17th December 2006
Beat Wabel, in Gran Canaria
Beat Wabel, the UCI´s technical delegate and former pro Swiss mountain biker, arrived in Gran Canaria on December 17th to check out the first stop on the 2007 UCI world cup mountain bike circuit: a 90 km marathon circuit at 1000 meters above sea level.
During his visit, Wabel met with Guillermo de Portugal and Manuel Hernández, the organization's technical managers. The race circuit was proposed by the organizers. Now it is Wabel's job to evaluate the course and write a report about it.
Wabel won 125 races during his career including the junior world cup in 1985 and the Eschenbach cyclo-cross world cup bronze medal in 1995. The former Olympic mountain biker raced in the Atlanta edition of the games and won the Vail Mountain Bike World Cup held in Colorado.
Despite it being only days before the Christmas holidays, Beat was captivated by the warm sunshine and clear blue skies that bless the island of Gran Canaria all year round. Going home to the cold of his native Switzerland, Beat is looking forward to being here again in March 07.
