up here uh of any category amateur or professional obviously split to male and female get ,000 yeah why not huh it’s pretty interesting how they put some uh you know proper press money in

This in this race and everyone is even more motivated you know for sure you know coming into a new place having a new track and you said kind of Olympic style of uh of terrain and and and format uh is good but of course also you know price money it’s pretty big 20,000

For for the winner men or women so yep 20,000 if you win this race and that’s a lot of money I think that is probably the largest ever prize first prize or largest ever prize pot for a cross country race ever uh this is going great

Going to pedison at the front the um 22 2022 European champion and he’s a uh I think he’s the current well he’s current Danish champion he’s really really pushing the pace on and there’s not really any groups forming yet other than they’re all spread out all over the

Place we got a sort of leading group of about five or six but there’s not it’s not a compact group in any way Marco no not yet um we need to see what happens at a Finish Line because um if uh some of the big dogs goes out and strong then

The groups will be split it but if uh if not you know they’re G to regroup again and it’s going to be a good chance for Luca bot that didn’t have a good start for for um Peter Sagan to get back into the into the leading

Group ler I mean we have seen him really really strong uh um for the for the short track race on Friday he won it and he looks comfortable he looks fast I mean we know he’s really really fast in this uh sprint races so fast fast

Rolling races so he’s I think the one to beat but again here we have philipo Fontana then NAD kolani and then K from from Spain AO BR so a lot of uh lot of names and they’re all strong so we’ll see what happen last ring your shot

There in the orang is Gregor R the track here in Abu Dhabi or in general the atmosphere here is really super nice for sports I like it really much when you have a such a high level in sport in Switzerland you always need to train harder you need to race harder that you

Stay at the front of a nation and I think that uh keeps the Swiss Nation uh to one of the strongest mountain bikes nations in the world my shape for February is uh yeah I think already pretty good I had some good training camps over the winter and um it was

Really nice to win the short track yesterday and I’m really looking forward to the cross country tomorrow right yeah we’ve seen he’s in uh good shape he was very quick in the short track this is the more technical section now that we’re coming into uh for the

First time looks like they’re sort of really beginning to consolidate a little bit we saw some rocks earlier there’s a group there’s a section about four or five rocks but here it gets really tight the women will have churned this up a little bit um this is about the only rotted

Section oh a bit of a problem for glender of Norway let’s see if they show us kind of a Low Mo but I guess that wood section might have took him out yeah there’s a a log section they call it a log section it’s actually a

Ramp with some steps down the other side um which uh on a dry day would be nice but today could be a bit slippy so they put a um a section around the outside where you can go if you want to do so now they’re beginning to come together 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine looks like 10 Riders there about to be joined by another three that is our first real group uh but it’s it’s unsurprising isn’t it Marco that in the first lap everybody goes you know full full gas to see if

They can establish a position then they settle down a little bit absolutely uh I think it’s they’re going to slow down now uh especially because I’ve been outside before and it’s windy so they’re going to slow down and uh they’re going to regroup I guess the two guys pet

Fagal and then Daniel they’re going to get back into this leading group here you see the boys they are doubling this jumps where girls were just uh rolling by so yeah I feel they going to regroup a little bit the first Loop uh wasn’t that fast as 10 minutes 28 at the moment

So it’s going to be around about 11 minutes they can absolutely go faster than this yeah and the question is what will the tactics be here we saw in the women’s race how this this circuit rides uh with groups of riders it’s really interesting if you’re not used to this

Sort of Olympic style short course format uh which is really built for spectators and high-s speed racing and you know really exciting racing it’s a sort of cross between mountain biking and a bit of BMX with some you know jumps in there and doubling up and

Things uh but it’s more like a Criterion race really uh on the road it really so you need to play tactics you need to spend less energy possible but at the same time staying up up in the front and uh you know and just uh understand who’s

You know who’s strong who feels uh who you think is far so big group but I guess it could be even bigger now because now it’s a it’s a point where uh staying up in the front means wind and here we go the group with pet Sagan

Lucas Fluker uh coming uh strong back I think they could they could potentially close the gap yep that’s what they really working to do there was only a 13 second Gap they slowed down in the front uh no Panic by the Riders behind they’ going to work hard obviously but they’re

All in in in really good shape Gustaf Pon leading them over the line first but uh uh a real strong group a number of Australians and new zealanders in the front group they’ve come in with good shape alliver and and South Africans as well anybody from the southern

Hemisphere they’ve already had a a good um a good season where they can they can train for this they come in early season quite well absolutely absolutely uh we’ve seen it also in the girls I mean OC won uh you know Henderson won the

Race and uh and here as well uh we see some of the you know guys coming from South Africa and Australia and New Zealand pretty strong but again Switzerland played well in the short track and we know how much uh time they spent in South Africa so we know

Swissies are always in shape no matter which month of the year you race Switzerland and frenches are the strongest actually mountain bike in the planet uh or at least some of the strongest so let’s see ISO Peter Sagen Lucas FL and that second group coming back into the leading group you’ll see

It uh shortly closing the Gap I feel yeah it looks that way it looks as though they are they’re not doubling the jumps that means the speed is not high and there we go flukiger came back and Sagan as well you know if you see those those

Waves uh uh if they double those waves means they they’re fast and they’re jumping them but if not like like now it means they’re not fast enough so they’re not really pushing it’s going to be a group of I think it looks like I’m I’m counting 21 there they’re are probably

Going to come back together that’s a pretty big group actually I think there will be some sort of push at some point for uh some Riders to get away make that group bit small it’s too big to do anything at the moment but the guys who

Are just joining on the back they’ve got a fight to get to up through there um you don’t want to be on the back in a group of 20 you might think you’re somewhere near the front but you’re really not all it takes is you know one section through uh the rocks or

Something to happen and then you’re you’re stuck so you want to be in the top five six all the way around absolutely and you see now like we’ve seen in the lab Lab number one once they go through the Rocks well I’m I’m laughing already I tell you what I am laughing

Already but uh I see sag kind of keeping it cool and calm even though is not really in the front so interesting to see normally he’s kind of you know pretty aggressive in in term of uh riding mode it’s all ity up in the front K philipo Fontana then ler and all the

Now we see sag passing by in the pH Booth of uh South Africa just around pet yeah really pushing hard at the front Ian is just trying to pull it out a little bit more now just behind him there up definitely up the pace so one two 3 for Italy at the

Moment uh Switzerland in fourth mentioning the the Nations a lot because of course although this is Olympic qualifying event you don’t qualify as an individual uh the points that you gain go towards the national qualifying total um and we won’t know uh what the the result is of

Who’s going to be going and how many points Nations have got until May really yeah um but ryers here it’s early season this is an Olympic qualifying event it’s a good chance to get points on the board and that’s what zon’s here for he’s here

To try and help uh um his Nation to qualify and it gives him a good chance of showing that he’s capable and of riding at the Olympics he’s made no secret of wanting to ride at the Olympics and get an Olympic medal absolutely absolutely uh I mean we know

Tom pitock is the current Olympic champion and we know how you know how much um energy he he used to to compete in the you know in the mountain bike scene I mean Pitcock is one of the best road cyclist in the business as well but

A lot to see how you know how much he spent how much time and how he rides in the mountain bike scene and so Pitcock Saga and vandero we don’t know really yet so it’s interesting to see uh the scene really growing and all these big names coming to cross country mountain

