Slovakian teenager Tatiana Janickova won the Elite Women’s trials world title at the UCI MTB and Trials world Championships with a daring gamble in the closing minutes of the nine rider final to oust Spanish ace Gemma Abant.
Slovakian rider Kristina Sykorova airborne during the Elite Women’s Trials final at the UCI MTB and Trials World Championships 2013 at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg.
Photo: Dave Macleod/Gameplan Media
The pair were locked together throughout the three laps of the six-section course, with the Spaniard managing to hang onto a slim one point throughout, going into the final minutes of the final.
With Abant apparently holding all the cards, Janickova realised that she had to gamble big on the tricky final jump at the end of section two, known as the Rocks and Logs sector, which every single rider in the final had been happy to concede one point for a “dab” foot-down penalty to make the final jump.
“It was a necessary gamble,” said Janickova afterwards. “It was right at the end of the final and I had to save that one point. We decided that I had to take the chance, and it worked.”
With Janickova landing the difficult jump perfectly and recording the first clear on that sector, the pressure was suddenly on Abant as she had to negotiate her final sector, the Zebra obstacle sector, to stay in contention.
The slight Spaniard had played cat-and-mouse with Janickova in the closing stages of the final, and under time pressure she hurried through her final sector, and made a mistake at the tricky log spur at the top of the sector, and incurred a critical point for a foot-down, effectively levelling the penalties at 8 points apiece.
The Commissaires applied the UCI rules, and awarded the world championship to the Slovakian in the basis of her superior number of clear sectors.
Coached and managed by her moto-cross riding father, the young Slovakian Student from the small town of Puchov got into trials at the age of 10 years of age, and has blossomed into a world beater.
Steady Australian Janine Jungfels secured the last spot on the podium with a consistently steady and strong performance, incurring just 17 points in the 18 sectors.
German rider Romina Fix was looking steady until she fell awkwardly, aggravating an ankle injury that forced her to withdraw from the final.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
ELITE WOMEN TRIALS
1 Tatiana Janickova SVK 8
2 Gemma Abant ESP 8
3 Janine Jungfels AUS 17
4 Kristina Sykorova SVK 31
5 Perrine Devahive BEL 50
6 Debi Studer SUI 56
7 Andrea Wesp GER 59
8 Marion Porcher FRA 74
9 Manami Mizuno JPN 90
Romina Fix GER DNF
The UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships takes place at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg from 26 August to 1 September 2013. More information can be found at www.mtbworldchamps.co.za
