The town of Weilrod-Riedelbach in northern Germany was the venue for the UCI European Trial Championship in 2012, where Abel Mustieles won his first major title in the Elite category.
Although the mAbel Muolestias persist and the hand is not yet 100%, the WildWolf pilot On Saturday, he was awarded second place, which gave him access to Sunday’s final on a very difficult track , almost entirely composed of logs and which with the rain became, in everyone’s opinion, practically impossible as well as dangerous. So much so that on the first lap only Abel Mustieles, along with Benito Ros and the Frenchman Vincent Hermance, managed to cross any of the seven sections without the maximum penalty on the card, so the layout had to be modified for the second lap.
But this qualifying on Saturday already served to show that the title was going to be a thing for these three riders and that none of them was going to have it easy.
The race started on Sunday for the Elite riders at one o’clock in the afternoon, and consisted of two laps of six sections even more difficult and longer than the previous day , although fortunately, this time without rain.
Abel and his Monty M5 had to fight hard with the Frenchman Hermance, in a head-to-head that made the many spectators who came to see the race vibrate and who closely followed the close and very equal fight zone by zone, with Benito Ros this time a little further behind but equally on the prowl.
In the end, Abel’s victory in extremis after drawing with the French at 16 points and with the same number of zeros, so it was the greater number of ones that gave the first continental title to the Aragonese rider, it was impossible to tighten.
Abel Mustieles: “Excited is not enough, my first top-level title… Also, coming from an injury makes it doubly nice, now is when you remember the tough pre-season with pride, as all this makes up for it. It was a nice battle with Vincent, we both had a really good trial. Although the lack of attention made me make a silly mistake at the end of the second lap, and the title was in jeopardy, in the end everything went well. Now I have to continue training, working with my hand, and again to pack my bags for the second World Cup, to which I am going with even more motivation. This title belongs to all my personal environment, as we all pull the cart. I would like to thank WildWolf, for continuing to make all this possible, and this time, dedicating it especially to Jesus, my coach, who racks his brains to guide me in this difficult world of sport, we will continue walking together. Not forgetting Carles Diaz, always helping in the competition. Thank you all… Let’s enjoy it.”
Next week the second round of the UCI Trial World Cup will be held in the Alpine resort of Val D’Isere, in France, where the WildWolf rider will defend his current second position and try to assault the lead held by Vincent Hermance.
UCI EUROPEAN TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Weilrod-Riedelbach (GER)
Elite Category Trial Classification:
1. Abel Mustieles (ESP) (Monty M5) 16 points
2. Vincent Hermance (FR) 16 points
3. Benito Ros (ESP) 20 points
4. Ion Areitio (ESP) 39 points