Biking and and have uh you know have a chance to grab a medal or to you know to compete with some of the best in the business is always helpful I think for for the scene for these Riders you know which are really well known but many

Maybe not as famous as you know V pit and and so on all spread out again you go Riders as and behind him lucot in the national champions Jersey of Italy there about to four bike lengths between them he definitely definitely pushing on Kalan he goes into the hero challenge Hill GRE

The Swiss Rider has the fastest time up here so far Fontana then leer the first non- Italian Rider then two um antip ofans then Pon the D of the uh Norwegian in there as well P an 18th spot yeah’s he’s gradually gradually easing up he’s finding little ways around but it’s a

Real problem there’s only about two or three places on this course course where you can do sensible passing um as frontana goes past bdot there into second spot so still an Italian one 23 at the top but it’s difficult to find places to go past there are occasions

You can go around if you have the speed you can go around these little ramps uh at the moment I tell you what it’s going to be Lu in the girls it’s going to be tough to make a gap because the wind is playing uh a b part of the game and and

The course is fast so I guess it’s going to be tight you know no mistakes has has to be done from the Riders and uh they have to keep going and playing tactics big time so brot for sure is really strong in that ler as well Sagan has

Some chances to come back up in the front I’m not sure how much you know he could he could uh gain but I think he could it could be somewhere in the top top uh you know 10 8 very soon well let’s uh let’s hope let’s see a lot of

People will be watching this because they’re Peter sagon fans uh interesting you know we know what sort of athlete he is on the road Marco just tell us I mean this is not the sort of mountain biking that I would know from from my mountain biking part it’s not like Mountain

Marathon or Enduro with big Hills but it’s completely different what sort of athlete do you have to be to excel in this you have to be powerful of course uh and you have to be you know you have to have the Rhythm because here is all

About the Rhythm you know you could be strong in that uh small bit of the hero challenge you know where you you know it’s like uh 5 seconds or 10 seconds but then you really have to push all over the race you know for like one and a

Half hour so recovery is important and then uh and power is also really important so is also important so well the Italians one two three at the moment uh at the front tip with Fontana pushing on now ahead of kidani and we called up with some Riders yesterday of course Ben

Oliver from New Zealand riding for Denver disruptors the current Oceanic under 23 sorry yeah under 23 champion yeah New Zealand is I just wanted to experience something new look like a epic event and a worked chance to check out a new country and see what it was

All about we’re lucky being from New Zealand it’s summer so been having a good time in New Zealand can’t beat a New Zealand summer and straight into some warm weather here so it’s been really good ah it’s going to be a Furious race out there tracks super fast

I’m really impressed with the job they’ve done and yeah it’s going to be a combination of tical and seeing who’s there near the finish and hard efforts over the hill and keeping it smooth cuz as tricky to get everything right out There well he’s not wrong here’s Oliver it’s more tricky than it would appear on the surface the surface looks fairly calm doesn’t it really but um technical definitely fast absolutely and just that added element of a bit of water being thrown down from the skies today uh but interestingly uh

Marco you know we were talking about it earlier sometimes the rain can make this sort of course actually easier to ride can make it grippier uh in term of grip of course because you know it’s kind of Sandy uh hard compact and uh if if this

Race would be made out of dirt and not sand would be super sleepy at the moment with that little bit of rain on top but but normally the sand is uh is more Compact and grippy uh so yes uh most of the time is is better and I spoke with

Riders and they say absolutely the same I spoke with nadir kolani and Luka bot early on um after a loop practice um just uh couple of Corners as slippery but uh all in all is pretty good so uh it should be should be okay for the

Riders but uh what Ben was saying from New Zealand is that um the the the track in you know dry or wet it is more uh Technical and difficult that what it looks because of the speed because of the Rhythm because of the pace and uh

And yeah I was also mentioning how New Zealand is is playing their role into uh cycling and the moment they’re building a lot of bike parks and uh and lots of riders are you know coming really strong from uh from mountain biking cross country or downhill or Enduro or Road

And one of those Riders is Ethan Rose who was on new front runner here seven times a race winner on the circuit he’s I think two times a junior National Champion oh juggling some one of the Riders uh one of the Spanish Riders I think juggling some gels making

Sure he didn’t drop them he’s really pushing on hard now first time we’ve not seen the Italians right at the front and um uh brot Luca brot the Italian Champion has been sort of distan a little bit pushed back and the pace has really gone up thank you Ethan Rose from

New Zealand and will be saying there s going through oh there’s a long way back 21 seconds back and he doesn’t look comfortable to me no no no no I mean I saw him in the in the short track and it was struggling a bit to

Gain speed so out of the corner it was a bit struggling but I felt today could have been better but not yet not yet let’s see if uh you know that uh Road background comes in and you know by having KS and KS it gets better and better but I tell

You what mountain bikeing cross country nowadays it is tough it is tough even if you’re named you know if your name is Peter sag yeah that’s always the thing isn’t I mean he won’t be I doubt he’ll be feeling the the weight of expectation upon him but of course everybody else

Here is looking at Peter zargon and uh wondering what’s going to go on there’s your top 10 so far you mentioned Lucas PL is um was getting back in there he is he’s 3 seconds back on the leader at the moment Ethan Rose Lucas Fluker is actually the brother of Matias flukiger

Uh World Cup uh World Cup overall winner World Cup winner and uh silver medalist at Olympic Games at world so he’s he’s pretty strong I tell you what it’s looking out over Dubai sorry over Abu all in all sorry um I feel Peter Sagan if it finish in position

Three or 25 it doesn’t matter I mean I think everyone should should be happy to have Peter here and it’s it’s cool to see Peter coming back to cross country mountain biking and and trying hard to you know to to get the best he can but you know we should be happy anyway

Anyway to to have such a you know such a champ such such a legend really cuz I I remember when he was racing two the France and not nothing to you know to take out from uh FR or those guys but I used to say when he was racing to the

Front and winning the the green jersey for me he was the winner of to the front you know he was the guy really that you you know you were following to the front because of him you know because of the attack and and The Descent and the

Craziness you know so Peter is a is is a rock star I I feel no he is the rock star but when I remember um meeting him for the first time years and years and years ago when he just signed class and he was this shy 19yearold but

Always behind the eyes you could see he was calculating he was thinking he wanted it he hardly spoke any English he hardly spoke any Italian and he was just finding his feet but all the ways he wanted it it’s great that he wants to come back to to Mountain Viking and he

Is going to find it difficult everybody who has to make a transition from one thing to another finds it difficult um but he’s have that depth of experience he knows his own body he knows his own abilities and uh you know this sort of Olympic Course once he got his head

Round it should suit him yeah absolutely and uh he this winter really tried to gain some speed in the technique part he he always been a good you know good technique Rider but obviously bikes uh are changing here we see uh nice double from the from the New Zealand guy um so

You know bikes are changing the way of your ride the way of riding of your B is now all the bikes are full suspended and drop a seat post and pretty long and slack head angle so it means you have to ride a bicycle a bit more uh forward

Than what you did in the past you know back in the 90s they always say okay stay behind your seat and you know and you know and kind of keep the weight in the back right now it’s not like this you have to stay kind of uh in the

Center of the bicycle and try to ride your bike with the front end because it’s black and you have to put weight in the front to grip to you know to descent and so on so uh he wanted to and needed some proper training camp in in France

And in South Africa uh I think riding wise he gained something speed wise he still needs to to work on in on on on his yeah they’re very very different device now to when uh even when Peter zagen was riding as a junior but certainly from the last of the 20 odd

