Superenduro PRO 3, Gemona, Race Day
This year seems to be scudding past faster and faster as the summer approaches. We're already into June and this race officially marks the halfway point of this year's Superenduro PRO season. Where did the long winter months go to? It seems too early in the year to talk about overall points races and series titles, but once half the races are gone, the dice are cast for the second half of the year. If you haven't had the results so far, it could well be that your hunt for the title is over already... So this weekend there was a lot to play for for anyone thinking they'd like to be holding the red leaders number board in Finale Ligure.
After the promising start yesterday, the weather held out until just after the prologue finished before setting in with a steady rainstorm. It carried on well into the night, so nobody was quite sure what they would wake up to today.
Full results are available online.
www.superenduromtb.com
After the promising start yesterday, the weather held out until just after the prologue finished before setting in with a steady rainstorm. It carried on well into the night, so nobody was quite sure what they would wake up to today.
 |
 Early morning weather check, prognosis: still no idea. This was the view that greeted me as I headed towards the race this morning. The blue sky was definitely a good sign, but there was a lot of cloud too. With mountains like these, that means it could do more or less anything, with barely a moment's notice. There's only one thing to do in times like this. Carry on and go racing. |
 |
| First order of the day for the Cicobikes team was a quick tyre change. Their call? Dry tyres, so Minions up front and Larsens out back as the wet rock had enough grip to get away this combination. Wet tyres would just roll too slowly, both on the climbs and the flatter parts of the race course. |
 |
| The group photo went slightly better this morning than it did last night. Collaring them at the marshalls' briefing this morning I managed to get at least quite a few of the people who made this weekend of racing possible in front of a camera. |
 |
| You learn something new everyday. Enrico was complaining of a sore neck this morning. It turns out the titanium bolts that hold his spine together after he smashed his C2 vertebrae in Les Gets a few years ago are aching. The way he described the crash, was "rolling like a salami down the hill, unable to move my arms and legs." He's a lucky man to have even survived a spinal injury that high up as the majority of people who get them aren't with us to crack jokes any more... |
 |
| The ramp where the prologue finished last night is where the racing began again this morning. Alex Lupato heads off onto the course. |
 |
| It's a big old climb here, fortunately these are old military roads, cut during the First World War to lug cannons up and down the mountains. That means they have a fairly steady gradient, as if it got steep, the cannons would have never made it up to the top. |
 |
| At the top of the mountain this is the sight that awaited riders. My guess is this was about 20 metres of visibility. Not great for moving at high speed on technical terrain. |
 |
| Much of the top section of stage one is through beautiful alpine meadows. Unfortunately a month of rain means that the conditions were slippery as hell in places, as Davide Sottocornola found out to his cost. |
 |
| Over the 13km of stage one, Manuel Ducci took the win by just two seconds, coming down in 10.34. On the same section where Davide ended up in his bush, Manuel spotted a highline behind the bush that completely avoided the slipperiest part. When the racing is this tight, that might just have been the difference between first and fifth. |
 |
| Vittorio Gambirasio grabbed that second place behind Manuel, setting up a battle between the two over the rest of the race. |
 |
| When the sun did come out, you could enjoy how stunning these kind of high meadows are at this kind of year. |
 |
| And during the brief spells when the clouds rolled right the way back, you got to see just how incredible this zone really is. |
 |
| One of the most fun things about shooting these races is usually the marshalls. Anybody willing to stand on top of a mountain and watch bike racing all day is ok in my book. Chatting to these two today, they pulled out the fresh local salami and offered a beer. All before 10am. Cheers guys! |
 |
| Another rare moment of sunshine. Standing behind the camera, when it looked like this it was easy to forget just how slick the dirty, brown line of the track was. |
 |
| Even when you got into the woods there were still greasy patches that made it tough to put the power down, as Toby Pantling found out. |
 |
| Laura Rossin grabbed a solid second on the long stage one, but Maria-Federica Zannotto put thirty seconds into her, which pretty much sealed the race win for her today. |
 |
| This is how quickly the conditions could change. Chiara Pastore came down just a minute behind Laura, but it was enough time for the thick fog to roll back in again. |
 |
| Waiting for the riders to return to the pits for the time check after stage two, GT360's mechanic, Claudio, decided that Franco needed some help with his personal hygiene and that normal soap and water weren't going to be enough... |
