The race season has started in the Czech republic. And so Tereza finaly returned back home. She has been traveling since February until last Monday. Canary Islands, Cyprus, Italy. Only short stops at home inbetween, say hello to her parents and off she was again. This is the hard life of a professional cyclist.

The April weather has been playing with us and prepared for the Sunday race 5 degrees and drizzling rain. And all this after a beautiful warm day in short sleeved shirts! Cold weather isn’t exactly a biker’s friend and the same goes for Tereza. “I was a bit afraid of the cold, there was similar weather in Italy last week, but in the end a flat tire saved me from catching a cold. I had to wash myself in cold water after the race, so hopefully I’ll survive without being sick,” said Tereza after the race.

The first race of the Czech MTB Cup, this year represented by the name RockMachine XC Cup 2008, took place for the first time in history in Pardubice under the Kunetice mountain. The track was quite playful with a few difficult downhill sections which Tereza didn’t have a problem with.l She had a good start and right from the beginning rode in the lead of the womens’ peleton. Twentytwo starting women in the race was quite new for the Czech Cup.

The women’s race consisted of 6 laps and Tereza only extended her lead with each lap. Behind her followed Natalyia Krompets, the representative from Ukraine, and the Czech cyclocross number one lady, Pavla Havlíková. Tereza won her solo ride aftger one hour and twentyseven minutes. Three and a half minutes later rode through the finish line Natalyia and after three more minutes Pavla Havlíková. “I was enjoying the race, I gave it everything, but it is hard to say if I really rode to 100% of my power. I think that if I had someone riding before me or close behind me I would push out much more out of myself,” said the winner after the race.

Tereza now has last few days before the first World Cup race, which will be the first of the three nomination races to the 2008 Olympics. The team will move to Houffalize on Thursday, where the first race will take place. The important race for Tereza will be on Sunday. "There isn’t much time to train now, so the form I have now I will have on Sunday. Now I will just train my legs and see how things go. From Thursday I will train on the Houffalize track. "

You can find the complete results and reports of the Czech MTB Cup on www.mtbs.cz


Photo: Michal Cerverný and Jan Nemec