Years there that that seat angle is far far way more forward than it would have been uh when he was riding earlier the weight of the rider is being put on the saddle in the middle of the bike rather than further back as it was back as you

Say in the ’90s and those head angles are a lot lot slacker they were getting they one time they were especially at the end of the the rigid uh period and when you were first going into suspension mainly ped by Rock shocks and Mazar and things it was pretty steep

Head angles but now it’s a totally different Beast yeah um funny to see there’s uh C uh game between brot and ler we all know these two are the you know the strongest in the field uh and uh and you’re going to see different guys up in the front

Different guys in the back but you’re going to see the whole race those two uh you know back to back BR do L ler they going to play all the way because they know those two are the that they are the strongest at the moment there two new

Zealanders who are pushing the pace at the front Ben Oliver um and uh Ethan Rose and then there’s bdot and ala just behind him so Swiss and Italian in the third and fourth spot but the two new zealanders are pushing the pace at the front New Zealand again is a good uh

Really good countries for mountain biking and cycling in general uh in the past you know we had some uh really strong uh Road Riders from especially Australia you know having uh those races early on in the season you know like uh few years back but now mountain biking

Is growing so much you know we have a lot of uh uh Red Bull events like crank Works Rua now we have Red Bull Hardline in Tasmania so even you know different uh disciplines like you know downhill and Juro and slope style and so on so and the guys down there that really

Really cool I’ve been to New Zealand and Australia several times I really love the atmosphere and the way they they they love sports you know they do and I mean they’re really they’re relaxed and very serious at the same time I mean we were talking yesterday about the it’s

It’s amazing there aren’t more more Americans at this sort of discipline at this sort of level uh the Australians are always very uh very very serious ler moves up into second spot he was using the two New Zealand as a sort of springboard to get up there and he put

Some distance into brot and brot’s going backwards at the moment and I wonder if there’s a bit of an issue or whether he’s just suddenly feeling the pace there he is 1 2 3 four five back I’m very surprised about that Bela took the took the

Turn Peter Zaron just playing on the on the banks there having a bit of fun yeah went all the way to the to the top of the of the BM and uh normally you do it to get some speed but he’s struggling he’s struggling big time and is just lap

Three of seven it’s going to be tough to make it all the way to the Finish but he needs to you know keep fighting and there’s a little bit of a gap and Oliver and Thomas ler uh obviously uh if you put the pace uh you know if you put the

Hammer down you can make a gap but I thought it would have been uh kind of more a close race but Ben Oliver is in big shape And then trying his best to you know make a gap of to obviously if they could do like a two three men’s uh

Uh race up in the top you know they could play together and in a race like this they could you know make some some gaps and some work together a bit like on the road a bit like on on the crits like we spoke before he’s the current

Oceanic Champion B Oliver this is the hero challenge climb a bit of a flyer up there that’s hard work getting up there look at Ben Oliver is pushing on a just using that he been sitting behind him not not taking the face at all he just

Sit there let him drag him out if he can stick on the wheel of Ben Olivera who yeah yeah that’s the first time we’ve seen something there and you can’t afford to lose the wheel on this course oh I think Ethan Rose has seen that now and uh it’s chasing

After so what happened here it happened that the the sand they pulled with the with the tires you know they were carrying with the tires after this little left hand was kind of uh L into the that hard compact terrain and then it gets slippy they could even lose the

Front but we just saw luckily uh the real Wheels uh spinning Mama M Ben Oliver flat out unbelievable Al is chasing chasing chasing he’s lost a bit of time not sure Ben Oliver can keep that up over another four laps that’s for sure but um you never know you never

Know and Ethan Rose is out of the s trying to chase looks like he’s giving it absolutely everything which I think is I don’t know maybe a bit of a mistake at this point he got a lot of racing still to go which is working his way

Back up onto that wheel a b all of having had a bit of a a slide out there and as you say it’s it’s a case of it’s almost like you smearing sand on tarmac isn’t it you got one hard pack surface being uh uh sprinkled with something

Soft flat out from Oliver and ler has to get back in the wheel because he’s going to save energy you know that this is a proper attack and lard look he he’s trying to close the gap but still not completely in the back wheel of Ben

Oliver and they’re going to go for lap number four of seven here is Peter S he’s a minute down of Ben Oliver he’s he’s using this as a as a as a not a training ride but an experienced ride now there’s no way that he’s going to

Figure in the uh in the top three or maybe even in the top 10 now but uh he’s a long way back but he’s got a learn again very smart Oliver and ler getting you know the the bottle even though they were attacking is really important to drink

And to get the gel because it is a proper race you know it doesn’t look warm but it is warm and and you really need to drink and get some gels so top two they are pushing a little bit big gap little small Gap sorry on on Ros

Navto a young Italian from U23 world champion yeah that’s a good ride by him he’s uh got onto the the wheel of Ethan Rose pass Luca brot past Fontana he’s worked his way through the field he’s gained about four or five places which is good riding goes kaste the Spanish

Rider now this is an area that we may see some uh some real action towards the end if they come down to a mass Sprint because it’s a it’s a hairpin turn into the final 50 m or so uh we saw yesterday in the amateur races of course they’re

Way near experien as these guys but we had we saw some guys going flat out into the heing bed and then straight into the barriers on the other side they just overcooked it but it happens uh at a really top level in the British travel championships a couple of years ago it’s

Exactly what happened the top three Riders together um and in fact the third place Rider took the took the crown because the first two were fighting each other into the last corner and ran into the barriers so you know it’s like a school boy era right at the end the last

Place you want to do it cycling though a lot of things can happen yeah interesting we saw the top two um still gaining some seconds and the group I think behind kind of closing uh each other look at the the real whe spinning that was a big Spin and good save by

Thomas leer who’s a really uh professional and very good skilled cross country swis Rider yeah I think he was that back wheel was still off the ground wasn’t it he was he was already pedaling when the back wheel was off the ground it got to the back got back on the

Ground again it’s SP out there he is he’s back I know it you know I know ler pretty well and I know he would not give a hand to Ben Oliver he’s in the wheel and not uh you know not wasting any energy even though he could you know

Easily give a you know give a pull as well but he is not he is just saving energy br’s M Swiss big shout out to our camera bike rider as well look there he is third spot he’s got to stay stay with these guys that’s not a job I’d want to

Do no and obviously he doesn’t ride around all the time with him but that’s pretty good going yeah yeah and I guess he doesn’t have any uh money if he finish top three so no no need to stay in touch gets paid the mega salary from

Of a a camera bike rider you see this a great shot from the Drone you can see about this flowing aspect of the course it’s left right left right up down up down this is one of the few sections when you can actually really just before

The Rocks when you can overtake and now you’re into sort of little single track you can’t really get through uh there more than one at a time it’s going to be not easy for the second group to chase back uh the two leaders because on a

Fast course 56 seconds is a lot so if Thomas ler uh helps a little bit Ben Oliver uh I think uh the race will be uh decided by these two if not well then we could see something uh different so just just talk us through that you’ve just

Said if leer helps him out I mean lots of people who watch road racing they’ll understand the concept of groups of riders working together to help each other but it’s it’s slightly different here how does it work it’s slightly different but uh not much into a race

Like this this like like we said uh just 70 M of uh altitude climbing in in this race means it is still super tough but it’s a lot flat and there’s a lot of wind um so you know helping is is important and if you are Ben Oliver in

