Marbach Races - latest news
Young claims second Swiss crown for Britain.
In the second day of Cross-country ski racing at Marbach, Switzerland, Andrew Young (17, Huntly) of the British Nordic Ski Team has added another Swiss championship to his list of wins. In the 15k Junior Pursuit race on Saturday he took the U18 title and came 4th in the Junior (U20) race.
Pursuit racing involves a change of skiing style (and thus a change of skis) half way through the race. The Marbach Junior men’s pursuit race started with a 7.5km classic style leg, changing to free technique (skate) leg for the second half of the 15km race. The Junior and Senior women raced together on a 10km course. All races were mass starts.
Mass starts are an exciting spectacle. With a large group of skiers heading out from the stadium together, some “contact” is bound to take place. Although inexperienced in this form of racing at the start of the season, the British team are adapting rapidly. The start of Marbach Junior men’s race saw 4 of the British Nordic Ski Team leave the stadium as part of a 55-strong group of young men, all intent on jostling for the most advantageous racing positions.
Andrew Young in particular showed great maturity in his tactical approach to the race. By staying out of trouble and choosing not to follow the lead group of 5 Swiss ski team skiers, who had gone out like rockets, Andrew picked off skiers who were slowing and used others to help him leap-frog up the field. By the halfway change of skis from classic to skate Andrew was well placed in 10th. On the first skate hill he attacked to move into 8th and then attacked again on a flat section to catch the skiers who had fallen off the lead group and were in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. He sat at the back of this small group to regain his strength and on the 2nd last hill of the course shot through the group to lie for a moment in 3rd. Unfortunately, one of the Swiss skiers was equally calculating and he pushed Andrew into 4th position, where he finished the race. Being 4th in the Under 20’s race also meant he was 1st in the Under 18’s category, beating his nearest rival by over 1 minute. As a result Andrew had a trip to the podium – now a regular feature for the British Nordic Ski Team on this central European trip.
Other Junior team members also had good races, with Callum Smith (17, Inverurie) going particularly well considering that another skier stood on and broke his pole while climbing in the first race circuit. Despite falling from the front of the field to near the back while he obtained a replacement pole, Callum regained a lot of ground in the second half, to finish 12th. Just ahead of Callum, Andrew Musgrave (19, Oyne) recovered from a disappointing classic half with some fine skating to claim 10th place. Alex Standen (19, Huntly), continuing his return to racing after illness, finished in a respectable 24th place.
In the Women’s 10km Pursuit, Sarah Young (20, Huntly) had her best race since an ankle injury, coming in a good 11th. Fiona Hughes (19, Huddersfield) struggled in the skate section after having recorded the best junior classic leg. She finished 15th overall, and 5th Junior.
The results mean that the team go forward to the World Junior and U23 Championships at Hinterzarten, Germany in good shape, looking to better their performances from last year.
