Jenny Copnall Races at the World Mountain Bike Championships

Jenny Copnall - Subaru-Gary Fisher Race Team

Race Report Part 1 - UK Team Relay
World Cross Country Championship, Ft William, Scotland, 4th September '07

After the long drive north on Sunday I finally got to stretch my legs on the World Championship course on Monday. Having heard much about the changes that have been made from previous World Cup events held here, it was great to see it for myself. While initial impressions were that this was a far tamer course than the previous incarnation, I soon realised that, when attacked fast, it became trickier and for this reason will be challenging for all who race it. With three laps completed I felt I was beginning to judge what speed I could carry into and through each section. I needed to get things dialled since the following day I required a perfect super fast one lapper to bring home the GB team in the relay.

Next day I completed another lap to get my eye in prior to the relay. This was very useful as there was simply no room for any errors on my single lap. The prospect of being anchor woman for the relay meant a fair amount of pressure for me. This strategy did allow the team a potential clear run through earlier laps but it also made me the hunted! My job did however remain the same as every other relay rider, to complete my fastest, cleanest lap without being distracted by other factors. Warming up in the GB tent prior to my call up saw each of my team mates (Ian Bibby, Alex Paton and Ian Wilkinson) leave and then return, the relief of fine laps showing on each of their faces. We mountain bikers are not used to being part of a team in this sense, and I think that each of us was nervous not to let the others down.

Finally it was time for me to go to the changeover area. The GB changeover gate was one of the furthest forward meaning that I had about 30ft to get my momentum going in order to clean the two rock crops out of the arena. With GB coming in for the final changeover with a narrow lead in first, after a great lap by Ian Wilkinson, I was certainly feeling the pressure and just wanted to get underway. I cleaned the rocks and off I went, with the German and Italians hot on my heals, followed by a whole bunch of top flight male riders. I had to ride as hard as I could to keep the lead for as long as possible. I managed this initially and was then joined by Sabine Spitz and Eva Lechner before all three of us were passed by the Swiss and Polish riders at the top of the climb. Into the descent and I managed to lessen the gender gap a little all the way to Mackensie Road at the bottom (a long drag). Here, more flying guys came past and, try as I might, I was never going to be able to hold their wheels for more than a couple of revolutions. The final kilometre felt very painful as I had been on the rivet all the way. I finally crossed the line to bring us in 9th. This was just 2m54s down on gold, showing what a hard fought race it was. I think that, regardless of start order, the relay is won by the team with the best four riders. We weren't quite there this time but this result shows that a future medal in this event is quite possible.

Race Report Part 2 - Women's Cross Country
World Cross Country Championship, Ft William, Scotland, 8th September '07

Well, it has been a long and difficult road but I finally got to race the World Champs here in Fort William today. I finished 47th in the race, somewhat lower down the field than I had hoped and expected to be, but while my position was forgettable, the experience was quite the opposite, the crowd support being something that I will never forget. Having a three woman team in the race today was also fantastic, and both Ruth and Liz did themselves proud.

After the relay on Tuesday I had high hopes for my individual event. The course here at Ft William has been made smoother and faster, lessening the technical difficulty slightly. At speed things do become more challenging but in the race I would say that the impact that good descending could have was relatively small when compared with the course of previous years. As so often happens, sections that seemed harmless in practise became the most gruelling in the race itself, the "flat" Mackensie's Road seeming to increase in gradient lap by lap.

Our race began as many others had done before - with a crash that blocked the whole trail width. Unfortunately this is where being back on the grid becomes a disadvantage, putting all three GB women on the back foot from the off. Once going again we began to gain places, with Ruth flying up the first climb and UK based Jenn O'Connor (representing New Zealand) having a very strong start. A second major hold up occurred on the second part of the climb and with nowhere to get through we simply had to wait in line for things to clear. This was compounded by the original crash off the start. Finally we made it out onto the top part of the climb and were able to begin to make headway and get back into the race but the time lost on this lap was precious and would have affected my final position.

Having done many practise laps my descending was good in that early lap and this allowed me to make places all the way to the bottom. The crowd support throughout the rock sections was massive. I am used to crowd noise but not so used to so many people shouting my name! I must admit that I found it difficult to focus at times and this led to a silly crash onto a rock at the end of lap one. While it didn't hurt too much at the time, it seems that my kneecap took the force of this one.... it hurts now! After lap one things settled into more usual race mode. I was now leading Brit and also slipped passed Jenn on the descent (thanks for the help there Jenn!) With my legs not as strong as for the relay, I tried to ride smart, rev well, and ride consistent laps. This allowed me to make some ground on the final lap. I did make a couple of silly errors along the way and this cost me a few seconds here and there. On other sections I found better form and was able to rock on down. I seem to make a habit of sprint finishes, whatever the event, and here I lost out to the Estonian Champ.

And that is that. Thanks to everyone who supported the cause to get me here. I hope that you all enjoyed seeing the three of us giving it our best shot. Thanks for the support out there. It was both surprising and humbling. Thanks to Phil Dixon, Helen Mortimor and all the British Cycling support crew for your help throughout the week. This race was always going to be loaded with pressure and emotion. In retrospect I think I underestimated just how much the whole experience would affect me. I would have liked to switch off my brain a little during the race but passion is a difficult thing to turn on and off, making the whole day quite an emotional one for me personally. Perhaps it was too much to expect perfect legs on top of that (we athletes expect a lot!) but I am very happy to have raced and to have finished and to have done my best on the day.

Jenny

http://www.fisherbikes.com/team/

http://www.sportingchampions.org.uk/sc2/champions_profile.php?champion_id=39