Written by Jim West from Team India Cycling.
  
  Broadcast live from India
  
  Who doesn’t love a good hill race?The flow of lactic acid, the sheer pain on the faces of the pure sprinters, well that’s what we got in WT this week, leading to exhilarating racing, before next week where we sit through about a hundred kilometres of boredom for about ten kilometres of excitement and crashes all over the place in Sprint Week.
  
  Starting off now in Division D with a hilly race with not much else to say about it (although
  again some cobbles - a consistently recurring feature in division D, it seems!) in Slovakia which was won by Greenland who have now won three of the last three WTD races.The race winner was Gustav Atagotaaluk, and I have no jokes too make about this as the rider retired immediately after winning the race so I thought I would take a moment to celebrate some of his best achievements:He came second in the world championships last season after a successful breakaway, 8th at the tour of Ganges in Season 66 , dominating the rundfarht der Schlösser der Alpen in Season 61 and coming 7th in the world championships as well as 13th overall in Season 65.So to Gustav wherever warm place you have retired to (although likely you can’t move anywhere due to years overdue wages from Schiavi) you were a legend and what a way to go out with a bang!
  
  In division C the race was taken by Liechtenstein with the winner being Erich Alring the Liechstein national champion, and it is such a testament to the power of the Patriotic Union teams that a country with a population of 39,584 people can produce 22 competitive at a solidly high level riders. At the finish line, Erich launched into a thank-you marathon that could rival an Oscar speech—his mom, dad, uncle, teammates, and so many first names that the interviewer

fell asleep then woke up the next morning and astonishingly Erich was still talking! This is a common phenomenon in Liechstein sports known as the “everyone knows everyone effect” which has cause multiple instances of emotional outbreaks and in some cases death of boredom from interviewers. Here’s a fun fact Liechtenstein produces 20% of the dentures in the world! And now for an adbreak
  
  Ivoclar Vivadent: Admit it you didn’t know this was a real company but if you need dentures your probably gonna have to use our products so show us some respect!
  
  Moving now to division B which was won by Bulgaria with young gun Sergey Yotov winning the race.Sticking to the fun facts vibe of this edition the name Sergey comes from the Latin Sergius meaning Servant but he certainly wasn’t a servant in this race captaining Bulgaria to Victory in Norway and he is certainly a talent for the future so watch out for this guy!
  
  Travelling to Portugal now for Division A and the excitement of the fans there were palpable they were going to watch their team perform on home soil,there were flares going off songs being sung and so many interviews signed by the portuguese teamthat over 100 hundred pens are estimated to have run out. Unfortunately Portugal did not win on home soil and the win went to the Netherlands with Thijmenn van Damme taking his first ever result and I suppose if your going to win a race do it in style so good for him.I’m sure this race left a lot of people saying “Damme what a good result Thijmen, Goed gedaan maat”.
  
  In India NT team news: Seventh place. Decent result. Hoping for better in the sprint race coming up.
  
  And now for the interview segment and in a week where the NT made it back up to Division A and just in time for their home race, I have interviewed Yuri the

Portuguese National Team manager.
  
  Was it the plan to Get promoted in time for your home race?
  No, the plan was to get promoted period. We know our place belongs to the WT-A, so it was just a question of hong long it would take. Gladly it was on time for our home race, but that's pretty much it.
  
  Describe the atmosphere at the home race to me?
  Well, the Portuguese crows are know for their support and passion, there is no need to add to that, just watch old Rally videos in Portugal and you'll get the idea. Recently there was a big cheese world competition held in Portugal, so we can say that our whole land smelled like cheese (maybe that's why a Dutch rider won the race, who knows)
  
  Who was your captain for the Race?
  Jorge Couto was the captain, but finished in a disappointing 12th place. I've chosen experience over irreverence and it turns out it wasn't a good decision. Maybe Firmino Vidigal would be the right decision(only 1 NT appearance so far), must remember it for next season...
  
  Did any riders complain of handcramps from all the autograph Signings?
  Hehe, no in fact they are used to that! Recently a study said that 40% of the Portuguese people can only read simple phrases and do basic math, so they didn't need to writte long sentences on the autograph signing session!
  
  Any riders you’d like to thank for your speedy progress this season?
  All of the riders that races so far, captains and team mates! We are a strong Nation and all of them can be proud of their success!
  
  Any other things you’d like to add about being a NT manager?
  It's time consuming and hard to understand how the race unfolds. So if you are a maniac, feel free to join us!