Race Report: SloEnduro Series #4, Enduro Tolmin
Tolmin (Slo) was the fourth stop of the SloEnduro series in 2014 season. The race, leading in the half way of the season, was expected to be hard already after checking the race course informations. 1400m of elevation with three different stages was on the schedule for Sunday, all with pedaling transfers and no assisted shuttles.
First riders headed on the course allready on 9.30 in the morning which gave them at least some of the time before the strong sun came out on them and made things even tougher. First climb took them around 2 hours to get on the top and finally reaching the start of the first stage. After that, things got a bit easier with going back to the valley and gaining some of the altitude back with shorter transfers.
First riders came back to the paddock area after just above 4 hours on the bike. After long and exhausting day on the bike no pleasant surprise was waiting for them in the finish area, since the timing crew got hit with an error on their timing session. The crew only could get the times from the first stage, while the times from the second stage where strange and there was no time at all from the last stage. Later on they came out with an conclusion that a cause for that failure was a human mistake and allready made a statment on sloenduro page. You can read it here.
Since there is known that who is working can make a mistake, none of them was happy with that and tried to save a day. At the end it was agreed that the final results of the race will be the results from the first stage.
After unusual outcome of the day, there was no big surprises on the end results. In the mens competition Nejc Rutar (Unior Tools Team) really deserves a title of a serial winner in the SloEnduro series. It was his third win in a row, only missing a win on the first race of the season, in Trieste. The fastest contender was a brilliant downhill rider, Nejc’s team mate, Jure Žabjek (Unior Tools Team), enjoying his brake from downhill worldcup season and making it trough to the first SloEnduro podium. Last step on the podium went to Kristjan Medvešček (KK Črn Trn), while Tadej Razpet (Pedal Racing Team) and Nace Krivonog (Orbea Geax) ended in the fourth spot together with a same time.
In the ladies category we saw a new face on the podium. Just like Jure, also Zarja Černilogar (KK Črn Trn), fastest slovenian downhill girl, took a brake from her downhill season and came to see what is happening in enduro scene. The fastest girl behind her was a Hungarian, Lilla Megyaszai (Cube Csomor), winner of the race in Cerkno, while the last spot on the podium went to Saša Bevk (Pedal Racing Team). A big name in the results was Tanja Žakelj (Unior Tools Team), european cross country champion and 2013 world cup winner, who also made a little brake from race and came to enjoy on her enduro bike.
In juniors clasification there was no surprise. Jan Štucin (Pedal Racing Team) took his third win of the season, in front of Grega Žvan (Orbea Geax) and Matjaž Istenič (Pedal Racing Team). In Master 1 category the fastest rider for the fourth time in the season was Robert Kordež (Orbea Geax) in front of Janko Bačnar (Pedal Racing Team) and Anže Bizjak (ŠD Bam.Bi), while in the Master 2 category Primož Štrancar (Orbea Geax) won the race in front of Janez Golmajer (MTB Klub Kranj) and Martin Brus (Kamplc Racing Team).
Next race will be held in from 18th till 20th of July on venue voted for the best race in 2013, Koroška. Black Hole Enduro will start with a prologue on Friday evening and continue on Saturday with 4 stages. On Sunday there will be a special underground stage for the 25 fastest riders.
More information on www.sloenduro.com
Words: Jaka Tancik | Pictures: Nejc Bole
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