MTB cycling: Over 400 riders from 24 nations took part in the opening race of the iXS European Downhill Cup 2015 last weekend in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. On the extremely demanding course, Johannes Fischbach (Ghost RRP) and Carina Cappellari (Radon Magura Factory) from Switzerland were able to assert themselves as day winners on Sunday.
Actually, the start of the EDC should have taken place in Maribor, but due to economic difficulties the race was moved to Kranjska Gora. However, the place, which is known for winter sports, already drew attention to itself when it hosted the Downhill European Championships in 2013. Good omens for the new venue for the iXS European Downhill Cup, even if the weather on Friday initially made the track very slippery. However, Petrus played along and let the track dry out more and more on the days of the competition.
The qualifying runs were scheduled for Saturday, with the newly introduced Super Final attracting a great deal of attention. In the Elite Men class, only the 30 fastest riders in the qualification run on Sunday can compete for the day's victory - so excitement was inevitable. The fastest of the day on Saturday was Johannes Fischbach with a lead of more than six seconds. The South American champion Marina Salazar (Commencal) was able to conjure up the fastest lap for the women. There was one exception for the Super Final: Due to his "protected" status, the Italian Johannes von Klebersberg (Ghost RRP) was also allowed to start in the Super Final on Sunday - as 31st place.
The track conditions were perfect on Sunday and the riders were able to set even faster times than in the qualification. Fischbach was also the fastest rider in the Super Final and relegated Poland's Slawomir Lukasik (NSbikes FroPro) to second place with a lead of 0,877 seconds. In front of his home crowd, Jure Zabjek (Unior Tools Team) was able to take a good third place, more than three seconds behind the first place. Fastest for women was Carina Cappellari, followed by the Czech Jana Bartova (RRP Ghost) and Marina Salazar, the fastest in the qualification.
In total, the iXS European Downhill Cup includes five runs. The second run will take place on 20./21. June in Schladming / Austria.