The lead you could say look you know you don’t want to push I was the guy that made the Gap and I could be the guy that now slows down if you don’t want to push well no problem I wait the group is back together again and I can do another push

You know so uh and ler is an experienced rider so he doesn’t want to spend any energy look at right do really in pain in pain that’s it he’s gone yeah he’s gone and it doesn’t look like he wants to push anymore he’s just cruising really yep that looks like he’s blown to

Me yeah but uh we shall see uh for those of you are not familiar with the the tech and the bikes and so on on this race you never seen it before do not worry the front fork leg of Ben ol’s bike has not fallen off that is a

Canondale lefty that is just one Fork on that single-sided Hub fixing yeah I was racing for Canada for for many years and now I’m racing and riding for Scot bikes uh and I tell you what that work uh that that fork works and uh we used to say

You know is like uh a Ducati you know a Ducati has a a rear uh single uh piece so you know it works single-sided swing on yeah single yeah yeah uh L is just letting Ben Oliver do all the work at the moment there’s still three laps to

Go um maybe the Gap is coming down a little bit but it looks like it in this section always because this is the technical section uh high on the burm for Ben Oliver trying to get as much speed as possible into this climb that’s beautiful riding oh Le is strong he’s

Strong he’s just sitting there he’s just sitting there yeah absolutely absolutely uh and and but I have to say Ben Oliver is not pushing at the moment he to that look how fast they go down this descent uh Oliver knows that lard doesn’t want to push and so he’s kind of riding

Racing and and see what what happens so I think uh you know they’re playing both they’re playing both and again New Zealand is a strong community of strong Riders we’ve seen uh s gay winning uh silver silver medalist at uh um at World Championship in in UK in Glasgow where

Pitk won and I tell you uh gase is strong he could you know he was actually the fastest during the last lap so uh New Zealand is a big big uh country for for man Bank racing and I think Ben Oliver is one of these kid that can play a big role on

It yeah I think they are definitely coming back behind him but they’re having to work hard the other two are just sort of cruising but it is a bit like Road riding in the sense is a little bit of a dangerous game you do not want too many of the ultra

Experienced Ultra strong Riders to catch you to be with you because uh then you’ll end up with a group of five six oh hang on a minute this is look FL oh no no no no no this is not yeah I think he had a flat tire or yeah cuz he’s kind

Of ug yeah of Austria was the fastest man up the challenge climb at one point he’s not fastest anywhere at the moment looked like dropper post was stuck as not sure we didn’t see no well the picture so it’s so great to watch top mountain bike riders the same as cyc cross Riders

You just the it’s a beautiful thing to watch they are so fluid yeah yeah yeah agree I agree I was racing for many many years to comp in three Olympic Games and uh and when you’re racing you know you don’t really I mean you feel the speed

You love it and and it’s nice and now we watching the the the split of the man Elite Oliver ler list and Ethan Rose V philipo Fontana but uh when you when you stop racing then you know you uh you kind of think like well it was cool but

So many things are cool in life I do something different and then when you come back and see what the guys do and this is what exactly what you did in the past it looks wonderful and I used to say when you go and watch live the start

Of a world Champs or World Cup you kind of you know like uh uh like you shaking you know you kind of man this is impressive and I think if actually if you’ve not ridden well anybody who’s raced at any level but when you ride at the really top level uh when that

Happens to you and you go back to that it’s it’s a feeling you can’t tell anybody but you don’t unless you’ve done it it’s it’s difficult to to to to describe I remember my first Grand World Cup race years and years and years ago and I remember I lined up on the front

With all the big stars of that period oh uh Ryder pulling out that’s uh Gregor pulling out interesting we should you know talk with these guys afterwards and see what happened you know if they really the rhythm is so high that then you you you have an explosion you know I

I don’t understand I think some of the Riders are exactly doing that our camera rer gets on the back there sprinting I think it’s exactly what’s happen they just you know the pace is very very high but also I think if some of these guys have got any technicals any technical

Difficulties the pace is so high that some of them go well I’m not going to be in the top 10 for prize money I’m not going to get any points particularly maybe I’ll just stop here maybe they just don’t feel so good yeah I mean UCI

Point for C1 here in Abu Dhabi oh maybe has cramps or something lcab maybe had a crash we didn’t see yet but he’s not able to keep racing no no he was he was suffering at at one point earlier but uh the strongest possibly the strongest rider in the race

Apart from this man in second place here Le they’re pretty much on a par out of the race the Italian national champion that is big big news for this race oh my I really that’s a surprise yeah it’s a surprise yeah absolutely here we see filipo Fontana which is at the moment

The best Italian in the race as I said he comes from a good uh short but good cycle across season he compet at the Cy worlds in Tabor and the guy camera guy pulled out um so he’s in in good position but the other Italians are kind of struggling at the moment except

For Aon he’s doing really well yeah uh for a young guy he’s doing very well indeed Le I tell you what Ben Oliver looks more comfortable than Mama Mia yes that’s a big gap that’s a big gap and as I told you before if uh you

Know if they play a bit together the Gap can only grow even though again L five so three to go and he still Ben Oliver let’s see if L goes up in the front he has to but he doesn’t do it he does not do it you know I think there was a

Little bit of a look behind there going hey come on there was almost the road flick of the elbow saying come on come and do some work come and help me out here uh but he didn’t but he declined to do so so I mean ssses are tough

To compete to I tell you there the reason why they win so much they know exactly what to do and when to do it I mean nter is uh you know the greatest of all time winning you know World Champs Olympic gold silver bronze and all these

Titles and uh and yeah they know how to play they do they always did look get back in uh back in Pace he he looked like he was pulling out but then he’s back in the in you know in the game cuz I was saying that in a C1 race

Top 15 guys they make they make points so it’s important to you know finish in top 15 to make UCI points we saw Luka brot pulled out the brot you saw coming over the line there so you’re not confused is danieli brot the twins I bet Luca wishes he had Daniel’s

Legs today because uh Daniel is in this group this is for the podium this is for position number three and the race at the moment it doesn’t look like anybody’s going to close these two down because they’re looking very comfortable look at this synchronized yeah perfectly synchronized but this you know it tells

You exactly that they are on point getting the bottle getting the gels and you know starting for another lap uh this is what cross country mountain biking is is also all about you know knowing how much carbo you have to take you know how much drinks and everything first

Time first time the Swiss takes the uh the first position doing a bit of work now but all of will be happy with that they’re looking behind swapping over again already yeah now yeah it’s like on the road you know as you said you know

When you give a push but you give it for like 50 m just then you go off again yeah yeah he been getting some coaching from the RO hey maybe maybe I just said maybe Ben Oliver is really on a great shape and he has more in a tank you know this could

Be possible but again I know the Swiss I know ler they they played smart they played smart so let’s see well the Gap um down to the chasing Riders looked a little bit less visually and we shall see if that’s actually the case when we get a Time

Split but uh here we go Look sneaky that’s sneaky do you know what Ben Ben Oliver Ben Oliver looks over his shoulder to see where the chasing Riders are Thomas leer sees him do it and takes the opportunity to drop back again to let Ben Oliver take the pace oh that’s crafty love the manual of Ben Oliver

That is very good in technical skills as well maning is when you know you pass W with one wheel the rear wheel obviously and you decided not to kind of um follow the ways not to doubling but manualing the the the jumps yeah here the Two Italians avto and filipo

