Gareth McKee
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Irish mountain biker Gareth McKee has finished 48th in the Men’s Cross Country Mountain Bike European Championships in Glasgow today. The Banbridge man was competing in the 33km race which was six laps of a 5.5km circuit. The race was won by Swiss man Lars Forster, Luca Braidot (Italy) won silver and Spain’s David Valero Serrano won bronze.
Speaking after the race Gareth described a fast, hard race – “The race today was good, a fast start off the line, we did short lap and then up the climb. I got a good start, probably into the top 40, and then going up the climb it all bunched up, so we all had to ride slowly. After that it started to spread out again.”
The race was six laps of a 5.5km circuit, which took McKee between 17 and 18 minutes to complete each time – at the end of the race he finished just over 14 minutes back on the winner.
“The course was good, it was dry and rough, it got rougher. It was fast from the very start. There was really no let up in the course, it climbed from the start finish right up to a windmill and then it came down a fast descent with jumps and berms, and then it climbed again big long climb back up to the windmill again and then down to the third finish.
“There was just no let up. It was good, just really tough – no let-up in the course, you just had to be on top of your game.”
Tomorrow will see Ryan Mullen and Eddie Dunbar tackle the Time Trial, as well as Eileen Burns and Kelly Murphy. Last year Mullen won a bronze medal in this event.
History is made this week when Glasgow and Berlin host the inaugural European Championships, an exciting multi-sport event bringing together some of the continent’s leading sports, including the existing UEC cycling championships.
RESULTS
Men’s Mountain Bike Race
Gold Lars Forster (SUI) 1.33.01
Silver Luca Braidot (ITA) + 0.24
Bronze David Valero Serrano (ESP) + 0.35
48th Gareth McKee (IRL) + 14.11