Photo Report: 4X ProTour Round 6 & 7 - Val Di Sole

Where do I even begin with Val Di Sole and 4X? Way back in 2008, the organisers spent €50,000 to fully sculpt a world-class 4X track for UCI Mountain Bike 4X World Champs. It has been used almost every year since then whether that be a UCI 4X World Cup or a 4X ProTour.

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Racing wise you just can't predict a winner here. Yes, there'll always be clear favourites but when push comes to shove, you can count on carnage. Whether that be riders taking each other out, moves out of nowhere or even the odd cutting of the course to get yourself a silver medal. as the below results show:

• 2016 World Champs - Mitja Ergaver
• 2017 World Champs - Felix Bekeman
• 2018 World Champs - Quentin Derbier
• 2019 World Champs - Romain Mayet
• 2021 World Champs - Tomas Slavik

Consider each rider like a marble and Val Di Sole track a tub. Drop all the marbles out of the tub onto the floor and they'll never finish in the same place.

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Gone is the marble-like surface of years gone by, replaced with hard-packed dirt just 11 days ago to the cost of about 5,000. This changes the track dynamic massively, you used to be able to inside and drift like crazy or rail the outside and have plenty of grip. Pretty much the exact opposite of speedway, if you're struggling to get your head around the concept. Now there should be ample grip everywhere.

Out of the gate, you're right into some log rollers then 2 step-downs. If you're in gate one (inside) the second step-down gap is tiny. Gate 4 (outside) however is a fair distance. The philosophy behind it is from gate 4 you want to be absolutely hauling to rail the outside of turn one whereas gate 1 isn't necessarily the case.

Turn 1, a huge 180 right-hander. The reason it's so big? It allows for plenty of opportunity for passes. Inside-outside, high-low-high, high-low, etc. With the exception of the last turn, every corner is big and it makes for great racing.

Exiting turn in the hope you haven't been absolutely mullered by anyone else and it's into a tabletop. There's nothing much to the tabletop but when night comes that all changes. There seems to be a dead zone where none of the lights cover it. Again surviving turn 1 with three other riders is one thing but to then hit a table in complete darkness (For the photo nerds out there F1.4 ISO20,000 500th and still under-exposed). Pretty wild and something you won't notice and appreciate as a spectator.

Turn 2. a 180 left I describe as The Gaza Strip... years gone by it was an absolute abomination, with huge holes everywhere. Essentially just blown to bits, hence the description I give it. I once watched someone lead out a semi-final only to hit one of the dust-filed holes and wash out, no final for him then... Again resurfaced so we shall see how long that lasts.

There's a good bit of elevation drop out of turn 2 that you can pump before hitting a step up. The step up as 2 lines essentially, you can ride it normally (straight) and rail the right-hander that is turn 3, and by rail, I mean flat out! Alternatively, you could (skill depending) enter super far left and try and just miss the flag to dive onto the inside berm. A good 10-15 meters shorter and a berm that really holds you.

Exiting turn 3 you have a triple hip into the left-handed 180 of turn 4. With a massive pull and a boatload of speed, you can clear it as a triple but certainly one for those in the upper echelons. For the mere mortals, it'll be a low double to pump.

Onto the track split now where you have the Pro line on the right and non pro on the left. For the pro it's 2 double, the first of which is fairly easy to clear if not struggling to not over jump it. The second on the other hand is a totally different kettle of fish. It's massive and not only is it big, but to get a good line around turn 5 you have to jump as far left as you can to join onto where the none pro line ends. For the none pro line you have a simple set of 3 tables. Yes getting onto them is a little more difficult from the berm as you essentially have to come back on yourself, but you get the advantage of having a perfect line into turn 5.

Turn 5, the berm I will always remember as the berm Nate Parsons put someone through and sent a whole bunch of the crowd flying like skittles. Probably 25-30 foot tall, massive behemoth that is crucial for snagging a place or 2 in racing. you get this berm and the drive out of it right and every year you will catch someone napping.

Into the rock-garden and there's 3 main lines, you've got your Felix Bekeman huck line which basically kicks off a rock and clears a lot of it to then make another hop and you're through. You have the centre line which is most common and you have the right line which is a good bit smoother but considerably longer.

Down the final straight with a hop on hop off and round the last turn. Hope you don't get taken out over the bridge like that year Slavik lost out on world champs and that a complete run.

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For the last few years now Val Di Sole has hosted the 4X World Champs and as good as that was, it meant things were extremely restricted. One of such restrictions was being selected to represent your country weeks or months in advance. This severely hampered entries and that became clear to see as practice rolled around. Names like Matt Walker, Joel Moore, Samuel Willimann and Noel Niederberger all making on-the-day entries.


Noel Niederberger is no rookie when it comes to racing 4X but it was clear the 2 teammates, Janis Lehmann and Constantin Reutsch he lead out, were.


