Horsfield Wins First Place In Canadian Race
Reigning national mountain bike champion Robin Horsfield took to the roads and finished first in the 40km distance of the ‘Steaming Nostril’ held just outside St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada yesterday [April 14], with the race including a mix of 70% gravel road, 20% paved roads, and 10% off road riding.
A spokesperson said, “The conditions for the race were deplorable – one degree Celsius with strong winds and rain throughout the entire race. Horsfield himself had to be given medical attention at the finish area for early stages of hypothermia. Horsfield was scheduled to race the 65 km distance but his coach wisely changed the race distance selection 30 minutes before the race.”
Mr. Horsfield said, “Once Mark finished and we both warmed up and got dry clothes he and I went back to the lunch building to eat… it was quickly becoming an ER/triage type situation as later riders from the 40 km arrived as well as some early 65 km finishers. It was apparent to us that paramedical services would soon be needed and we stayed to help until we saw more help arriving.”
“He added that he and another rider broke away from the group less than 1 km in to the race and rode together until the off road section with 5 kms remaining, which is where Horsfield took the reins and headed in for the win. Asked if he had to go hard all the way in from his attack, Horsfield noted that after making the break it was just a matter of physical survival the rest of the way in given the horrendous conditions.
“Robin has another training race in two weeks in his ‘off’ discipline of road/gravel racing before his mountain bike season begins in early May.”
The overall results follow below [PDF here]:
