Thule Adventure Team – multisport winners on two continents, in the SM (Swedish Championship) in Karlstad, Sweden and in Expedition Idaho, USA

It has been an intense week for the Thule Adventure Team who participated in both the SM in Multisport, which took place around Karlstad, Sweden, and the seven-day Expedition Idaho race around Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Thule Adventure Team took first place in both races and showed once again that they are the world’s best multisport team.

Martin Flinta, Team Manager, and Per Vestling took first place in the SM when they passed the finish line with a final time of 3:43:29, more than one minute before second-place winner Team Sliva.

The Thule Adventure Team in Expedition Idaho consisted of Mimi Guilott, Jacky Boisett, Stuart Lynch and Albert Roca, who all pushed hard from the beginning with very little rest during the entire race. Their strategy was also to make use of the long stages, for example, biking, where the team could significantly distance themselves from their competitors.

Martin Flinta comments on the SM race.
“We won after having the lead during the entire race but we were a little worried during the paddling when one of the athletes from Team Silva passed us in his kayak. This was right in a narrow concrete channel under a road we were to paddle under. But we were successful in keeping on track and didn’t lose much time.”

“At the end, it was our winner instinct – there was no way we were going to fail. We had both won the SM previously but it had been a couple of years and this was the first time we had competed together.”

“We are extremely happy that we won. There was pressure on us since we had basically won all the other big races in Sweden and several other big international titles this season,” concludes Martin Flinta.

Both races are in preparation for the upcoming world championships in Tasmania.

Results for SM 2011
1. Thule Adventure Team
2. Team Silva
3. Team FJS

Results for Expedition Idaho 2011
1. Thule Adventure Team, Sweden
2. Team Seagate, New Zealand
3. Bones, USA


Thule Adventure Team
The Thule Adventure Team is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and consists of six multisport athletes – Swedes Martin Flinta, Andreas Svanebo, Per Vestling and Eva Nyström, and Jacky Boisset and Myriam Guillot from France. Together, they have an impressive list of accomplishments as some of the world’s best multisport athletes. The team was created in 2009 with the goal of being the best in the world in what many consider to be the toughest and most extreme adventure sport. Team members work on endurance and technique 30-40 hours a week and compete in 10-12 races a year.

Multisport
Multisport is an endurance sport with an emphasis on mountain biking, paddling, running and orienteering in various terrains and distances. The sport was started in the 1980s and today offers a wide variety of races, everything from short solo races of 2-3 hours to large expedition races that last 5-10 days – so-called ”adventure races,” which is the focus of the Thule Adventure Team. ”Adventure races” are always team competitions and the extreme distances always put a high demand on efficient, well-functioning teamwork.

Visit the Thule Adventure Team website, www.thuleadventureteam.com, for more information about current competitions, training and the team members.