The first open downhill championship of NCFD for mountain bike and downhill was over at Arkhyz resort. Over 100 athletes from various Russian cities took part in the race. Professional cyclists and downhill amateurs competed for 15 sets of medals in five categories: girls, juniors, elite, masters and amateurs.
The Girls category was won by the five-time champion of Russia in mountain bike, winner and medalist of international competitions Anna Skumbina from Perm. ‘It was my first time at the resort and I was agreeably surprised, as it is quite cozy there, nice climate and nature. The red track in Arkhyz is built at a very high level, you get the impression that you are riding somewhere in Europe,’ she communicated. The second and third among girls came Yulia Anastasyina and Viktoria Zamalieva from Moscow.
Among juniors, Mikhail Tiunov from Sochi came first, Oleg Gaydukov from Moscow came second, and Mark Lektusarov from Sosnovoborsk, Krasnoyarsk territory, finished up in third place.
In the elite category, two-time champion of Russia in downhill, member of the combined team of the Russian Federation, athlete of Nagornaya School of Olympic Reserve at the Moscow City Department for the Physical Culture and Sport, Vitaly Khripunov was the fastest, and he was the all-round champion of the competition. Andrey Dzhabrail from Yalta came second, Vladislav Kharitonov from Stavropol completed the top three.
Timur Zamaliev from Krasnogorsk, Moscow region, was the first to cover the descend in the masters category, Igor Aleksandrov from Moscow came second to the final straight, Artem Gubanov, also from Moscow, came third.
Participants of the championship in amateurs category demonstrated great skills. Sergey Stetskevich from Uzhgorod made the best time, Aleksandr Zagorovsky from Feodosia came second, and Andrey Ostrouzhov from Tambov came third.
Nikolay Krutilin, Head Coach of the Cycling Federation of Russia for mountain bike, noted that Arkhyz may become a first-class site for development of this sport. ‘There are all necessary components for growth here: a committed team of organizers, wonderful infrastructure, great opportunities for accommodation at the middle and high altitude. In addition, Arkhyz is a good base for training camps for cyclists: there are not only high-quality mountain tracks, but also asphaltic surface to arrange full-fledged raining of cycling athletes,’ he noted.
‘Next year, together with the Cycling Federation of Russia, we intend to arrange at the resort a large block of mountain bike competitions in downhill and cross country, including all-Russian and international competitions. We also would be glad to receive on out site the combined team of Russia in mountain bike within a training camp,’ Vitaly Altabaev, Deputy Director General of Northern Caucasus Resorts JSC, shared the plans.