Interview: Meet The SIX INCH ENDURO TEAM!
Anyone who’s been out to race at the phenomenal Italian Superenduro series will have seen the unmistakable green and yellow clad crew from Rome, the unmistakable Six Inch Enduro Team! These guys are an absolute mainstay of the Italian Enduro scene and boast not only one of the biggest teams I’ve ever seen – all of whom are ridiculously fast with numerous regional and now national champions in their midst – but easily one of the best and most supportive team setups outside the top pros. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know them over a couple of trips to race in Tolfa and Finale, and while it’s a bit of a cliché, the crew at Six Inch really do epitomise everything that’s good about Enduro – weekends with your mates, tearing up trails at breakneck speed, all interspersed with some quality banter and wind ups, plus a few beers too!
Ahead of the next round of the Superenduro series in Madesimo, I caught up with Six Inch Enduro Team’s top boss, coach and all round good guy Ciccio Fanchi to find out what they’ve been up to over the winter and what’s coming up for them this season! Over all the times I’ve hung out with them (both from awesome car journeys with team rider Simone Seri en route to Tolfa from Fiumicino airport in Rome and from some pretty comical evenings with all the guys!), I’d never quite worked out how Six Inch Enduro Team got so damn big with so many riders at every event – Ciccio fills me in:
“Six Inch was born three years ago as an amateur team to participate in the Superenduro series in Italy and this year we have become an official Sports Association. Six Inch consists of riders from Tuscany, Lazio and Abruzzo , and today we are a group full of energy with a passion for Enduro and the desire to pull out some results, provided that entertainment, lifestyle and promoting the Enduro discipline are the first level of our program” – sounds good to me!
Anyone who’s seen the slightly unnerving start list of a Superenduro race (how many riders?!?!) will have seen a massive line of names with Six Inch as their team – but this year, you’ll see “Six Inch ASD”, this is a massive thing for Ciccio and the team – he fills us in a bit more:
“ASD stands for Amateur Sports Association and is the way to be able to be registered to the Italian Cycling Federation to participate in other national and international competitions in all disciplines of cycling. It’s a way for us to have so much more recognition not only as a team but as a sporting organisation and help develop Enduro in our own way”
Last year saw the guys out in serious force at the EWS final in Finale, both on the track and in the evenings (including one hilarious night in a restaurant where we joined them for some crazy part-English, part-Italian banter over more than a few beers!) – with so many domestic and European races to choose for this season, Ciccio tells me we’ll be seeing a lot more of the green and yellow crew:
“I remember the days in Finale with you, in the evenings and at last year’s race! The EWS Finale was the race that has done more than any other race to get Enduro known to the whole world, because it was the end of the first season of the EWS and why they were all there at the start to see the champions of the world stage. In 2014 the commitment of Six Inch is to cover the entire Superenduro series, EWS races in Italy (La Thuile and Finale Ligure ), the Regional Championship and other local races “
The EWS Finale was the race that has done more than any other race to get Enduro known to the whole world, because there was the first sample , because it was the end of the first season of the EWS and why they were all there at the start the champions of the world stage. In 2014 the commitment of the Six Inch is planned for the entire calendar PRO circuit Superenduro , EWS at 2 in Italy ( La Thuile and Finale Ligure ) , the Regional Championship and other local races . The Superenduro in Sestri Ponente on the Ligurian coast has given us wonderful feelings and also good results. The team got to know each other better and to understand the potential of each individual.
Six Inch pretty perfectly define Enduro for me – big days out on the bikes with your mates, blasting some serious descents and having loads of fun. It’s always great to hear how a group of riders from somewhere else view the discipline, the scene and the lifestyle – over to Ciccio:
“Six Inch is born with the aim to amalgamate a group of people with the same passion around a calendar of races that entertain them and spend unforgettable days together.
My experience as an athlete and organizer, brings me to have an idea of Enduro very non-restrictive . To me Enduro is just pure bike racing – a competitive form of how we ride”.
I see great growth in the discipline – today everyone is doing enduro, as everyone was once a DH. Unfortunately, the lack of clarity inevitably leads to the misrepresentations, which translate into wrong ideas of the discipline.
A pure XC or DH racer cannot expect to just show up and do well at Enduro, because there are so many factors to a successful race. An Enduro race is long, has uphill, transfers, a few jumps, long runs, singletrack, nutrition, hydration, cramping, technical failures, heat, cold, rain, wind … there are no heroes but in a 5 or 6 hour race conditions may change at any time and you have to be self-sufficient if you want to finish the race . In a good Enduro race, these are the necessary ingredients that an organizer must be able to put in and only having covered all these bases can a rider hope to do well!”
Of all the amazing stages in the Superenduro series, there’s so many highlights – for me, it has to be either PS2 at Tolfa (even with a big crash!) or the fearsome Dolmen in Finale, that manages to capture just about every variation of hard riding in a single 7 minute blast – I wondered what a bit of insider knowledge from Ciccio would reveal as his favourite:
“Each race has its own special characteristics that can please you, and then also bits you like less. For me, my first love is of course the PS2 Superenduro Tolfa called Piantangeli. You’ve ridden it and you know what we mean, a maze of rocky outcrops where finding the lines and rhythm are the most challenging and rewarding feeling – even for the most technical rider.”
This year sees a new young female rider representing Six Inch Enduro Team in the shape of Matilde Andrea Melani – the girl is FAST and I can see her doing big things in the discipline over the next few years, but how did she come to join the guys at Six Inch? Ciccio fills me in:
“Matilde Andrea – Mati to all of us – is the girl who believed in the adventure of Six Inch Enduro Team and what we could become. I strongly supported her joining the team, because in her race at Tolfa she demonstrated tenacity, intelligence and sympathy, and today is our standard bearer in the category of women. In Sestri Levante, with little training due to some health problems, she proved herself to be strong and tough and finished the race with good times and regaining confidence in herself. I feel that Mati will get excellent performance and we are all happy that she wanted to choose to live this great adventure together with us!”
If you’ve not been out to race one of the Italian Superenduro series – you should! Incredible events, mindblowing tracks and stunning scenery – but I’m not the best man to sell it to you, so over to Ciccio for that:
“When Franco Monchiero had the idea of organizing the Superenduro, he could not have found a better ally in Enrico Guala. The pair believed in this format, and the strength of Italian Enduro resides in these two characters who have brought the level so high in Italy. Every time, they have something new that makes it grow more and raise the level, as it should be. The strength of Enduro in Italy resides also in the tracks and in the chosen locations – let’s move from the sea to the Alps with different tracks where the rider is forced to improve their techniques, their training and the preparation of bike and body. Every year we see a greater turnout of bikers and more interest from the public that understands the value of sports and athletic discipline with races lasting many hours”
2014 is already shaping up to be a HUGE season for Six Inch Enduro Team with category wins at the Italian National Championships, defending their regional titles and some solid results in Superenduro rounds so far – check them out in Madesimo if you’re there and you’ll receive a massive, friendly welcome from one of the best groups of people in the scene!
Check out more updates on their Facebook page
Words: Andy Nelson
Pictures: Allessandra Tomei/Six Inch Enduro Team
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