This year’s opening round of the MTBO World Cup took place in Hungary, or more specifically, at Lake Balaton. As I’d never been to Hungary myself, I was very pleased that we were able to spend a few days training in the surrounding area before the World Cup began.

So, after travelling there by various means (by night train from Zurich or by flights from Spain and Sweden), we met up on Saturday afternoon at the accommodation just a five-minute bike ride away from the training map.

Over the following days, we completed a long-distance and a middle-distance training session on the courses of the 2024 Hungarian Championships, followed by a mass-start interval training session that Chrige had organised for us. On our rest day on Wednesday, we had plenty of time to share our experiences and insights and to finalise the plan for the races.

The World Cup kicked off on Thursday afternoon with the Model Event, and it was precisely at that moment that I felt really good on the bike for the first time and no longer as tired as I had been in the days leading up to it. It seemed as though my body was ready for the start of the season after all. My optimism grew – as did my excitement at the prospect of finally getting started.

On Friday afternoon, the moment had finally arrived: the season kicked off with one of my favourite disciplines, the sprint. The terrain didn’t offer much in the way of challenges, so, as expected, it turned out to be a fast and fairly straightforward sprint – with a few tricky sections in the meadows and in semi-open forest. I got off to a good, controlled start and was able to adjust my pace to the technical demands. Unfortunately, at the 14th control, a branch got caught in my gear shifter at the worst possible moment, resulting in me missing my junction. However, I realised my mistake quite quickly and was able to limit the time lost. After an otherwise flawless race, I finished joint with a Finnish competitor on the 4th place – a result I was very happy with.

On the Saturday morning it was time for the middle-distance. It took place almost entirely in the forest and offered some exciting routes, which I unfortunately didn’t always choose in the best way. Many junctions were poorly or only late visible, which meant I often just missed turnings and had to turn back. However, I was in good company. All these little mistakes robbed me of that good feeling and the flow of the orienteering. Nevertheless, I didn’t let it bother me too much and tried to fight on until the end. Eventhough I had a bad feeling at the finish, the gap was much smaller than expected (less than two minutes), and I was also very surprised to finish seventh.

To round off the first World Cup round, a long-distance race took place on terrain that was partly the same as that of the middle-distance race. This time, however, the routes were significantly longer and featured more elevation gain. As well as making tricky route-choices, it was important to manage my nutrition well and keep pushing on the sometimes rough trails – even though it rarely felt easy or fast. I managed another very solid race, even though I lost a lot of time on two routes in particular. Physically, however, I felt much better than the day before in the middle distance race. So, at the finish line, I was delighted to secure a 3rd place and thus celebrate my first podium in the long distance at World Cup level.

As you can see from this report, I can look back on a very successful start to the World Cup season. I’m absolutely delighted that I was able to perform at my best in all three races and achieve consistent results. The fact that I managed to finish in the top 7 in every discipline surprises even me, but it clearly shows me that I’ve trained well this winter and that I'm more than ready for the rest of the season. In just under three weeks, I’ll be heading to Portugal for the European Championships.