1st European Biketrial Championship 2004
(12./13. June 2004, Hanko, Finland)
The first European Biketrial Championship was held on 12th and 13th June, 2004
in the Finish town of Hanko situated by the seaside. Approximately 70 riders
from 11 countries took part in the competition. Mr. Hiroshi Hirano, the
president of the B.I.U., was the initiator of this first official European
Championship. The director of the European Biketrial Championship was Mr. Kai
Malaska, who organised and operated this competition very well in spite of the
fact that his supporting group was reduced.
The tracks for „junior categories“, aged 16 years maximum, were built as a „dry“
variant. However in the evening before the competition it started to rain and it
did not stop during the whole competition. Therefore the track became much more
difficult.
Tracks for higher categories contained combinations of high jumps and low jumps.
They were very long and led along a stony coast, particularly difficult were
smooth boulders overgrown with moss. It was very demanding on the strength and
psyche of the riders. It proved very demanding and clearly determined who were
the champions. According to the evaluation of the national teams, the first
European Biketrial Championship was very successful and on a very high sports
level.
The first official meeting of the European delegates took place within the
European Championship. It was agreed that other European Championships will be
organised and coordinated more with the World Championships. Libor Musil from
the Czech Republic was named by the delegates to continue preparations for the
European Biketrial Union, that has been founded during the first competition of
the World Biketrial Championship in the Spanish L’Estartit in July, 2004.
