Race Report: Rain Wreaks Havoc at the Superenduro Finale in Abetone by BWinder

Where to’s that then? Abetone (Aber-Tony) butt.

In one of the most Welsh sounding towns in Italy, we were treated to some typical Welsh weather for race day. Abetone has its roots in downhill, hosting many races over the years including some iXS rounds, but this year is hosting its first-ever Superenduro (Italian Enduro Series.) Abetone is a small ski resort in Northern Tuscany. While Tuscany is best known for its rolling hills and sandy beaches, Abetone shows us some of its high alpine areas.

This weekend we were treated to beautiful sunshine on Saturday for practice, but as soon as practice finished the heavens opened and didn’t stop until after the race, the organisers were left with a difficult task but ultimately led to them dropping three of the stages. Even with fewer stages, the trying conditions still proved to be a challenge and a great ending to the 2019 series.

Vittorio Gambirasio took the win, followed up by teammate Tommy Francardo and Erwin Ronzon in third. In the women’s Sofia Wiedenroth, took the win from Laura Rossin who’d won the previous two rounds and Irene Savelli finished in 3rd.

Riders getting set to practice stage 5.

This youngster was getting pretty excited during practice, I have to admit he didn't ride it out.

Abetone has some fun bike park trails, with big berms and jumps sculpted into the hillside.

Yet we are still in high alpine terrain here, which is full of sharp jagged rocks.

Here a rider making light work of Stage 5, unfortunately this was one of the stages cancelled.

You might be able to recognise this youngster from earlier, unbelievably he rode this one out.

With rain falling overnight and into the morning, it was obviously going to be a wet one.

Riders and mechanics alike were putting the finishing touches to the bikes in the morning. Right Alex Lupato's bike and left second placed, youngster Tommy Francardo.

Stormy grey skies loomed over head; the lift took the riders to 1892m, straight into the fog.

Rain, rain and more rain.

Top tip from Laura Rossin, dog poo bags are the perfect size to keep your feet dry.

At this point only stage five had been cancelled, due to the safety in the difficult conditions. With still a big day in front of the racers it was all set to be a tough day.

The fog became quite an issue in the race, as it could roll in quickly and engulf the entire mountain.

Irene Savelli seemed to be enjoying the slippery conditions, with a solid performance finished in 3rd position.

Stage one proved to be a slippery challenge, full of tight corners making holding momentum hard, but those who could master riding with minimal grip came out victorious.

As thick fog rolled in just after lunch, visibility became really poor, which made things dangerous for riders and marshals alike, so a decision was made to cancel stage six.

One from Saturday practice, the trails became completely different, with a different set of challenges after the rain.

Laura Rossin, remained undefeated in 2019 until this round, missing out on the top step by 35 seconds.

Nicola Casadei was in the running for a battle for the overall with Marcelo Pesenti but finishing up in 5th position wasn't quite enough to take the title.

The trails were still running pretty fast as the water running down the trail, but with sniper roots it became pretty challenging.

Marcelo Pesenti took the overall series win today, after finishing ahead of Casadei. But it wasn't the weekend he was hoping for. He would've won this round too, but unfortunately stage two needed to be cancelled due to the tape being broken, where a marshal was missing from his post and a large shortcut was taken by quite a few riders, including some of the top racers. This photo is taken in the section of track affected by the shortcut so we can be sure Marcelo didn't take the cut. He would've won the stage by over 10 seconds, understandably Marcelo was gutted about the decision to cut this stage, but in the interest of fairness for all competitors the organisers had to make the difficult decision. We give you a round of applause for your efforts this weekend Marcelo.

Sofia Wiedenroth took the win in the women's race by just over 35 seconds, making her mark on this difficult race, saying that she took some risks which obviously paid off.

Vittorio Gambirasio took the win today, finishing just four seconds ahead of teammate Tommy Francardo.

Alex Lupato seemed to be happy with the weekend and had a big smile on his face, with a young child now which has become his main focus and training has become a back burner, but he still loves racing these events.

A difficult weekend in terms of decision making for this guy and his team, Enrico Guala (The Pope of Enduro) but it was still a great weekend and event, despite the difficulties.