4X ProTour Round 7 – Pamporovo, Bulgaria - Preview

This will be the first time that the 4X ProTour will visit Bulgaria and we are very excited that the resort of Pamporovo will host the 2014 4X ProTour finals. After hosting the 2013 4X European Championships, this venue was an obvious choice to add to the 4X ProTour.


With a huge track that is around a minute long, this will be the ultimate race for the 4X ProTour finals. With huge berms, big jumps and a section of the track in the trees, this track has it all and will undoubtedly produce action packed racing on Saturday night.

Who to watch:
The 2014 season has been the best one in the history of 4X ProTour. In the women's, there has been a different winner at almost every round. The woman who has claimed 2 wins this year is Helene Fruhwirth. The Austrian rider has dedicated her time to 4X for many years and this year looks like the time that she will become World number 1. In 2nd overall at the moment though is the rookie Natalia Piwowarczyk from Poland. The Szczawno local has been trained by Andrzej Skrzypczak and in 2014 has been riding amazingly well. She can get her hands on the 2014 title if all goes her way. Heather Kay from Great Britain has also found her feet on the 4X ProTour. Her downhill background will certainly suit the track in Pamporovo so look for Heather to be in the mix fighting to get in the top 5 overall.

In the men’s, Tomas Slavik heads into this race with the series points lead. He is definitely the man to beat in 2014 and he almost has the title sealed up. He just needs to make it to the quarter finals in Pamporovo to seal the 2014 title. Challenging him is Quentin Derbier from France. Derbier has been flying in 2014 – taking 3 fastest qualifiers and 2 race wins already. He is the only rider who can mathematically beat Tomas Slavik. A lot of things have to go his way, but this is 4X and anything can happen. British rider Scott Beaumont and Swedish rider Felix Beckeman will be looking to end the season with a good result here. These two along with Hannes Slavik and Simon Waldburger are all fighting for the top 5 overall places and with the points being very close there could be some fireworks. It would be hard to predict who was going to finish in 3rd overall.

Track Preview:

Here is the track preview for the 4X ProTour finals in Pamporovo:


Riders Entry:
The great thing with 4X ProTour is that anyone can enter the race. That means local riders, DH riders, Enduro riders – anyone can enter and give it a shot. With the qualification process, it is a great way for anyone to enter and see how they get on without worry of being out of their comfort zone. Here is the link for riders to pre enter the race. Don’t worry if you don’’t get pre entered as entries are accepted on the race site - conceptcreative.org/bg/4x

Schedule:
Here is the schedule for the weekend.
Thursday 21.8.2014:
10:00 – 16:00 – riders registration /Hotel Perelik/
12:00 – 16:00 – official training
19:00 – technical meeting Hotel Perelik

Friday 22.8.2014:
10:00 - 12:00 – riders registration /Hotel Perelik/
12:00 – 14:00 – official training
14:30 – 17:00 – qualification (live coverage)

Saturday 23.8.2014:
10:00 - 11:00 – press conference /Hotel Hotel Perelik 3* Pamporovo/
12:00 – 13:30 – official training
13:45 – 14:15 – opening ceremony, riders intro, (live coverage)
15:00 – 17:30 – Pamporovo 4X Pro Tour 2014 race (live coverage)
20:30 Pamporovo 4X Pro Tour 2014 award ceremony + signing session (live coverage) /Hotel Perelik/
22:30 Official party /hotel Perelik/

Sunday 24.08.2014:Whip contest
11:00 – 12:00 – “Whip contest” riders registration /Studenets center/
11:30 - 12:30 – “Whip contest” training
13:30 – “Whip contest”

For more information on the 4X ProTour, visit - www.4xprotour.com