Fontana same C name but we comes from different places myself and filipo but happy to see my surname somewhere up at the top of course even though I’m sitting and and commentating with you there’s one guy missing as uh as I saw in the picture there were four the group

Of Chas Ethan Rose has dropped off Ethan Rose the other New Zealander who put in a really really big effort to push back a was aand in there I didn’t see David L David List the the German that’s a good ride by him uh in this chasing group I

Mean they don’t seem to be making any ground all but there’s a particular uh group of Chasers there list going through aond and Fontana there is Ethan Rose there he is back future racing racing which is uh kind of a side team side team uh uh compared to

Track Factory racing which is the official track team you know where the big dogs are yoland danf you know Olympic champion and then uh um a lot of other uh strong names in in the cycling business track future racing is a smaller team let’s say where you know yeah ex

Yeah so all of these Riders I’ve not seen a rider um there was one in the uh the the women’s race but I haven’t seen any of the men riding hard taals on this at all I could it’s an option but the problem is when you’re choosing your

Your bike you’ve got to make you’ve got to stick to your choice haven’t you once you’ve said I’m going to ride a hardel that’s it even if the weather conditions change well let’s say in the World Cup uh the the bike you peak in the short track has

To be the bike you use you use uh in the in the in the elite race cross country race uh not sure here uh so what what it means it means that you know if there’s a really F oh another little mistake uh for for ler um

If if you you know you have a short track which is really really fast you pick a hard tail then you have to take the hardel for the race on Sunday uh here you have to mention that if you train the whole year with a full suspension bike well you know choosing

The hardel it is an option but of course you’re not going to be as good in technique you know in in energy spent on this bike how much it you know it cost you to ride this bike for the whole race so anybody’s used to riding uh mainly in

Jro or downhill mountain for mention mountain bikes wouldn’t know what’s hit them if they ride one of these they weigh next to nothing these bikes what 8 and 1 half 9 to 9 and 1/2 kilos these bikes yeah so now two hard Tails I think

The Spanish guy is on a heart from BH Cola team and as well Lucas fluk the only two riders in the top let’s say 1520 racing a hardel but I also have to say that the cola team I mean the ba has a good heart and you know the leader of

The of the team is a is an experienced rider and he’s racing he has been racing the heart for so long so he top of the challenge sorry to interrupt did he pull a pedal I think he might have pulled a pedal coming around here what did he do

No he lost the front he lost the front again so you know possibly possibly I love this word in English possib possibly uh he could be a little bit hard on pressure cuz we didn’t see any other Riders like having like a you know um losing traction you know talk us talk

Us through tire pressure here I mean the what are the advantages and disadvantages of running on a higher or lower pressure compared to the the terrain and the weather so obviously terrain being hard you want to have a harder uh tire pressure to have a better rolling especially here that you don’t

Have a lot of climbing so you don’t need that much traction in case of of dry obviously uh now that is a bit wet you know especially in places of having a hard pressure means uh uh it’s more slippery so you know a lower pressure uh gives you more traction obviously uh

Front and rear cuz we saw ler uh losing the front and losing the rear it means to me you know to me just as a look that it could be a little bit uh higher in in pressure compared to to com compared to the competitors this could as an

Adventure as an advantage uh could uh could give him more you know less less um effort uh you know like less energy spent in in the race but I mean he doesn’t have to do any other mistakes because uh one big mistake could cost him a lot I think Ben Oliver will not

Wait for him no I don’t think so interesting I think when I look at Lea pedaling as well I think he’s push his gearing is slightly higher uh than Ben Olivers Ben oliv’s Cadence is a little bit quicker than leechers I don’t know whether that’s always a personal

Preference have a look here again no no oh yeah but look it’s slippy again yeah it’s hard it’s hard impress hard yeah impr pressure are they riding tubless or tubular here they’re all in in tubless yeah uh back in the days you know when like let’s say all the way till 200 10ish

98 uh there was a lot of tubulars in involving cross country uh obviously tu rers are uh the choice for cycle cross and sometimes on the road um but then you know tires really got better and better especially when we had 29ers so with 29ers we had uh and we have more

Grip up in the front so more uh you know more uh Tire touching the terrain so that’s why then we we swap everyone swap from from tubers to to tuas yeah and I mean tuer means you have to glue the tide to the Rain it’s easier to pinch

Flat you know now having all this uh um Rocky section in the World Cups funny to see sorry if I keep talking and talking and talking but funny to see how how in in in this section leard always lose time and you know why it’s because having a higher

Tire pressure in this past uh Corners you know especially if there’s um a bit less grip then it’s the risk to lose the front is high and if you lose the front on a fast corner while you go down hard that’s why all the time you lose time

Here yeah and as we get to the technical section as it slows down a bit he’ll get back onto that wheel of B Oliver I’m I’m very impressed by Oliver uh he’s he’s taken control of this race from very early on and has continued that control and only Thomas leer can go with

Him and I think Ben oliv is looking comfortable he’s looking over his shoulder to see where the chase Riders are both of them taking a bit of a drink again oliv a little bit longer last but not least if they come to a Sprint Finish Well you know a

Higher tie pressure especially on this tight Corners is going to be tough to to control huh I mean uh ler has to drop the uh the New Zealand guy before the last bit because I think if uh Oliver wants to make an attack as you know in a

Breaking Point or an overtake on the outside he’s he has an advantage on on tires at least L who’s chasing five time National Champion great ride 23 he’s he’s doing really really well he’s only 25 years of age but you know as another 23 he’s an absolutely

Stoning Rider and I think by might be closing the Gap just a little bit I’m not sure he’s got enough time to reach the leading two but he’s certainly securing third place for himself at the moment be great he could catch these two but I’m not sure they’re going to let

Him yeah not sure uh again like we said a few like couple of of laps to go it’s going to depend a lot on how they want to play this two you know if they slow down a little bit if Oliver decide you know uh have the you know the ler um

To help him a little bit then well depends if ler wants to help then there’s a chance that uh that they going to be you know gone till the Finish Line if not well we’ll see cuz sometimes you know uh at some point you get you you go

Mad you know you’re like uh can you give me a help and then if if you don’t have any help you go mad you’re like okay I stop you know what I stop yeah I stop I don’t care I know exactly that’s cuz you know you are in pain you know you’re

You’re you’re uh you’re giving your best and you’re like give me Just One Look look at that they’re slowing down big time they are I don’t I’m not really sure what’s going on here I I’m not really sure why they’d want other Riders to catch them at this point

They’ve worked so hard to get an advantage and I I’m just wondering I mean on the road you would say perhaps Ben Oliver was was thinking to himself you know what I don’t see why I should do all this work I’m doing all the work

Here Lea’s not not helping me why why am I doing all this work I’ll just wait and see if these other guys can come back in the meantime I can have a bit of a rest put uh put The Frighteners on leer and then maybe I’ll put the hammer down

Again but um I don’t know different here yeah different uh but uh again and again and again ler is from Switzerland and he knows how to play well the game so um so I think he’s waiting and waiting and spending less energy and uh you know he’s playing smart he’s playing

Smart even though even though you know obviously if you give a hand is helpful uh helpful for for for you as well but I think lard know ex knows exactly that the guy in third position is not a challenge for him so why you know think about your ler you know you’re really

Fast in the Sprint you know you make a gap you made a gap and you know position three is is you know non really in the position to to fight against you on the screen so you could also say look you know what I’ll wait I wait on the wheel

