In 2016 Yevgeny Evgrafov became the winner of the Russian championship in mountain biking. It is his main sport. But since then he managed to try his hand at other types – cross-duathlon and winter triathlon. Even in our country, not everyone knows mountain biking, and even more so these non-Olympic disciplines. We spoke with him about why he rides disciplines that are obscure to many, whether he likes the current Russian Cross Country Championship track in Miass, and how to attract fans to mountain biking.
– I am from Chuvashia, we have a mountain bike development center, young people grow up there, who then take high places.
So we all know about mountain biking. Irina Kalentyeva from Chuvashia, thanks to her, mountain biking has experienced such development in our region.
– Kristina Ilyina said that she went mountain biking in order to work less in the garden. What was your reason?
“I just liked riding. Before that, there was judo, but it didn’t work. I continued to ride for fun, got into amateur racing, and already in 2015 I was offered to go to a sports school. There was even more biking to do!
He rode all year round – in winter as well as in summer. We have good conditions for mountain biking in our country. You can ride in forests, fields.
– How did you make the decision to take part in the ski triathlon (running, cycling, skiing – approx.)?
– I decided to try functional training in 2018. At the first Russian championship, he immediately completed the master of sports. In addition, in the same year, I tried my hand at duathlon (running, cycling, running). He entered the competition and won, even beat multiple winter triathlon world champion Pavel Andreev. He offered me to go to the European Cross-Duathlon Championships in Spain. There I won in the category until I was 23, since then every year I went there.
— You’ve done an uphill highway race this season. How are the prints?
— This is the second experience on the highway for me. Last year I did it for the first time, it’s a completely different job, different speeds, plus there was a plain. This is all very different from mountain biking. Last year’s start was not very good, but the uphill race is more suitable.
– Have you tried to find a European team?
– No. Also, at first there was a pandemic, now the situation is different and there are few opportunities to go anywhere.
– And if there is an option, will you go?
“You’ll have to think carefully about what the conditions will be.”
I guess they will be even better than the current ones.
– At least in technical support.
Do you practice cyclo-cross?
– It happens, but I don’t really like it. In mountain biking it’s more interesting – there are more descents, and it’s more dynamic. Also, now they started holding it in the winter, and right now I’m going to the winter triathlon.
– If cyclo-cross is included in the program of the Winter Games, will you reconsider your decision?
– Here, it will be necessary to choose between it and the winter triathlon, and as I am a cyclist above all, I would rather choose the cyclo-cross.
— The most interesting Russian mountain bike trail?
– I can distinguish Arkhyz, last year we went there for the Spartakiad. Now they have made an interesting track for the championship in the Chelyabinsk region.
– No two tracks are the same. Which do you prefer?
– With a good lift, where you can work. Trails where there are interesting technical slopes, jumps, stones.
Do you consider your sport to be extreme?
– Enough. There are dangerous moments when you can decently break. But in general, there was nothing such in my memory that it was impossible to drive the track. There are difficult pieces, but you have to learn how to work them, it raises the level.
– Cycling in Russia is not as popular as in many countries, and mountain biking is perhaps the least promoted of the types of cycling. You devote all your time to this work. What motivates?
“I love it. In addition, in our region mountain biking is known and appreciated. Now there are amateur races in which there are a lot of participants. But there are really fewer people among the professionals.
— How do you get someone interested in mountain biking?
– Invite to race, choose a good track to show our spectacular sport. In Europe, they make the tracks so that a person, standing in one place, can see how the plot of the race develops, in our country they went to the forest and that’s it. But the situation is already changing for the better. In Miass, it’s interesting to watch the fight, it’s well designed.
What about broadcasts?
– I would show for the start of the competition in the short track discipline, where everything is quite dynamic. Olympic cross-country for a person who knows little about cycling and more specifically mountain biking, the first time will be difficult to understand. I would show short track to a new television viewer, but it’s better to watch the Olympic format on track to feel the vibe.
— How to promote mountain biking to as many people as possible?
– I think, to begin with, that it is necessary to organize competitions more often in urban areas. Somewhere in the park, so people who, say, were walking there on the weekends, could see and feel our sport for the first time.
In addition, in mountain biking, the track can be made completely artificial, so it will not lose dynamism or quality. All of this is possible, in fact. We have to fight for it.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
