Madesimo’s bike park came of age this weekend. Superenduro Powered by SRAM held round four of their 2012 season in the Madebike park. The race course was selected from the six trails in the park to test both riders’ fitness and technical skills. Sunshine and breathtaking scenery accompanied a race that saw David Sottocornola triumph again, taking him ever-closer to the series title. Alex Lupato and Manuel Ducci gave him a tough fight all the way to the line.
The Italian riders again proved how strong they are in a race where a quarter of the riders came from abroad. This weekend also marked a continuation in Andrea Bruno’s (Transition-Ready2Ride) bad luck, after a puncture in PS1, he retired from the race a stage later. He has already secured his place for Italy’s Enduro of Nations Team. “Maybe I was not focused enough, they are very angry and this will be my first retirement” - said Andrea Bruno in the CO, he then added: “I’ll now put my energy into the race at Sauze d’Oulx.”
This race attracted racers from England, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and Lithuania. The British made up the biggest group of foreign racers, represented by World Cup downhill racerer Mark Scott, and the Pantling brothers, Sam and Toby. Germans are also starting to take a bigger part in Superenduro with the surprise of the day, former German XC champion, Markus Reiser taking fifth overall despite breaking his chain on the last stage.
As ever the race came down to just a handful of seconds. After the prologue sharing the win in Saturday’s prologue with Toby Pantling, Alex Lupato opened up the day with a win on the first stage, edging out Davide Sottocornola and Manuel Ducci who crashed in the early stages. In the more technical second stage Sottocornola started to make his mark, taking the win ahead of Mark Scott and Ducci. After the first two stages Sottocornola held a 3.6 second lead over Lupato, and 9.7 seconds over Ducci.
For the second two stages riders repeated the loop from the first two stages. On the third stages Lupato took the win, 5.7 seconds ahead of Ducci and 6.8 from Sam Flanagan. Despite losing time to Lupato, Sottocornola still held the lead going into the fourth and final stage. Scott won the stage by a second from Sottocornola and 9.4 seconds from Lupato, sealing the win. Ducci took third overall, Scott fifth and Markus Reiser rounded out the top five. Vittorio Gambirassio took sixth, followed be Sam Flanagan, Andrea Pirazzoli, Toby Pantling and Francis Fregona. Anita Gehrig dominated the women’s competition, ahead of Maria Federica Zanoto and Marianna Uttini.
With two wins, a second and a third place Sottocornola has is looking the favourite for the championship with a total of 2120 points. Lupato is in second with 1580 and Bruno is in third with 1240.
“Today there was a great battle with Alex for every second, he was very fast on the more physical stages, on the more technical stage I had the edge though, I’m really happy with this victory. We will be very competitive E-MTN, the level of the Italian riders has increased a lot “said David Sottocornola unfortunately absent from the ceremony to accompany Chiara Pastore to the hospital to get her leg checked out after a big crash. “I tried to go all out on the last stage, but fell twice and was not able to take David. The lines on the wet grass made all the difference. ” Alex Lupato must again postpone hisappointment with his first victory in a PRO, but seems like it will only be a matter of time.
It was an unforgettable day in Madesimo, thanks to the support of the municipality, the local tourist information and Skiarea Valchiavenna. Not to forget the work of Superenduro who were the local organisers for this race. Six hundred wooden posts and about ten kilometers of tape to mark the course are just some of the work that started on the Monday before the race. The Lombardia town welcomed the people of Superenduro, which is now preparing for the biggest race of the year: the Enduro MTB Trophy of Nations. Sauze d’Oulx will stage the first round of the Enduro Nations on 28 and 29 July.