Back in the day when Bernard Kerr was on a Millyard and Danny Hart was on a Lapierre racing downhill nationals in Junior, Bernard was also racing 4X Nationals. The reason I mention this, as I'm walking up the hill to start shooting I see someone on a Pivot with Kerr on the back of his jersey sat in the gate. My initial thoughts were "I wonder if that's Bardolph" his younger brother. Turns out it was Matt Walker, not a clue why he was in Bernards jersey but hey ho. Shall we say the first few runs were a little tentative doing trains with Joel Moore and a few others. Again though, it was nice to see others outside the sport of 4X turn up, get over the initial hurdles of a different riding style then evolve very quickly to scoping different lines, etc.


Another name new to the game, Kiwi, Caitlin Flavell. Racing the downhill in Juniours she thought she'd give it a go. A massive doff of the cap from me, to go from spending the day practicing one of the roughest downhill tracks in the world to then putting a stint in learning a new discipline, practising and then sending 2 quali' runs, bravo. She wasn't originally going to enter as she didn't have a "4X Bike" I quickly explained you can race 4X on pretty much any bike.


You know how I mentioned the second turn "Gaza Strip"? holy shit!!! one single deep hole soon appeared and as the riding went on it was just filled with dust. For some perspective, I watched a Swiss rider's front wheel hit it and he was almost ejected over the bars!


Right on queue it absolutely pissed down and though no rider likes getting soaked, it was welcomed. The ridiculously dusty track desperately needed it to keep it all together. 30 minutes later and it was all go time, every one had enough time for 1 quick run before Quali's.

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As mentioned earlier having freedom due to not being World Champs means the organises of the 4X Pro Tour decided to run the event as a doubleheader. Round 6 on Friday night with the final round 7 on Saturday night. to make this happen, there are 2 qualifying runs, the first counts as your position for Friday's racing. The second is for Saturday's racing.


Nothing much to say about the first quail runs really. I mean that is if I totally overlook how quick Swiss rider Samuel Willimann looked. I mean the above image technically is abysmal but it was a grab shot. The reason I posted it is so you can see how banked over and railed he was. It's rare for me to be impressed, The fact I posted an image as bad as the above should give an indication as to my thoughts on his track speed.


The second runs tell a different tale for a few reasons. Firstly, a couple of riders, notably Matt Walker and Louise Ferguson, decided to only do the second quali run as they only wanted to race the Saturday night due to schedule conflicts. The other thing of note is the times. The difference between pro riders and normal folk is consistency. If an amateur was to ride a 45-second track, chances are the times would fluctuate +- 1 or 2 seconds, that's not the case for the quickest in the world. Take for example Scott Beaumont:
• Run 1 - 44.660
• Run 2 - 44.678
18 thousandths of a second difference.

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For the second set of qualifying runs, I decided to throw caution to the wind and throw the fisheye on a monopod to shoot the triple into the 4th corner before the pro line.



Now for clarity, this gap is a MASSIVE pull and clearing it was reserved for only the top riders. To throw some steeze then is fairly impressive and that's totally disregarding the fact that it's a qualification run against the clock.

So answers in the comments:
1. Scott Beaumont
2. Roberto Cristofoli
3. Stefano Dolfin
4. Dan Waggstaff
5. Samuel Willimann
6. Matt Walker

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Well as I type this it's Saturday morning, the night after racing. I'm doing so with glazed eyes, not due to being tired, but having been updated on last night's accident. Anna Slancova was one of the few women sending the pro line. During her semi-final, she over shot the first double ever so slightly and decided last second to abort the second larger double. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to brake enough in time and went headfirst into the back side of the downside. She was unconscious for 10-15 minutes, when she came round she was screaming in agony. Tomas Slavik was called down from the start gate to try and help translate from Czech to English as Tomas is multilingual. All in all you're looking at 40+ mins before she was eventually stretchered off the hill. She was then driven down the road to be helivacced out to a hospital.

All racing ceased and all riders left at the top of the hill rolled down in a train. There was no podium for that round 6. Every rider voted and agreed (12-0) to donate their prize money to help get Anna's family from Czech to Italy.

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In regards to results of racing. As both the male and female semi-finals had run, the positions for the finals are given on where you finished in the semi and if there are 2 riders tied then quali result counts.

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Before racing got underway on Saturday evening there was a track change which, even so slight, made for a big difference. The flag making the inside on turn 3 more difficult was moved back and to the outside by about a meter. This meant if you were wanting to rail the much shorter inside, you'd really have to work for it. That and it meant people weren't being DQ'd from racing due to jumping over it (Apparently that's what happened to Brozik in Round 6).


Heat 1 underway, and Roberto Cristofoli gets one hell of a drive back siding the second drop on the first straight from gate 3 putting him right alongside fastest qualifier Tomas Slavik, much to his surprise. As Tomas had gate 1 he's inside into turn 1 and by turn 2 (Pictured) has a clear lead. Nikolas Miheljavec takes a big stack entering turn 3 trying to get the position on Cristofoli allowing Tomas and Roberto to cruise down to the line.


