The sunshine highlighted the beauty of the area where the Mtkvari races were being held. The day would see the European Open and Masters teams pitted against each other. First would be the Sprint which is a hard dash over a short distance. Based on those times the teams would race each other in a knock out format until the winner was found.
In Masters Men CZE 1 and 2 took the top two podium steps with RUS 2 in third. Open Women had RUS 1, GBR 1 and RUS 2. The Open Men RUS 1 and 2 took the top spots with GBR third.
The Head 2 Head is always an exciting event to watch as the teams, literarily, clash as they jockey to get in front of each other. In most cases one team will get out ahead and maintain that lead to the end, but in a few great races their will be clashes and lead changing all the way down the course. Some of those races were ITA vs GBR 1 in the Open Women, GBR Open Men vs HUN where Hungary got ahead but GBR fought back and won and eventually claimed 2nd overall, and a very close and exciting final between GBR 1 and RUS 1 in the Open Women’s Final where GBR were leading but Russia managed to pressure and then over take to claim Gold.
Final result was: Master Men: CZE 1, CZE 2, RUS 1; Open Women: RUS 1, GBR 1, RUS 2. Open Men: RUS 2, GBR, RUS 1.
Full Results:
