MTBO season 2025 | Highs, lows… and that race

A full recap of the 2025 MTBO season — the great highlights, the messy moments, and the race that ended my season early.

00:57 – Winter training in the south
01:29 – The Czech Cup
07:40 – European Championships | Vilnius
10:52 – Bike frame giveaway report
17:50 – Mazovia training camp
18:52 – World Champs | Warsaw
23:52 – World Cup | Jagoda
24:20 – How did I broke my ankle
28:32 – The happier version of WC
31:26 – Thanks

Hi, how are you? It’s time. Another beautiful, enjoyable, successful
for some MTBO season is in the books. And so, it’s time to recap, 
reflect, brag, whine a little maybe. And basically put all the footage we’ve collected
over the season into one neat pile. with a bow on top. Preferably. Because it was a wild ride.
Wasn’t it? We wanted to do a video after every
single event of the season, but we didn’t.. Don’t ask me why.
I have no idea.   We haven’t got time for it, basically. But now we do it. And if you’re up to 
it, let’s do it. Let’s go. Let’s roll. Like now. We kicked off 2025 with a productive spring in 
the south in Algarve, Portugal and Calpe, Spain. And I also joined the Czech team on the MTBO camp in Portugal from Jean-Charles Lalv. Meanwhile, Needy stayed in Calpe on the road bike. This part we might have 
overdone it a bit in the end because we entered the MTBO season a bit more tired
than we would love to, But hey, it was also work, like the money  kind, you know that one, right?
So no complaints here. As we came back home in April we jumped straight into the Czech Cup series we catched the second 
round of it. And I just want to highlight here the excellence of this national series 
because we are super glad that it’s happening in our country. It’s really the best training 
you can ask for. This year it was 18 top-level races over 6 months. Well, okay. Some 2day 
three race events were a bit too much for me… I’m really okay with a good old one-day
one-race ratio, but I’ll take it. We weren’t bored. We’re also really glad that you guys from abroad 
are enjoying it and are coming to spice it up a  bit here. What can I say about it? It’s good. We 
are glad you are coming and keep coming please. You’re always welcome. And I’m not talking only 
about the legendary five MTBO…. 5 days. Five ….. How is it called? Pilsen 5 days. I’m talking 
about the regular Czech cup weekends here. Now,  let’s ask some opinions from the champion of the season himself. Welcome Vojtěch Needy Ludvík to the scene, y’all! Hi. Hi. What was your favorite event of the Czech 
Cup this year? Like weekend or race? That’s I I never have like one favorite race 
usually. Yeah. I mean I mean I got a couple of favorite races this year. The first one was the 
first …uh, one of the first races of the Czech Cup I was taking part of, which was the mass start, nearby 
Prague. That’s where I got the silver medal. It was yeah really fun race and with extremely 
fun ending when I I broke my chain in the sprint, and yeah, lost the 
goal there. I was then pushed to the finish. We have a footage of this 
I believe so we can show you. Yeah true. Will you push me there? Nooo Please help me. Yeah, Nice. It is okay, 
right? Go, go, go, man. I’ll let you go. Yeah, for you it’s more 
important. Sorry. You go. Thanks. I’ll have to go back for my chain. Hey guys, you are a bit faster than I thought you would be. Another race I really enjoyed was the sprint 
distance in Hradec Králové. That was a race with quite many one directional trails on the map. That was also the national champs. The whole five days. couple couple of races from the five days were 
also part part of the Czech Cup, and then I like I liked one of the last races of the season the 
middle distance in Chřiby – an area where the first foot-O race in Czech Republic took place like 70 years 
ago I believe it’s 70 or 75.75 I think. yeah and one extra race let’s say extra 
but …it wasn’t in Czech Republic it was in Austria it was organized by Austrians but it was Czech Cup 
and it was in area from the of the middle distance from World Champs 2018 in Kirchbach. That was also 
really fun fun races there. Yeah. If you don’t know within the Czech Cup, we have also races in 
Hungary and Austria often. Yeah. Sometimes Germany as well. Sometimes Germany. So we team up with our 
neighbors from time to time. Yeah. So the Czech Cup is really an international cup. in some years. Who was your biggest and strongest competitor this year? Because you won the Czech Cup overall. But 
who who was there with you? Uh right behind me finished Jiří Hradil. It was quite good season for him. He 
was the one who beat me in the mass start. And also that there was a Jakub Račanský. He’s a junior.
And that’s really strong guy and it’s kind of stressful to have him in elite. Interesting fact we got this 
season. It was the first first season to to use this kind of rule that every race except for the 
long distance. The junior category the M20 and W20 is the same as the elite categories. 
Like they have the same course but they have their separate category and their separate price 
giving. Yeah. But they can get I mean there is a possibility to to compare with elite even though 
they they write their own category. Yeah. And they also gain points in the Czech Cup in elite 
as well as in their category. So it makes sense still to have like the junior national champs and 
they can still gain points for the overall world  Cup among elite riders for the rest of the 
season. So it’s something which is nice to have so they stick to their own category but 
have the competitiveness of the elite. The real deal got rolling in May. Vilnius is our 
beloved city. We spent there one semester back in  2018. And we actually lived in an apartment just 
a few hundred meters from the start of the first international event of this season, the mass start.  And revisiting all those places again felt great. A bit surprising was that we remembered tiny 
little bit of the forests there because we were there. We were running there over winter, maybe 
even rode a bike a few times and we remembered really nothing. Uh so that’s surprising. The European champs, the event was amazing. We are used to Lithuania organizing top level events and 
this was really another one of them. So thanks to the organizers. My personal favorite was the middle 
distance. Even though I messed up the key leg, the long one, I really enjoyed the second part 
in the more dense path network where we had to change pace, really focus on the map and try hard 
not to mess up. And it was also my best result on The European Champs, I believe.
Maybe even of the of the whole season. I’m not really sure. I didn’t pay much attention to the numbers 
in front of my name in the result lists this year, so I don’t really know. Let’s also talk about the flower ceremony
idea because it’s worth it, I think, to mention that we got a life rodo…
we, I didn’t, but the winners got life rododendron flowers that they had the chance to plant 
in the nearby park afterwards. I loved it. It’s It was a great idea. It’s true. It was 
a bit tightly scheduled and challenging for at least to join the event. I don’t really 
see any other way how to do it and I really   look forward to visiting the plants one day. Oh, and another highlight of this trip was   our accommodation next to Užupis, where… it was one of 
the last evenings. There was a super super nice great awesome concert, and I’m going to make 
You enjoy it too. Now. And we finally handed out our giveaway 
bike frame and map holder from Autopilot to the winner of our giveaway from 
the previous Christmas. We totally bombed in making content around it. And almost nobody knew if anyone won it   or if we really gave it to someone. 
And we did. We did. And here it is. Hey, so I’m here with Adele Balanasa from Latvia. She’s a 
first year junior. Is it right? Yeah. Yeah. And she’s also the winner of this Thoemus bike frame. 
So I would like to ask her two questions about this year’s season. So what is your plan or what 
is your goal for the season 25? Um I would love to be in the world champs to get in the
sixth but uh I think that’s kind of far-fetched. I would love to be in the top 10. So yeah. Nice. 
And so far, what is your best result? Last year in  the European Champs in the
long distance, I got second place. So that’s the best one for me so far. Nice. And with this frame, you also got an Autopilot map holder. 
Yeah. Which color combination did you choose? I chose black and pink. Oh, nice. Okay, so one more 
congratulations for getting the frame. Here is the frame. Thank you. And uh I will give you also 
the shock and stuff like in a in a second. So, thank you so much. Yeah, the bike frame is in 
Latvia and is waiting to be equipped and ridden. And will we see it competing next season …is the 
question …for Adel. Will we Adele? No pressure.  Just joy. Don’t worry. How was the event for you overall? As usual, it was international champs in Lithuania.   So it was really well organized. It was it was 
yeah superb from this kind of point of view as well as the maps and
courses and everything. It was very good. It’s just  kind of sad that all I remember right now are 
my mistakes in the forest and some um let’s say stressful situations I recall and not 
like the good stuff. But yeah, I for example I really appreciate those redendrons 
that the flowers we got on the price going,   we could plant it and later on we could see 
it. Like, you know, it was a good event, but your most vivid memories are the stressful ones. Exactly. 
Exactly. Yeah. I knew it was like super event.   I enjoyed it. That was great. Everything was fine.
It’s just there were things that didn’t uh click, let’s say. And even though you probably don’t remember then, 
what was your favorite leg of the whole event? Favorite leg….Well, I think my favorite leg was   from from the mix relay and that’s where when I 
was passing by those rododendrons we planted the day  before That was really nice. And was it like 
disturbing or was it like just you just noticed and keep going? No, it it wasn’t disturbing 
really. I just like saw it. I I didn’t really even realize in which part of the map I am and 
where are the rododendrons. It was just like, oh, okay. We were here yesterday and just 
like, yeah, continue to keep going. Yeah,   keep going. Were there any moments that 
made you like appreciate being back in Vilnius? Well, it was interesting to to uh … for me the price giving
location was quite interesting because it was in the Europa area that was the shopping 
mall and on the Europos aikštė, which is the bus stop there. It was like… it’s kind 
of knot for all the buses. And when we were there during our Erasmus, this was the place I 
was going to and from the school and that’s where I was changing the buses. So it was nice to be on 
the same spot but in totally different context and like situation. And some favorite memories from 
this trip? Yeah, I have two favorite memories. Let’s say. One is from the mass start when all 
of a suddenI was thinking that I’m going quite alone and it will be easy time until 
the finish but then all of a sudden I met with Samuel and we were fighting for the first place. 
So I tried to break away from him. He was on my rear wheel all the time just one control before 
the finish. And when I was totally exhausted, I just heard “right” and he just passed me.  …Right. Uh Sorry… Go go go, Man! I have no chance, bro You’re so so so strong, man. That’s an interesting choice of a favorite memory.
Yeah, but Samuel you’re in it. Yeah. Yeah, it’s my 
favorite memory because it was… it’s really interesting how strong and weak we can be like 
in the same place at the same time. I mean a couple of seconds later I was already having 
some energy again but at that time he just took the the right timing for passing 
me and another favorite uh situation let’s say from the champs was again from the mass start and that 
was on our way to the first control there was a situation when Jan Hašek was the first one I was the 
second one and then was all the rest of the guys I saw that Jan Hašek took a bit different route choice 
than I wanted to take. So I rather stopped to check if he’s going wrong or I’m going wrong. 
What’s, what’s going on? And then I heard all the breaks and everybody just stopped and 
nobody moved at all. And when I realized, okay, I want to go there. I just got my back and and 
was running. Everybody was like moving the same direction. It was like – like a herd or something. 
Yeah. Like a herd. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Then came June as it usually does after May. 
And yes, we were heading north again because you can’t say no to an MTBO camp right next 
to the embargoed areas for the World Champs, right? That’s clear. It was five races in 4 days. 
Absolutely demanding and absolutely worth it. The courses didn’t spare us. There were highs, there 
were lows. Overall, it was a perfect preparation for the World Champs. We tried to make a POV video 
from the terrain for those athletes who weren’t able to join this camp to help them understand the 
terrain. And we only managed to complete it a few days before the world champs. And you can tell 
us if it was worth it, if you noticed at all, if it helped you, if it didn’t help you, if you 
don’t care. Just tell us. We are curious to know. Here you go. Let’s hang there. Good.   Is it good? Extraordinary. Frankly, not many humans expected the world champs to be 
that good. I dare say. Sprint distance in bike trails as an opener was very challenging. – mapwise, rhythm-wise, it kept us on our toes. And the middle distance the very next day, outstanding. 
Outdid it truly. I’d say it was the hardest race I’ve ever ridden. Even the winner – Martina did a 2-minute
mistake and won by …I’m sorry, I don’t know much. Which is something that doesn’t happen 
that often that everybody does such big mistakes. I’m really glad I got to be a part of the Czech 
team for this event because for me it was The MTBO at its finest. That’s my opinion. You You’re 
free to disagree. It’s you’re right. The longer distances didn’t fit me that well at the time. And that’s why Needy will tell you more about them   because it was his cup of tea. So, how were the longer distances for you?
Which one was tougher? Well, definitely tougher was the long distance as it 
was really hard to stay focused all the time. At least for me, there wasn’t really any place for 
the head to rest. So that was the toughest part about the long distance. Like the navigation was so complex. It wasn’t like go straight and at the
end go to the right. No, no. Exactly.
There wasn’t anything like that that you can for one and a halfk just ride straight and there will 
be some really visible wake up point where you should turn. There wasn’t anything like that. So 
that was the tricky part that you had to always counted the junctions or or like have you always had to 
know where you are. And how many gels did you eat during the long distance? I don’t recall really. 
I mean, I recall that I forgot to create my own gels for that race for some reason. I don’t 
know why, but usually I create gels from the energy drink into soft flasks. But yeah, 
this time I forgot, but luckily I got some spare gels in my bag. So, but I believe like 
seven gels probably did the magic, I guess. And did the training camp like in the neighboring 
terrains help you? Did you feel it? I was really surprised after sprint and middle
distance that it didn’t help me at all for those races, but I was really 
glad that with mass start it changed the other way around. And mass start, long distance and even 
the relay I think were more up to the expectations let’s say. Yeah. Like the sprint 
distance and the middle distance that they were extreme. both. Both of them. Yeah. So yes, 
but only for the for the later races. Yeah. Only for the races where you gained a medal. Yeah. Do you have any personal highlight from the event
like the best map or leg or a moment? I mean highlight …obviously the mass start
and the last let’s say 20 minutes . where everything was just changing 
all the time and yeah that that was one of the yeah the only mass start that really
ended up well for me. Because those others… okay the result was fine but There was always in the last meter some disappointment,
like when I snapped my chain in the Czech Cup – Czech Championship. When I was passed 
by Samuel and this time the luck was on my side and it all just worked out the perfect way for me. The best day of the whole season for me was the relay day because I gained one third of this one 
here. Together with Martina and Lucka, we managed to win the relays and yeah, it’s it’s great. You 
don’t win every day. And that was the World Champs …Next Just like that, we are in September  and we are packing for the last trip
of the season to Bulgaria. This time we didn’t took our van 
and we went by plane just to save some time. We arrived 3 days early to make it a bit more chill 
experience and prepare ourselves for the hilliest event of the season. And that brings us to my 
personal season finale two races earlier. Some say I just didn’t want to race the long distance 
and I kind of wasn’t really looking forward to it. But who would trade a tough long distance
for a shattered ankle? Only a weirdo. Are you a weirdo? I thought so. Anyway, here’s the story. Feel free 
to skip it if you don’t want to hear it. I don’t blame you. The race started fine. I felt 
good, pushing my limits. Then came the descent. I was relieved. The hard work of climbing is behind 
me and it’s only downhill from there. And there was a left gravel turn. I expected the bike to 
slip. So I started to unclipping my foot and it did slip. I fell, landed weirdly and kind of right 
away knew it’s not good. It kind of felt like if I tried to move, my foot would stay where it was. So I lay there. I tried to scream for help
because no one was around. But some locals were driving by 
in a car. They stopped and called for assistance. And then more people started coming.