I wait what happened you know you do the job you spend the energy and then in the end we see this is what ler is doing at the moment so going through Ben Oliver’s mind I imagine there he going well you know what it’s clear he’s not going to

Come through and do much more work we’re just going to have to I’m just going to sit here and I’ll just carry on plugging away well I’m not sure whether you know ler is great in the Sprint he’s learned from the best he’s learned from n shur uh

Even going further back than that you know going back through the whole Swiss gamut of riders right back to Thomas fish and that dynasty there were you know the Swiss have always been absolutely fantastic of this sort of thing and a great cyclocross tradition as well which gives them this sort of

Speed Advantage but uh yeah David List well he looked like he was making some ground he doesn’t look like he is anymore so um he’s trying to secure his place in third yeah the thing is at the first part of the race which is the most rolling one uh

The guys that were like looking at each other slowing down the pace and of course he was making round but now they get into the technical section and it doesn’t matter if you’re first or second you can push and no one you know if you’re in the back wheel you don’t gain

Anything really so they they push because otherwise they just lose time you know this was four five and six aand Ethan Rose and Fontana sorry no I just thinking about that you know we’re not lucky with the weather today but amateur has been lucky because with this weather

They would have struggled Big Time e because I mean if the pros they’re struggling a bit with weather with traction and everything I mean just imagine what would have happened yesterday I don’t want I don’t want to imagine it thank you so you can see that the some of

These wooden sections there is an alternative line around the outside they’re allowed to take because um obviously wooden boards log boards just get very slippery luckily the rain stopped and we have more traction uh now but uh but yeah up the challenge climb again Ben Oliver ahead of leea no slippage

There for him this time around fastest Rider up this particular slope of any any category amateur or professional men and women’s get a th000 EUR over the weekend he looks tired now yeah yeah you know he’s the only guy in the top let’s say 10 that is by himself since two laps

And again the win plays the win plays part of the game and uh it’s not easy to stay just by yourself two enemies of cycling wind wind and weight yeah if you way too much or there’s too much wind then that’s it so true so true but

Honestly the wind is the worst I mean when the wind is strong is so tough I mean can be can be bad or can be good sometimes you go 50ks an hour you know in the flat and like man I’m really strong I should register for TT World champs yeah that’s fantastic difficult

On a course like this though cuz you’re always turning into and out of the wind yeah yeah yeah exactly I did a i I remember doing a a dinner once where I was invited and I got up there early and I went out on my bike and thought I’ll do a couple of

Hours and I thought I’m flying I’m in really good shape and then I turned around to go back and realized I had a Tailwind uh blowing at about 40 km an hour and it took me forever to get back remember interesting to see that also in

The men’s race we’re going to go all the way to the last lap to the last lap to see who’s going to take the win and the big prize money it’s New Zealand and Switzerland up in the front the swits is fantastic uh Tradition at World Cup World Championship level um of this

CrossCountry shorter cross country racing and even further back as I say back to the Thomas fishnick and so forth you know just brilliant uh in the longer format races as well um and New Zealand uh they’ve been you know a force in mountain biking for years and years now but they’ve all come

Off a good season they’ve come off their summer their training season and V Oliva is making the most of it just the 1 second separating him and Thomas ler of Switzerland David list at 16 seconds and 36 back to Ethan Rose he’s with Simone evand and philipo

Fontana and look the sun has finally come out as we look over Abu Dhabi that’s the skyline you see from behind this this complex which is truly impressive really um they have put so much much time and effort behind making this an international standard Park and

We have a world class race here an Olympic qualifying race this will just get better and better over the years it’s newly made it’s newly planted so it looks pretty raw but the complex here is absolutely fantastic they’re wanting to bring top level absolutely top level

Tennis here they get a build of a Vel Drome uh not only a vome with a track inside but they’re also going to build second track on the roof there’s a huge long km Road circuit here then Oliver putting the hammer down what is happening to this day my all the time

Like we said before in the last part of the race Oliver was a bit stronger than ler we don’t know if it’s about traction if it’s uh about I don’t know shape or energy left but Oliver is putting the hand up hammer down that’s the move that’s the

Move it’s not bad it’s not bad his cot guys in third he’s doing all right he’s doing okay I’d be happy with that mind you I’d be happy with 73rd to be fair Oliver having a little bit of a gap right now and is pulling the trigger

With one to go in about 7 800 uh met is going to go on the last lap and he wants to make sure to be solo to the Finish Line yeah I think so Ben Oliver’s got a big Advantage now that’s a good good Gap now what’s happened is ler

Blown not sure I didn’t see any mistakes I mean we’ve seen though couple of uh couple of mistakes from the Swiss but uh not anymore so I guess it’s just about speed shape energy left and let’s see if um de list from Germany can close the gap with with ler for for second

Position that is a big possibility I mean if if ler has has suddenly hit the wall gone bang you know that he can he can be caught by this if L’s got the energy there obviously he was looking hard we we saw you know thought we saw FL also a little bit some

Of the guys just like pulling out or like struggling with with speed so we’re going to see for sure I mean Oliver as you said earlier in the day he looked comfortable he looked good and and you know kind of always in control and look at that yeah perfect super smooth

Transition from uh sand to T just so smooth H yeah L doesn’t look as comfortable on it on the transitions now is not going to catch him I don’t think but even so I mean we have to say that you know for the whole race ler wasn’t helping uh

Wasn’t helping uh um Ben Oliver Ben Oliver and maybe that’s the reason why I mean he was kind of struggling a bit [Applause] more flat out flat out look at the smile well yes smile yeah we call it in English we call it a grimace yeah yeah

True Grit your teeth and go look at this kid he’s doing all right hey only 25s yep that’s a good that’s good he may be looking up there going he you know what I’m Here it’s uh Ethan Rose Fontana and aand they’ve a nice little group of themselves oh bit of a stretch by Fontana I tell you what these guys are top athletes and all of them have found it difficult today this is a fast race absolutely this is really this really

Gives you uh like you can understand how tough this race is you know sometimes we’ve been talking about okay it’s a bit more uh too fast or running or on la la la but all in all look at those you know they’re struggling and they are top top

Athletes yeah from all over the world you know Spain South Africa New Zealand Australia we see guys from you know uh yes Spain like all over the place India Mexico uh Iran we’ got everybody Kazakhstan we got everybody here and again price money is really big

And uh UCI points is really important is an Olympic year and and this I mean look at that look at the images this is you know a place that really hosts sport in a good way and uh and our think you know is growing more and more yeah he’s pushing he’s pushing on

Ben Oliver is pushing on but he’s looking comfortable this man isn’t Thomas ler has uh for some in some reason blown maybe he maybe had a um a little bit of a mistake we didn’t see it but to me he doesn’t look very comfortable now he he looks like he’s

Really gritting his teeth digging in and trying to stay as close to benover as possible but you see he’s he’s as you say he’s maning those jumps whereas Ben oliv is straight over the yeah kind of smooth you know L is just struggling and uh yeah Oliver honestly he’s impressing

Me impressing me all the time in control riding smooth he’s a former under 23 uh cross there you are see cross country Champion uh Ben Oliver he’s the current Oceanic Champion which is pretty important because I I know a lot of guys dressing Gan Championship it is like uh

Uh a proper race you know it’s not just like one of these titles that you know they uh you can you can gain but it’s it’s really uh they they really want it you know they really want it Anton Cooper for example another New Zealand Rider from track Factory racing we

