Race Report: iXS European Downhill Cup - Leogang

The last race of the iXS European Downhill Cup 2014 is finally in the books. Nearly 300 riders from 25 nations took part in a final exciting round of the EDC in Leogang in Austria. In the end, David Trummer and Zarja Cernilogar collected the highest number of points and took the title of the series.

The season’s final race is always the most exciting race of all. For this year’s finals the EDC returned to its classic venue Leogang in Austria and once more this has proven to be the perfect choice. This weekend the “Biketember” presented the final run of the iXS European Downhill Cup and the finals of the Specialized-SRAM Enduro Series in one huge event.

The track had already been familiar to most of the riders from the World Cup and with some additionally added high speed sections the name “Speedstar” was definitely justified. With overall top conditions, both as far as the track and the weather were concerned, this called for a perfect race weekend! On Friday the riders started with their first training sessions under a bright and shining sun. On Saturday morning the whole course was covered in mist for some time, but after a while the sun was at its best again. The rain that had been promised by the weather forecast started just in time for the seeding runs of the downhill elite and made for a very interesting fight. Philip Atwill (GBR - RRP Ghost) set the best time of the day in the Elite Men category with 3:32.603 minutes, while Jana Bartova (CZE - Bikeplac Racing) succeeded among the Elite Women.

On Sunday, the conditions had changed: Due to some rainfall during the night, the track was still wet and extremely muddy at some section, but with sunshine and warm temperatures the conditions got better throughout the day.

Rostislav Stencel (CZE - Bikeplac Racing) succeeded in the Masters category after a sovereign run and once more justified his position atop the Masters standings. He was followed by Nico Hunger (GER - Ruegger Bike-Sport), who did not reach the podium in the standings, and Paolo Aleva (ITA - Scout/Nukeproof), who reached the third place of the rankings with this result. Frank Hedwig (GER - Rad-Art) took the second place of the rankings after a solid run in Leogang.

In the U17 category Andrea Bianciotto (ITA - ASD Sestriere Bike Club) set the best time of this weekend and at the same time took the title of the series. Till Ulmschneider (GER - Youngguns) rode in second place this weekend, followed by Moritz Ribarich (AUT - Sports-Nut DH Team). The second place of the standings, however, went to Remy Morton (AUS - NS Dynamics) who only took part in 3 of the 7 races, but nevertheless reached the podium. After this season, he can definitely be seen as one of the most promising Australian talents.

The race of the Elite Women category was extremely exciting, if not the most exciting one of the whole weekend. After Saturday’s seeding, Jana Bartova was only a few points ahead of Zarja Cernilogar (SLO - GT Blackthorn) and the Slovenian favorite set the bar quite high with a time of 4:28.368 minutes. With a crash and some problems in Jana Bartova’s final run, the result was clear: Zarja Cernilogar once more took the first place of the rankings after her success in 2013, while Jana Bartova ended up in second place. This weekend’s podium, however, was completed by Alba Wunderlin (SUI - Stützrädli) and Alia Marcellini (ITA - LeeCougan Dirty Factory).

In the Elite Men category, the two greatest favorites had some problems with their seeding and were the first riders down the hill in Sunday’s finals. Johannes Fischbach (GER - RRP Ghost) opened the race and set an incredible time of 3:30.190 minutes, which was even faster than Saturday’s best time. He took some time to relax in the Red Bull Hot Seat, while Robin Wallner (SWE - Team W-Racing) and numerous others failed to reach his time. During the Elite Men category, the weather got worse and it started raining which made it more and more difficult to edge out Fischbach. Noel Niederberger (SUI - Gstaad-Scott) crossed the finish line with an 11-second gap and ended up in fourth place. Philip Atwill was the last rider, but also did not reach Fischbach’s time and had to settle with a solid third place, right behind Robin Wallner in second.

The winner of the overall standings in 2014 is David Trummer (AUT - RRP Ghost). Manuel Gruber (AUT - Radon Factory Team) did not attend the race in Leogang due to an injury and ended up in second place. Philip Atwill collected some last important points and reached the overall third place.

A special highlight of the season was a Livestream pilot project which we hope to continue in the future. Leogang provided the riders and visitors with a great conclusion of the season and we can’t wait to announce the EDC dates for 2015… Stay tuned! For more information, visit www.ixsdownhillcup.com

Photos: © Thomas Dietze