 |
| After re-aggravating a shoulder injury at Punta Ala, Andrea Bruno was out of action this weekend. We don't think he'd have minded who they gave his plate away to. |
 |
| Alex Lupato is number two in Italy right now, and at the EWS was the top Italian. But the sport is still small and at the time check there was only him there to get his tyres changed, no mechanic or factory support... He didn't agree with Cicobikes this morning and set out on mud tyres, but by midday he realised he'd made a mistake there and quickly switched back to his normal setup. |
 |
| Vittorio Gambirasio is slightly luckier, Claudio was on hand to do his tyre changing for him, so he could use the precious few minutes in the paddock to eat and rest his legs. |
 |
| On stage two Manuel had a small crash and lost a good handful of seconds to Vittorio, dropping him back to second, less than three seconds adrift. With stage three still to come there was still plenty of time to make that back, but he's looked like being on the verge of winning one of these PRO races for a while and clearly wanted to get his first on the door. |
 |
| This was also new territory for Vittorio. He too had never won one of these and didn't want to let the chance slip out of his grasp... |
 |
| Today, race director and series founder, Franco Monchiero, had the job of riding through each stage ahead of the riders on his moto. He clearly had no fun doing it.. |
 |
| If you notice, Manuel isn't wearing a backpack. Some of the faster riders here in Italy are switching to this approach as they prefer to race without one. Along the route there is plenty of water and food, so that isn't a problem and he was carrying an innertube and a multitool gaffer taped to his frame. But it is a higher risk approach, you have to have complete confidence in your bike as if anything more major happens it's game over. |
 |
| Vittorio has a small crash on stage three and Manuel capitalised, putting nearly six seconds into him. With just a dash of a minute or so left for the fourth stage to go, victory was starting to look like a very real possibility... |
 |
| We said yesterday that Peter Mlinar might be one to watch today and he definitely was. A string of solid thirds and fourths in the first three stages put him right up at the pointy end of things. |
 |
| Toby Pantling styling it down the final step transfer. A great eighth position for him today and the organisers liked his jump so much, they asked him to come back and hit it again for the crowds after the race. |
 |
| Peter Mlinar struggled on the final stage through the streets, losing precious time which dropped him back to fourth behind Alex Lupato. |
 |
| It wasn't Valentina Macheda's day today, she had problems on nearly every stages and finished a minute and a half off the pace. |
 |
| This may not look like much, but those cuts are from some of the sharper rocks that line the course and run deep. They meant a trip to the doctor after to get them sorted. |
 |
| Also, on the final stage she had some slight mechanical problems... |
 |
| Maria-Federica Zanotto dropping into the final descent to the finish and a won with a comfortable, one minute margin over second-placed Laura Rossin. |
 |
| Manuel Ducci drops into the final part of the fourth stage on his way to the finish. |
 |
| And the final sprint... |
 |
| ...then wait. Vittorio was due to set off two minutes after Manuel, so they must have been slow, agonising seconds. |
 |
| Vittorio put in the fastest time on the final stage, but could only claw back a second or so on Manuel, leaving him four seconds off the win today. For him, close, but not quite quite close enough. For Manuel, every single one of the winter miles and the beers turned down have been worth it. Vittorio was the first person to congratulate Manuel for his victory. |
 |
| Still, Vittorio wasn't down about this, compared to the rest of the frontrunners, he's still young and if he's this close now, he's definitely a name we're going to see at the top of the timing sheets in the future. |
Full results are available online.
www.superenduromtb.com
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
I'll take Fiat/Alfa over VW/Audi anyday of the week! Forza Italia!!
In fact there aren't many Italian brands that dont make at least something really clever or beautiful. It always seems like they are trying and thats why i like them. On the other hand i get into an opel/vw/audi and it costs way more and is clearly designed by people who dont love cars/engineering. And they are all unreliable shit.
I feel for Enrico, I fractured my C1, 2, crushed my C3 and dislodged my vertbrae right down to my pelvis. I still ride and race not to this level I wish, only 30% vertical neck movement and 50-60% side to side on a good day, pain is just something I live with, the stiffness gets to me, maybe I should have been cut open and had Ti inserted, my therapy is riding and trail digging, ride on Enrico!
X-rays of my neck look like a dirty toolbox - 10 titanium screws and two plates that look like Shimano SPD cleats.
Matt, what kind of backprotection are the top riders wearing?
vimeo.com/63722976