Mentioned before you know they other team of uh of track the International Factory racing team with uh vlood as well Red Bull helmet I have to say but all of just look so smooth technically he’s been Flawless today he’s not put a wheel wrong has he absolutely absolutely and

Uh we kind of you know cuz we we didn’t really mention it but uh we had a lot of rain uh like in the morning yeah the girls uh had a the girls have um had a different uh terrain a bit more lick Lippy uh the guy started out with a kind

Of uh 50/50 terrain where now it looks more dry it looks faster it looks easier to ride and I think Oliver we didn’t see him uh at the beginning of the race kind of not doing any mistake or push or something and now you know the track went faster

And faster it just you know improved lap by lap and just R smooth that’s interesting he just flying over these Rock sections as well they will be drying out as will the log sections and look at him L is just yeah he’s just digging in now um you can see in the

Whole way he’s holding his body he’s sort of hunched over the bars now his body’s tense and like Ben Oliver who’s really sort of nice and uh and flowing and de de list is not going to catch him he’s doing well yeah I think he gained some time pretty confident on

That cuz he was 7 Seconds back Ben Oliver and uh ler and 26 uh back so 20 seconds was the gap between second and third I think it’s smaller now I guess around 10 or something well that’ll be interesting still got a bit to go this is lap seven

Of seven look at that just he looks like he’s on a Sunday ride now yeah and now went also all the way to that uh to that section which they didn’t uh road before in the in the w m i smoth up now this’s Hill last time

Around on the hero challenge this deep climb takes as far up the BM as possible gets as much speed to shot on himself down into it up because oh yes he wants the money he wants the money I love it show me the money I love it 20 is not

Enough I go for 21 love it now look the difference between the two now yeah yeah oh yeah it was seven now it’s 17 struggle struggle struggle 17 seconds and let’s see how far back David list is now he’s uh coming into this section we’re going to miss him there he

Is he gains himself five hey it’s not so bad 15 16 no less than that yeah 12 13 seconds oo it’s going to be tight yeah you know he could I didn’t think he was going to catch him but he could he could if he goes flat out and once he to lose

Yeah nothing nothing the fourth place guy is not going to catch him just go yeah yeah sure and you know we mention a lot the road just because of this fast rolling course you know when you come from the back always always is uh you know is uh

It’s easier to to make the Gap you know yeah yeah you’ve got something to chase you got something to see and as we mentioned before there’s a lot of prize money on offer here that’s why they’re fighting for position four four five and six one there our lead up from our drone

Onto the bridge section burn Oliver of New Zealand current Oceanic Champion I was thinking about that we had an Australian winner in the girls and now we looking for a New Zealand winner in them boys y just goes to show they come off their summer they’re always

Competitors oh so smooth flying long and smooth yeah really great I’m glad to see Spectators on the side of the of the race because you know seeing such a such a smooth ride and and Race by Ben Oliver you know just tells you if you’re are

Like a an amateur you know racing and riding mountain biking and when you see such a a beautiful action you know is always nice you know you’re like ah okay this is how they do it oh he’s not going to get the Thousand though the Swiss are getting their

Revenge he was waiting the last lap to Doo love it he got the he got the fastest rug that is got the fastest Ascent on lap two and now he’s taking it back again on the last lap there we go Ben Oliver just uh just Gliding Over these obstacles the New Zealander the

Oceanic Champion he is going to take it an absolutely emphatic Victory 28 years of age now second place we think is going to go to Thomas Leu who standing his wheel for such a long time the lapier mavic unity Rider he’s uh uh bronze medalist in the world championships back in

22 but super experienced rider he’s been in the shadow of some uh some very great riders for quite a while but time to shine yeah not today though unfortunately not today I’m inan Shine and second but not for not for gold not for gold yeah as you said uh Switzerland

Has so many big names you know n shter Matias fluk and so on so not an easy one no it’s not easy at all to be Swiss you know to go to Olympics or World Champs but ler has been one of the best in his country I think he looks a bit

More comfortable again maybe he’s got a little bit more um his energy back look look look look he’s not going to catch him but yeah he catched up again some seconds I think it’s less than 10 it’s possible Rich looking a little less uh hunched over the bike than he was

Perhaps he’s got it does happen sometimes you know sometimes you’re just going full gas you’re going at 101% and uh that’s just too much and then you can throttle back a little bit and and recuperate even at this speed you get a little bit of recovery in some sort of way

I love that this guys that cannot hold the speed with the leader please Slow Down slow down yeah no way look at how he flies you know yeah Oliver one gun it’s a hard job following with a camera bike yeah don’t try this at Home Folks Oliver just grand grand

Here we go then it’s coming into the final curves the final turns of this inaugural hero Abu abui hadat Island Ben Oliver of New Zealand the oceanic Champion he looks super calm all the way through this is going to be a super super Victory love it he’s raced brilliantly he’s ridden literally all

The opposition off his wheel here we go Victory and 20,000 and 60 qualifying points for the Olympics go to Ben Oliver of New Zealand what a masterful race fantastic absolutely brilliant yeah brilliant we we love to see uh the rde of uh Ben Oliver and now second place

Finisher from Switzerland this is Thomas Lucha 35 years of age the LA mavic Unity ride makes his way out of the final turn to take second slightly disappointed but to be honest he was just ridden ridden off the wheel that’s that was the way of it take second Place and congratulates Ben Oliver that’s a great race for the third place main David list from Germany and he wasn’t that far behind after all as you said Marco you almost got there by the third place place on the podium great race for the youngster absolutely on cot bikes

Okay in third so we have three different Nation first second and third and now we’re going to see the fight for position four it’s going to go to another New Zealand guy e Rose well Ethan Rose took a lot of uh put a lot of energy into it early on

AO font great race from the Italian that are a minute back is a long way back hey yeah just imagine how tough is this race yeah and again another Sprint I guess another Sprint for position seven goes to difficult to see Mell bra vanil take second the South African from M McConnell Daniel

Brot and Sal slow lookas to the finish and another Italian to make small amount of points nadir kolani first of the Santa Cruz Rock shock team which oh nice one get in there get in there you know I told you at at first the big fight is for position you know

20 or something always and let’s see the finish line is going to be interesting to see if someone comes out Sideways from the last corner it’s a Sprint finish for position 15 last point the last Points y New Zealand doing a great uh race yeah the Santa Cruz team I think will be a little bit disappointed this time around unfortunately absolutely absolutely they did well on the girls but really not on point and we didn’t know uh what happened uh we don’t know

Yet what happened to lot but he we know he pulled out we saw some images he pulled out of the race mid race roughly yeah yeah so he looked like he was suffering after sort of lap two lap to lap three he so dropped a big amount

Maybe was a maybe there was something physical yeah yeah there we go that’s our winner Ben Oliver just hanging around talking to Thomas Lia second place man guys move out of the picture please guys move out of the picture thank you confirmation of the result then Ben

Oliver of New Zealand in 1 hour 1743 Thomas leecher 28 seconds back on him but only 12 seconds down from him was David list of Germany great ride by him Ethan Rose pulling it out the bag to get fourth spot Simone aant Philip vont Johan Vil takes a seventh spot moving

Down the last of the points go to Matt Wilson 2 minutes and 24 seconds down to 15th Place Long Way Down Gustaf Pon made a lot of the early running 20th overall in the end um first of our hard tail Riders at 12th spot I think there

