Superenduro PRO 4: Madesimo, Race Day!
So here we are. The biggest weekend on the national calendar for Italian enduro riders, without further ado then...
The full results are online on the Genova Gare website.
www.superenduromtb.com
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 There were a lot of fingers crossed last night hoping the weather would play nice today... This is what we woke up to this morning! Perfect conditions, drying loam and two great tracks to race over, what more could you ask for? |
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| This is what is at stake for the Italian riders, as well as the pride and the tricolour jersey, there's some serious silverware to be fought over. |
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| It was different stroke for different folks this morning. Chatting to Vittorio Gambirasio you'd never have guessed it was one of the biggest weekends of the year for him. That carpet is clearly doing wonders for his confidence... |
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| Manuel Ducci looked less at ease, he says he hasn't been sleeping well all week and that has really knocked his strength. Last year's champion, Davide Sottocornola, was nowhere to be seen, prefering to keep his head down and prepare alone. |
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| Here we go! Holding the number one plate means Manuel Ducci was the first rider to take to the course this morning. |
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| Matteo Raimondi admitted he was pretty nervous this morning. Although it's his second national championships, this year he wanted to go well. Unfortunately it wasn't his day today, he slipped back to 14th overall and second in the junior category. That said, the number five plate isn't there on the front of his bike by accident and he's only going to get faster and faster as he gets older. |
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| This series of corners on stage one was something we discussed with Matteo on the way up, trying to work out whether it was better to carry speed and go round the outside, or take the cut line which meant you needed a few pedalstrokes after to get back up to speed. One of the major skills in enduro racing is where and when you conserve your energy and those extra pedalstrokes mean that little bit more precious energy spent. From the top left, going clockwise this is how Manuel Ducci, Davide Sottocornola, Alex Lupato and Vittorio Gambirasio approached. Davide won the stage by 1.3 seconds from Alex. |
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| Peter Mlinar was a rider a lot of people were watching today after his strong ride at the last round in Gemona. Unfortunately he couldn't quite find that form again today, finishing 11th, 20 or seconds off the pace. |
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| Leoluca Scurria rode to a solid 23rd today. |
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| Mark Scott made his Superenduro debut here last year and has been racing a lot of enduro since. Today he rode to a strong ninth place. |
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| Thirteenth today was a good showing from Sam Flanagan, his brother Joe was just behind in twenty-first. |
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| Laura Rossin managed fourth overall today. Fortunately for her the three women ahead of her were from Switzerland and New Zealand, which means she is the Italian women's national enduro champion. |
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| Tough running for the FRM guys on stage one. Andrea Pirrazolli destroyed a wheel and Denny Lupato tore his mech off. That's how racing goes some times. |
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| Stage two (and four) was Alex Lupato's playground today, he was untouchable down there on both runs. |
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| It didn't all go to plan for Vittorio when got up onto the hill... He managed to rescue some time after lunch, but still found himself 30 seconds off the pace back in sixth by this evening. |
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| A small slip on the roots left Andrea Bruno running for the next patch of ground to get set and back on the bike. While he couldn't regain the title he won in 2011, he finished seventh today despite carrying a shoulder injury. |
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| Lars Sternberg's first European enduro race went well for him, fourth overall is a great showing for his first time out. |
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| Tenth for Cam Cole today, a cracking result for his first Superenduro race and he undoubtedly would have finished higher if he hadn't had chain problems on stage one. We would say that seeing riders of Cam's calibre at these enduro races is a great thing for the sport. We're sure Cam wouldn't mind us also saying that it's also a good thing for the sport that riders like him aren't just showing up to these races and winning. It shows how tough it is to win one of these, even if you have top ten World Cup DH pace. |
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| Franceso Colombo was probably today's biggest surprise, smashing his way to fifth overall. His experience racing world cup downhill clearly helped on the roots of stage two (and four). |
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| At the halfway point Lupato was clearly feeling good... It's also worth noting that two riders got disqualified at the time check because they didn't make themselves available for the doping controls. |
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| Andrea Bruno and Cam Cole chat at the time check, discussing lines and where they'd had problems in the morning. Bruno had his slip on two, Cole lost his chain on the first stage. |
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| After the time check Alex Lupato was on one, clawing back time on Davide Sottocornola to eventually take the win by a mere 1.3 seconds. This weekend the two of them were a class apart and Manuel Ducci wasn't joking about not feeling good, taking third place a full 17 seconds back. |
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| Another weekend, another solid result for Toby Pantling, 22nd this weekend. |
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| Sam Flanagan drops towards the town on stage three. |
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| The final part of stage three was through this meadow of buttercups. |
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| This is the second year running that Anita Gehrig has won here in Madesimo, this year she bought her twin, Caro, with her who took second just behind here. |
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| After such a close, hard-fought race tensions were clearly running high. We don't know what Davide was talking to Trippa about, but it seemed to be fairly heated. |
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| It was Lupato's day today. We've said before that he's been looking strong all year and today he put it all together to take the championship. |
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| Luapto grins from ear-to-ear, while Ducci and Sottocornola offer each other commiserations. |
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| There are trophies, points and jerseys for the winner, but the first thing on Alex's mind after crossing the line was beer. We approve. |
The full results are online on the Genova Gare website.
www.superenduromtb.com
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The stages were challenging, especially the second stage...... some seriously rooted and rutted stuff and fatigue on the last run had me hanging on for life
8th was MILIVINTI Marco
9th SCOTT Mark (not eighth )
and 10th COLE Cameron ( not eighth )