Heat 2 and this is where I find things get extremely interesting. Downhill racers and teammates Matthew Sterling and Louise Ferguson are sharing the same Nukeproof bike but they run completely different setups. I'm talking Flats vs Clips, grips, brakes, shock pressures, etc. That's pretty wild to begin with but here's what I find interesting... Matthew only had about 8 minutes of practice allowing Louise as much time as she needed to get the track dialled in. In that 8 minutes, I'm blown away, I watch him do 1 gate against the quickest in the world and he's there, he's not getting dropped. On with racing and he dominates the first race with a clear lead from snap to finish, I'm talking a good 40-50 bike lengths between him and second place Constantin Reutsch.


Heat 5 is the next race I have a peaked interest in. Matthew Walker's first 4X race in quite some years, in fact, chances are if you watch TikTok you won't have been alive the last time he raced. I think the last time we spoke was perhaps 2016 in Val Di Sole where he was slating 4X, despite the prize pool being the same as the DH. Out the gate, his snap is poor as is his drive on the first straight. 2nd in qualifying it doesn't really matter how his first straight is as he's in gate 1, it's all about the first turn. Holy shit though he can rail turns! By the 2nd turn, he has absolutely smoked Hermes and Scherer finishing in that order.


Heat 6 containing Italian home nation hero Stefano Dolfin, Brit Joel Moor, South African Sharjah Jonsson and Aussie Lachie Forbes. Stefano gets the snap in gate 2 leading by half a bike length at the first drop. Joel Moore has gate one so there side by side on the exit of turn one over the table. Stefano leaves the door wide open into turn 2 letting Jonsson come from dead last through to first along with Forbes. Jonsson then decides to go inside on turn 3 and somehow manages to make it work. Stefano is in no man's land between the inside and outside of turn 3 with Forbes and Moore battling for 2nd place. Moor winds it up along the pro line and sticks it inside of Forbes on turn 5, 2nd. Not done there though, he sees Jonsson complacent in the last turn and decides to do him on the inside off the finish drop. 1st for Moore, 2nd for Jonsson.


Quarterfinals time and in a rare instance Tomas is caught napping with a slow snap. Cristofoli, Sterling and Ruetsch needn't get their hopes up though as his drive more than makes up for it. Back in 3rd and 4th Ruetsch and Sterling are battling away. Ruetsch manages to get onto the inside line on turn 3 going from dead last to almost 2nd In the end Sterling and Ruetsch end up bar to bar over the triple.


Quarterfinal 2 and it's lights out for Brozik. Niederberger makes a move on the inside line on turn 3 going from 3rd to 1st cutting off Williman. Bad news for Brozik though who's on for the triple but clips Williman back wheel leaving him upside down and out the back. Niederberger and Williman through.


Quarterfinal 4 and it's a simple lead-out for Beaumont with Emmrich not far behind.


Time for the semifinals and for the women to make their mark on the Italian slope. Louise Ferguson got that message loud and clear and after a 5-minute delay (whilst her mechanic gets Sterling's parts swapped over) she was clearly the quickest women on the hill leaving McFall in her dust.


Semi-final 2 saw Byng and Flavell go bar to bar down the first straight. Unfortunately for Byng, she took a big old stack in the berm leading into the pro line which let Flavell run away with first place. Hannah Escott briefly capitalised on the situation but Byng was quick to her feet and managed to pull second position back.


Onto the men's semi-final and unlike the quarters, Slavik is fully primed, an unbelievable snap and drive sees him out front into turn one and well out of the danger. 2nd through 4th though is bedlam.


The second men's semi saw Walker have a considerably improved snap and drive in gate 1 compared to the first heat he raced. Only a wheel behind Beaumont in gate 2 it was a hell of a battle into and through the first turn. Qualifying 2nd really paid off for Walker who was able to ride Beaumont out from 1st to 4th. Beaumont was able to bring 1 position back entering the second turn and almost a second on the exit if perhaps there was a little more grip. It wasn't to be though, Walker and Emmrich through to the final.


The grand crescendo that is the finals. Starting with the women's final and though Ferguson doesn't get the best of starts in gate one she just holds it wide open and effortlessly forces Mcfall super deep into the first turn, from where she held the lead uncontested until the end. 3rd place going into the first turn was Byng but after a bit of contact she would find herself on the deck with Flavell. Flavell would be the first of the 2 to get back up and ride down for 3rd place with Byng shortly after.

For the men it was also an action-packed affair. A real impressive snap from the young student Emmrich meant there was a beauty of a 3way into turn one and who doesn't love a 3-way? As per the order of the day, Walker tried to ride everyone wide but Slavik was a smidge too far in front for him to be really affected by it. Coming into turn 2 and Emmrich tries the same move on Walker with the same outcome securing second position and sending walker spinning on the deck. Cristofoli came rolling through and that's how it all finished.

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