Three Latvian athletes and the commissioner have started participating in the European Championship MTB – Sports

The 2024 UEC MTB Championship in the XCC and XCO disciplines has started in Romania in very unfavorable weather conditions with the shortened cross-country qualification competition. Two representatives of Latvia have qualified for the main short cross country competition – elite athlete Mārtiņš Blūms and junior Kristers Celitāns.

Latvia is represented by three athletes at this year’s European Championship. Mārtiņš Blūms competes in the men’s elite, Evelīna Ermane-Marchenko in the women’s U23 group, and Kristers Celitāns in the junior boys’ competition. Our country is also represented in the commissary sector. The National MTB Commissioner Māris Krūze used the internship opportunity at the big sports forum.

The weather in the Romanian mountain town of Ceile Gradiste is very volatile this week. It often rains and the air temperature is only a few degrees above +10 degrees. The race track is very rocky and very slippery in the mud.

On Wednesday, the qualification of the shortened cross country competition was held. The organizers decided to combine the U23 and elite groups for both men and women. In the men’s competition, Mārtiņš Blūms was one of the main favorites in his race. The fight for the highest result was significantly damaged by a fall in the first lap. Cesinieks lost time and, of course, positions. He fought his way to 11th place for the rest of the course. The student of coach Jānis Mūsiņa lost 31 seconds to the winner Simon Andreasen from Denmark. Blum qualified for tonight’s final with the 22nd result. The 40 best athletes will compete in the final.

Kristers Celitāns started in the first race in the junior group. In the competition of 27 athletes, our rider, who has this first experience at the European Championship, ranked 20th, which allowed him to qualify for the main competition as the last. Krister lost 1 minute and 20 seconds to the winner Anton Unger from Sweden.

In the women’s U23 group, Evelina Ermane-Marchenko finished 21st on the very challenging track, where she also had to run, starting from the very end. This prevented entry into the main short cross country competition. Evelina has to prepare for XCO cross country.

The main shortened cross country competition for juniors will take place today at 13:15 Latvian time. Meanwhile, the men’s elite will go on the track at 17:45 Latvian time.

Latvian Cycling Federation