Supermountain reaches it s climax at Scopello with double success for Life Cycle

Life Cycle’s Manuel Ducci and Valentina were crowned Supermountain series champions at Scopello this weekend. Rain did nothing to dampen the smiles of riders faces during a great weekend in Valsesia. After an unforgetable weekend of racing, there are no questions left as to whether Scopello is more than just a downhill destination. Riders from all disciplines of mountain biking came to race, including XC Olympic bronze medalist, Marco Aurelia Fontana (Cannondale Factory Racing).

The title race was wide open going into the weekend, with Manuel Ducci (Life Cycle – Ibis) just ahead of Davide Sottocornola (Endura – Cicobikes) . In the first heat Sottocornola won comfortably, with a margin of around 20 seconds. Fontana got the better of Ducci to claim the second spot.

Ducci was not going to beaten though, in the second heat he overpowered Sottocornola on the pedals and held his lead all the way to the finish line. The fight for second ended with Fontana narrowly edging out Francesco in the final stages of the course. Two second places were good enough for second place overall, confirming his ability as a complete mountain biker.

It wasn’t Sottocornola’s day, he slid out past the tape at one point and the tape wrapped itself around his cassette, meaning he couldn’t attack. This dropped him back to fourth in the heat, leaving him third overall conceding victory to Ducci both to day and for the series overall title.

In the women’s competition Valentina Macheda (Life Cycle – Ibis) and Swiss rider Carolin Gehrig (Specialized Twins Racing) had a tough battle, taking a heat victory a piece. In the end it was Gehrig’s day as victory in the second heat handed her the overall win. Gehrig’s fellow Swiss rider, Barbara Katz (Rodeoriders – Rotwild) took the third spot on the podium.

Her strong performance meant that macheda took the overall women’s title, sharing the series podium with her partner and teammate, Ducci.

Superenduro is now heading for the end of the season. The last Sprint race of the season will be next weekend in Gemona and the PRO grand finale, the race that everyone is waiting for, will be in the Italian mecca of mountain biking, Finale Ligure, 20-21 October.

Race1 onboard with Manuel Ducci. Filmed with Contour Roam.

Race2 onboard with Davide Sottocornola. Filmed with Contour Roam.