Wloszczowska and Galinski in Polish championships

The Polish MTB Championships will take place in Olsztyn near Czestochowa between Friday and Sunday, July 15-17. The event will be organized in the beautiful surrounds of a 14th century castle, built by Kazimierz III Wielki.

Last year's men's champion is Marek Galinski (PSB-Atlas - Orbea), who after a bad start to the season is coming back. "I'm arriving from Olszyn to fight," said Galinski. "Shape...sometimes you have it, sometimes not. I hope that my shape will be adequate for this race."

The battle for the title will also be contested by Marek Kowal (Laufer Modafur), who has been in good form this season and has defeated Marek Galinski a couple of times. Michal Bogdziewicz (Lechia Gdansk) and Piotr Formicki (Cyklosport Boleslawiec) are some of the other favourites, while Marcin Karczynski will not participate in the race in Olsztyn.

In the women's category, the current Polish champion is Maja Wloszczowska (Lotto), who will be defending this title won in Kielce. Wloszczowska is also the Polish champion in the U23 category. Besides her, there are also her friends from the team - Anna Szafraniec and Magdalena Sadlecka, who are candidates for medals in the women's category. These three contestants will most likely be fighting for medals, as they are a cut above the rest of the field.

In the junior category, the contenders include Lotto team riders Magda Pyrgies, who has had an excellent season, and Aleksandra Dawidowicz, who has just won the European time trial championships.

The championships kick off with the Team Relay on Friday, followed by the U23 and young juniors race on Saturday, and the junior and elite men, and junior and open women categories on Sunday.