As usual, we bring you the most exclusive post-competition interviews, and this time it’s Abel Mustieles’ turn. The young Spanish rider, who a year ago became the UCI Junior World Champion, had a spectacular World Champoinship, finishing second in Elite 20” and fourth in Elite 26” the day after. He came close to unseating Benito from his throne in the 20” competition and finished ahead of Gilles Coustellier in 26”! We’d like to congratulate him on his excellent performance and reckon that he could well be the future of our sport!

Interview

1.-Hi Abel, first off, congratulations on your results in Canada – great stuff! Allow me to say “I told you so”! What does your 20” result mean for you? Were you expecting it?

Abel: Hi Alvaro! Yeah, you guessed right, 10 points to you! This result for me means the end of a good first season in Elite. Honsetly, I thought I could do it, although the last World Cup round indicated that maybe I couldn’t, it only served to motivate me further in competition.

2.-Tell us a bit about how the whole competition went for you, especially the final – what were the ket moments?

Abel: It was great! The crowd was behind me and every time I got through a section they cheered me on – it made my hair stand on end and meant that as I went from section to section I was more and more motivated. I felt good on the bike, managing some of the harder moves in the sections, which is what really got me going on my first lap. My mentality has never changed from one competition to another – give everything my all!

3.-How did you find the organisation of the Championship, the sections etc.?

Abel: It was nothing like a World Cup where the organiser already knows what he needs to do. This time it wasn’t…. it wasn’t as nice. I didn’t like the way the sections were marked, the flags were very poorly placed – it was easy to knock them out. The sections were odd too, with one massive move and the rest that was fairly easily do-able; if you could do the big move, you could get through the section, as a rule.

4.-Were there any surprises?

Abel: The surprise for me was going first! It threw me a bit, but I got my head down and things were soon back to normal.

5.-Let’s talk about the 26" comp. Congratulations once again! You were inches away from the podium and finished ahead of Gilles; how does that make you feel?

Abel: I’m not really counting it to be honest, because of how the sections were; it was all kickers and ramps and then one big move per section. Gilles isn’t very good at ramps, thaht’s all it was. What I am counting though is the semi-final – I finished in third in a difficult natural competition, that makes ne really happy!

6.-Did you think you’d do so well in 26” despite not having dedicated much time to it?

Abel: No, not at all, I didn’t expect to do well in this category. I thought maybe I’d get to the final – and I did!

7.-Tell us about your experiences in the 26” comp.

Abel: A lot of fives, not many cleans. Like everyone else I guess; getting through one section well, another not so well. In general I wasn’t as smooth as on 20”, I wasn’t as comfortable or motivated – I was a bit out of my element, But in the end it was good, I had a lot of fun in a world final!

8.-Will we see you spending more time on a 26” in the future?

Abel: I don’t want to say anything about this result, even though I see that it’s not as impossible as I thought (especially in the semi), but for the moment I’m going to stick to the 20”. I’ll still ride my 26”, but just for fun.

9.-Were there any surprises in the 26” final?

Abel: Gilles’ fifth place! I still can’t believe it! Benito’s second place, Caisso’s third place – he cried when they told him, it was his last international competition. He’s had a lot of influence on the dport. I’m really pleased for Benito too, he’s always been high up in the semis, it was about time he had a result like this.

10.-OK, well thanks very much for your time, congratulations once again and good luck for next season!

Abel: Thank you too! Let’s see how things go!