Nopesport

In just minutes time the 2004 edition of the Junior European Cup will kick into action in the South East of England.

Formerly the Six Nations competition, JEC is essentially a team competition consisting of a classic race and relay, with each nation’s top runners scoring points towards the Nations Cup. The original six nations (GBR, Suisse, France, Belgium, Austria and Germany) always attend, and the organisers can invite any other European nations. This year there are 11 nations conmpeting, with the Czech Republic, Russia, Norway and Switzerland as well as Great Britain all sending strong teams. Since the competition has an M/W18 class, unlike JWOC, it is often a starting point for many international careers.

Historically JEC is a competition where GBR perform well. In its days as the 6-Nations GBR regularly filled the top spots, including the now-coach of the British Juniors, Jason Inman, who twice won. The last time the race was held in Britain, 6 years ago, Tom Hart won the M20 class. More recently there have been successes as well. Three years ago Graham Gristwood opened his JEC medal account with a Bronze in France, which he subsequently added to with another Bronze in the classic and Silver in the sprint in Belgium two years ago. He missed JEC through injury last year, but this year he will definitely be fighting for GOLD! Other recent success stories include the mens relay team of Ewan McCarthy, Ed Catmur and Nick Morgan taking Bronze in Begium, and the highlight of recent years, Vicky Brocklebank winning Gold by over four minutes in 2002.

This year competition is based around north London, very close the Stansted airport. Today there is a sprint competition in Harlow Town Park, which although not part of the Nations Cup will still be the scene of some furious racing. Saturday sees the classic race in Epping Forest, a fast area with vague slopes and many point features to test everyones compass bearing ability, and where relocation can be tricky due to lack of features. It all climaxes on Sunday with the relay on the extremely intricate and technically demanding Hatfield Forest.

Mharkys tips for the top:
Anita Seebock W20 AUT
Jana Panchartkova W20 CZE
Veronika Krcalova W20 CZE
Mari Fasting W20 NOR
Galina Ovsyannikova W20 RUS
Ines Brodmann W20 SUI
Sara Lüscher W18 SUI
Jan Palas M20 CZE
Philippe Adamski M20 FRA
Patrick Hofmeister M20 GER
Christian Teich M20 GER
Yury Masnyy M20 RUS
Fabian Hertner M20 SUI
Anders Skarholt M18 NOR
Plus everyone in the British Team of course!

More info here , watch out in the forums where we’ll try to bring you the latest news from the races as and when it happens, or else get down to the races yourself and catch all the action first hand!