CRC/Intense Val Di Sole WC Report

With a few injuries from the weekend before in the crazy conditions at Champery it was tough for the riders on the roughest track to date in Val Di Sole, Italy. The course is well liked by many of the riders - it's very steep in sections, not quite as steep as Champery but much rougher with lots roots and rocks all the way down. For the first race since Fort William we had dry conditions but the track became so dry, dusty and loose that it was just as challenging as the muddy races.. Practice and qualifying went pretty good for the team but Matti Lehikoinen had a big crash just an hour before qualifying on Friday knocking himself out and gaining a pretty bad concussion. Somehow a daised Matti managed a 13th place in his qualifying run and gaining some good points. Chris Kovarik struggled with his leg injury from Champery and went easy on it not doing much practice but just doing enough to learn the track and make it into the top 80 to qualify for the finals. Claire, Julien, Matt and Ruaridh also all made it through pretty easily to the finals on Sunday. In the Womens race Claire rode a strong race and overcame the problems she was having with her hands as on this track there was so hard much breaking it was really tough on brakes, hands and arms getting fatigued. Claire placed 7th again for the 5th time in a row. She was pleased but also disappointed as she is happy that she has met her goals or a top 10 at every world cup - but now she wants a taste of the top 5 and the podium. Claire retains her 7th position overall in the World Cup standings and gained some good points for the team. In the mens race Juliens run of bad luck unfortunately continued and he crashed twice pretty hard on his run pushing his limits and ended up in 72nd position. Ruaridh Cunningham suffered a mechanical at the top of the track in the first gnarly rock garden making it impossible for him to pedal on the flat sections. He still put together an amazing run considering and placed 35th for the day. Matt Simmonds had a good run and ended up 25th with a good time a second outside the top 20. Chris Kovarik had a good split time on the track inside the top 15 but faded a little on the lover part of the track and ended the day in 22nd. Still pretty impressive for someone that could barely walk on his leg. Matti Lehikoinen sat out Saturdays practice due to the crash and concussion he had on Friday but managed to put a great run together on Sunday and finished a very impressive 11th and less than 2 seconds off the podium. If only Matti had not crashed on Friday I am sure he would have gained his first world cup podium of the year. But that is racing. Congratulations to Emmiline Rogot and an amazing ride from the UKs Marc Beaumont for their wins in the the Womens and Mens categories. Nigel Page Team Manager - ChainReactionCycles/Intense Please keep up to date on the team at www.crcintense.com

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