But uh this really tells you a lot about the race you know with all well we thought I knew it you knew it but maybe someone thought okay it’s going to be an easy race it is not I mean look at the gaps gaps were big hey gaps were big

Yeah the gaps were very big some tired legs there yeah P Fu out from uh Norway is a new into the Sant girl rock show team but the gaps were really big actually bigger than girls yeah it reminded me well we talking about the girls looked like a Criterion

Race this to me looked more like a cych cross race little Gap two there one there one there one there brilliant ride by Ben oliv it’s so understated isn’t it that New Zealand shirt just a white thing with a bit of fern on the back you know yeah

Yeah I think surely we’ll see Peter Sagen crossing the fin Finish Line I hope we’re going to get some image images because Peter hold on tight for the you know the whole race and uh we just just seen him cross the line here haven’t we in front of our cometry box

Uh looking tired I have to say looking very tired but you know he hung in there he didn’t didn’t pull out there were there were plenty of Champions in the past you’ve seen try do a race and they get tailed off and then they pull out

Absolutely I mean he needed to you know he needs to keep racing making points making experience making you know your legs tough and tight yeah like you used to but in a different way and uh and if you don’t do so I mean you’re never going to you know uh get better and

Better here we go pet Sagen oh my word he looks very tired indeed yeah that’s that’s I can see that in his that’s the same look I saw when I met him he was 19 it’s like what the hell and yeah he’s getting used to

That I think I mean we saw him I think we have the winner coming up now I think we’ve managed to grab an Oliver at the line well on Friday after the uh after the short tracker finished I spoke to this man and he was disappointed cuz he

Said I could have won that Ben Oliver you have one the xco race here at hero ABA you have smashed it how do you feel oh I feel unreal I came here thinking I might have a shot at winning and super impressed with the course here

Absolutely loved it and just put my head down and just went as hard as I could I I mean New Zealand it’s a tiny country but my goodness you keep producing some of the best mountain bikers in the world Commonwealth Games you got the the silver but is this your biggest ever

Result do you think yeah probably on the world stage the the riders that are here like it’s a mini World Cup really so to be able to ride away from that group of riders just super awesome way to start the year and kind of sets me up to do

Some more mountain biking this year and we know you’ve got a fast finish but was it was it in your mind maybe from Friday that I don’t want to leave this to a Sprint I want to just smash it oh the first two laps today was just like

People trying to take each other as well I was like I’ll test them see if I if I go harder see what happens and Road away with ler and I was like this is much more in control in my favor and just keep riding away so it was Unreal and uh

Are you uh maybe throwing your hat in the ring for Paris I mean obviously give it a nudge we’ve got some pretty good kiwis with Anton and Sam but love to put my name in the Hat too and yeah see what happens in the next few months and

Lastly a word for Ethan the boys have all delivered what a great uh great weekend for New Zealand yeah What a wicked trip to AB I mean even didn’t really matter what the result was it was still a wicked trip and for me and Ethan

To get top five I think and Matt not too far behind like what a way to end the trip so has it been your first time here yeah first time and yeah it’s really lived up to expectations it’s an unreal spot and I definitely hope to come back

In the future coming back as defending Champion so congratulations to you Ben Oliver your Exo men’s Champion here at hero Abu Dhabi thanks cheers guys woohoo his hat in the ring for Olympic selection I think he’s uh I think he’s done so today that was uh super

Smooth you know what uh what I love about Q is first of all they feel the community you know what you know he spoke about his race and then straight away he spoke about his his his mate you know and and the whole uh you know and

And Sam gay and Anon Cooper and uh and it’s cool and then he also said I love the course he didn’t say yeah it’s nice those kiwis are super pumped about M Mak I love it you know I love this Vibe and feeling they have it’s fantastic I think

We’ve got ler now see how the Swiss feels after being put in second place well we’re joined Now by our bronze medalist here at hero ABA Davi David list of the Lex where man and B Team DAV you got to be pleased with that result yeah of course it was the first

Race of the seasons you you always not know where you stand and I’m happy with my race so in the second lap uh where the tempo gots higher I was a little bit in the back and then I had to chase hard to come back but yeah it was a good one

For the first race and even even though we switched to European weather for today uh still enjoyed yourself out here in Abu Dhabi yeah of course so in Germany we have like 0 deg and snow or rain and and like 18° and rain it’s not that hard also I didn’t expect expect it

This year it was super fun to race oh congratulations to you bronze medal we’ll see you on the podium and the best of luck for this season yeah thank you and also thank you for the went and everything around apologies I thought it was going

To be Thomas leer but it was D list I tell you what that was a great ride by the youngster I mean did doesn’t look old enough to race does he no surely he’s he’s still in short trousers and still at primary school I think you know very young yeah very impressive Skyline

Over Abu Dhabi they are putting a huge amount of effort here all the way every time we’ve seen the shots here you see all these trucks going backwards and forwards on this side of Abu Dhabi they’re building a whole new part of the city terracing it putting U lots of

Greenery in uh it’s going to be quite spectacular when they finish it there’s over 2 ,000 trucks building it and they’re building big artificial Hills as well which they’re going to Terrace for and put Villas on there’s one in the background that they’re building at the

Moment uh that has come from nothing and has been man-made uh incredible if you don’t come here really do you don’t you don’t you don’t understand how it feels like you know to stay here to be here to live here SP the other day with uh one of uh

Uh Wolf’s guy um one of his uh the bike shop is just next next Corner uh that import colago and Scot and he said I come I come from uh South Africa and you know what living here is is really nice I love living here and you know you

Spend a lot of quality time um just uh you know staying here doing sports work is it’s good it’s good life and the vibe of you know the environment there’s a lot of green you know the lot of uh um good handmade stuff it’s not just like

Buildings and buildings you know there a lot of green a lot of you know obviously the sea and everything well we hope you’ve enjoyed the men’s Elite race here the xco the Olympic qualifying race the first of what we hope will be many hero races here hero Abu Dhabi H

Island and it turned out to be a spectacularly fast and flowing race won by Ben Oliver of New Zealand ahead of Thomas leer of Switzerland and EV list of Germany super f super entertaining on this uh 5.4 kilm circuit uh my name is David reev I hope you’ve enjoyed our

Commentary I thank you very much to multiple national champion and Olympic bronze medalist Marco Fontana who’s been next to me I hope you’ve enjoyed it gra David I did enjoy and thank you very much for you know commentating this one with me it’s been a pleasure and uh what

A race for the first one eh it’s been fantastic race uh we hope we’ll be back here for many years is in the future H they certainly want to make it a regular fixture that man goes away with 60 points towards the Olympic qualifying for his country €20,000 in

The bank and for me it’s been an absolute pleasure goodbye for now hope you’ve enjoyed it carry on following us at the hero series uh next will be in the dolomites for the mountain marathon in June bye for now shout to Cheers everyone Okay Everybody Nobody hats this [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Is the same here go on adventures to find Out we we our top thec on Friday we our top five Riders from this morning in the wom top five finished an Santos of Portugal If you can make your way over to please as well Anna as are leading 22 woman Spe e e

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@ADVtheMISSIONARY on February 13, 2024 8:18 am

Zoe Cuthbert is an Australian 😉 good to see the race, thanks for uploading it
@YannaYun on February 13, 2024 3:25 pm

Nice to see how sporty all the racers.. rain or shine, never surrender.. nice to see them all in actions.. Congrats to all the winners… you guys did all the good job.. to the hero family you really did a good job out there… keep it up and see more actions in the future…

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