Photo Epic: European DH Cup Round 2, Slovenia
Kranjska Gora, Slovenia hosted the second round of this years iXS European DH Cup. After more than a month off from the series the riders were keen to get the racing going again. The track as always is one hell of a course. It is short, technical and due to its huge amount of roots it's extremely intense to race. Several open traverses link the four different wood sections with plenty of lines until it is time to sprint down to the line.
With a couple riders missing because of the Crankworx event in Innsbruck the field got a little bit minimized. Still, we witnessed great racing with tiny margins and big surprises. Coming from her fourth place finisher at the world cup in Leogang, Monika Hrastnik keeps her momentum going and dominated the elite women field. She rode flawlessly all weekend long and took a great win in front of Nina Hoffmann and Jana Batrova.
In the men's field riders raised their bars and times were as tight as skinny jeans. Joshua "Smooth Operator" Barth was still dealing with an injured shoulder from Fort William but flew by in a blink of a second each run he did. In the finals, Luka Berginc, the local rider, came out swinging and went straight into the hot seat with a time faster than anyone else in the seeding. As no one was able to beat his timed he sat for quite a while and the top 5 riders were left up top. Joshua Barth did what he was meant to do. He stormed down the course and took the win by 0.075s. Luka Berginc took second followed by Max Hartenstern, Bryn Dickerson and Stanislav Sehnal.
Kranjska Gora is a small but well-known ski resort in the winter time but more and more mountain biking finds its way to the valley
This place is unreal and provides another class act of a downhill track in slovenia
A lot of dust had to be washed off this weekend but the riders still had a big smile on their faces
Blake Ross showing besides some serious speed some steezy shapes
Smooth operator, Joshua Barth
As the highest ranked rider in the UCI standings Ondrej Stephanek was running the number one plate
Christopher Philogene turning the volume to the max
Big whips on the motorway section
After winning the qualification all eyes were on Stanislav Sehnal
There was supposed to be a lot of rain but luckily everyone got away with a nice tan this weekend
Billy Caroli won the really competitive and tight racing in the masters category
Pro masters podium with Benjamin Herold, Mads Weidemann, Billy Caroli, Fabrizio Dragoni and Dominik Dierich
Antoine Rogge slammed the door and took the U17 male win with more than two seconds ahead
Pro U17 male Podium with Blake Ross, Antoine Rogge and Benjamin Beck
Vilma Gombalova won the Pro U17 female category
Trsitan Botteram wasn't just the fastest U19 male rider, he was fastest overall on saturday. His final run would have put him into 8th in the elite
Pro U19 male podium with Marcel Merkeli, Tristan Botteram, Hannes Lehmann and Zak Gomilscek
Sandra Ruebesam just couldn't put it together and finished in 4th
Nina Hoffmann was the second fastest woman of the day
Monika Hrastnik is just coming off her first World Cup podium in Leogang and is on a high like no other
Elite women podium with Sandra Ruebesam, Nina Hoffmann, Monika Hrastnik, Jana Bartova and Abigail Hogie
Erik Irmisch qualified in 5th but clicked out within the first pedal strokes of his race run
Miran Vauh rode the fastest first split in seeding and showed his raw speed but just couldn't put it together
Max Hartenstern was here for winning business but got third with just 0.219s behind
Matt Walker seemed to be taking things easy in Kranjska Gora finishing in 7th
Johann Potgieter is in europe for another summer full of racing. A smooth run placed him 16th
Eventhough it was quite a short course riders were absolutely exhausted after their runs
Luka Berginc wasn't really on anyone's radar but laid down a stellar run on home soil
Rasto Baranek had a huge moment in the technical woods but rode it out into 20th
Patience, great riding and pure competitiveness by Joshua Barth who won his first elite race
Bryn Dickerson got 4th and was just 0.6 off the win
Playing the waiting game and just hope
The last rider down the course Stanislav Sehnal crossed the line in fifth place
Elite men podium with Bryn Dickerson, Luka Berginc, Joshua Barth and Max Hartenstern
With his win in Kranjska Gora Joshua Barth is taking over the series standings
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Yeah, no doubt...I didn't recognize the name of a single competitor in this article.