And after a while, Flurine came who was really the only one who spoke English and who was really trying to 
make the whole situation more bearable for me. Then Needy was approaching the spot and Flurin was 
asking me if he should stop him and I was like you know what he would do nothing more here than you 
are so let him finish the race it doesn’t matter really at this point. So…and Needy didn’t 
even notice me. So it was all right after a while he was approaching the place again and by then he noticed because
he had to go right next to me. Flurine also drove in the ambulance to the Finish 
arena with me, where my teammates and coaches were kind of blamed for not speaking Bulgarian 
with the medical stuff while they were asking them if they should take me to the cheap 
hospital or the better one, which seemed quite weird to me. And I’m glad I didn’t hear it at the 
time I was there. Meanwhile, Caroline was staying   with me, providing some emotional support for me. 
And Ivana from Bulgaria joined my supporters team as a translator. It was her birthday of all 
days, so probably the weirdest celebration she’s ever had. Finally, at the Better Hospital, I got 
an X-ray done. Uh, my ankle was straightened, which wasn’t really fun, and multiple fractures 
were confirmed as well. I got the latest model of a Bulgarian fashion boot, some painkillers, 
and was sent to hop home and surgery was left for the doctors
back at home, thankfully. I have to send one more huge
thank you to all who helped me and who kept checking on me. Um, you made 
me feel cared for and I really felt all the love. Now, it’s a month and a half or something 
from the surgery. I have a few metal components. I still can’t put weight on on my 
leg and it doesn’t move properly yet, but I’m working on it. Uh, yeah, it’s …. tadaa This is my range of movement right now. Yeah, that’s the story. That’s…. we’ve 
made it through and now it’s time   for the happier version of this trip. How was the spring distance for you?   It was pretty physically demanding but also 
mentally demanding as I saw you lying on the ground with an ambulance nearby. I didn’t see 
you the first time only the second time when I was passing there but there were already way too 
many people but back to the race. Uh I made one big mistake and yeah it wasn’t really the best 
but then I made a solid route choice and quite solid ending of the race. So that kind of saved it. 
After the sprint instance, it was clear that you won the World Cup. Were you happy? Yes. I mean …I never really cared that that much about the   World Cup, but when I looked in the past and saw 
that I was I think four times second, it made it much more valuable to be finally first. How was the long distance?
Was it the toughest one of the  season? Yeah, I think so. Probably. It was really 
tough and… It looked horrible on the map. Yeah,  it was really physically demanding, especially when I made some bad
choices sometimes and climbed even more elevation than was needed. But yeah, I think I I lost a couple of minutes   with bad choices and at the end I I made some uh 
good route choice when I saw some possibility to ride off the track. So I tried to go there 
and see if it’s worth it or not and it was worth it. So I took it and that’s where I over jumped guys
and yeah …won the race instead of being third. Who surprised you the most this season?  Well in Bulgaria Hannes Hnilica really showed us
that he’s really strong when the race fits him. But apart from that,
I was pretty much surprised   by Miika Nurmi because he was doing really well this 
season until his crash on the long distance, which Yeah. take him off for the rest of the season. So he In Poland, not in Bulgaria. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He got a crash on the World Champs on long 
distance, and that took him off the season and Yeah. Otherwise the fight for the overall 
World Cup standing would be much harder because we were yeah similar on the similar 
place or standing or how… situation let’s say in the overall standings before Bulgaria.  That’s about it. If you’re still here, thanks for hanging out with us and feel 
free to share your memories, points of view, lows and highs of the season with us. We’ll 
be glad to read them. And thanks a lot to our supporters and partners: Aone nutrition, Autopilot mapholders, 
and R2 eyewear. Yep. Thank you and see you. Bye-bye.