Superenduro PRO 1: Sestri Levante, Saturday Racing
Here we go! Winter is now officially over as racing got under way in Sestri Levante. Things started gently though, today riders faced just two stages and a loop of around 15km with about 300m of climbing, nothing too taxing - that comes tomorrow. The first stage is entirely new for this year, a crestline run along a peninsula with the sea on either side of you, then a short haul through the streets of Sestri on the course from last year's prologue. Once the stages were done, riders then had to place their bikes in parc ferme for the night and tomorrow morning they will have only ten minutes to prepare them before racing gets back underway.
Mens Results:
Womens Results:
www.superenduromtb.com
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 Weather check for today? Good. Although there was some cloud cover, it was surprisingly hot and yesterday's rain was long-forgotten with the fast-drying, sandy ground. |
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| The centre of Sestri was strewn with vans, bicycles and riders fettling away this morning. |
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| Race director and series founder, Franco Monchiero, makes the final checks to see if all 400 or so riders are in a proper order before the first rider leaves the start area. |
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| Saturday morning is the time for the last few checks to your bike (or asking the SRAM support truck very nicely) and it was time to go... |
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| Last year's series champion, Laura Rossin, was the first rider to leave the starting gate in 2014. She found herself in third this evening, probably not the start to the year she was hoping for. |
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| Valentina Macheda put in a storming ride on both stages to hold the overnight lead, holding more than 3 seconds over Chiara Pastore in third. |
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| There were a couple of these climbs on the first stage. If you were just out riding they would be nothing, but in a race they turn into short bursts of pain that tell who has got their training right this winter. |
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| Alex Lupato put in a solid ride on the first stage to put himself ahead of last year's series rivals Manuel Ducci and Davide Sottocornola, but found himself behind his brother, Denny, and two of the Torpado team riders. He made up places on the second stage, jumping from fourth to third as riders ahead of him were claimed by the walls and slick floor of Sestri Levante, but a mistake meant Manuel Ducci could leapfrog him for second place in the overnight standings. |
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| Lightning firing out of nowhere was Nicola Casadei who stunned the series veterans by putting in a commanding performance on the first stage. At least he came out of nowhere for me (so much so that I don't have a better shot of him than this, or his teammate and overnight leader, Marco Milivinti), but Enrico Guala knows better than I do. He just shrugged and said "we all knew he was a bit special." Unfortunately he smashed himself to pieces on the second stage - a sprint through the streets of Sestri Levante and finds himself off the back and in need of stitches in his hand this evening. Word is that the stitches can wait until after racing tomorrow though... |
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| This section of trail is awesome, it's steeper than it looks here and a real pinball alley through the rocks. |
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| Yeah, this isn't a bad place to ride or race bikes... |
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| Cursed with a few mechanical problems himself, Andrea Bruno put aside his race run to help one of the young riders on his team who flatted ahead of him. We'd be the first to admit that we miss him leading the field, he was always a joy to watch on the bike, but we feel slightly jaded saying that when we see him putting his own race chances aside for his team. |
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| This fireroad climb about three-quarters of the way into the first stage was a killer, a lung-bursting haul after nearly five minutes on the gas. |
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| Stage two was last year's prologue - a short run through the streets of the peninsula, just outside the centre of town. |
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| On finishing stage two, riders had 40 minutes to work on their bikes to prepare them for tomorrow in the square outside the townhall. All work had to be done in this area, so you were limited to what you could carry - a great leveller for the entire field. |
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| If you were lucky, you had someone like Davide Bagnoli in your corner - a skilled mechanic to quickly check your bike over and fix any little niggles that crept in during your races runs. |
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| You then hand your bike over to the marshalls at the parc ferme, who give you a ticket for your bike. |
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| Your bike was then lead away from you and locked up for the night - racers will have just ten minutes in the morning to get their bikes ready for racing. |
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| Bruno decide to try and drink away his pain... Times must be hard if he's skipping the beer and going straight to the disk brake cleaner. |
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| If you asked me for one image from today that sums up why enduro is so much fun, it's this. Sitting, exhausted with your friends after a good ride, trying to figure out which one of you went fastest... |
Mens Results:
Womens Results:
www.superenduromtb.com
Author Info:
Member since Oct 29, 2006
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At least the races are the same.