Jack Carthy sealed a perfect score to take the 26” Men success. Thomas Pechhacker won in the 20” Men series, Nina Reichenach repeated 2018 success among women
In Val di Sole, cycling is always a festival – whatever the season or the discipline is – and so it was also for the final two-wheels event of an extensive season, the UCI Trials World Cup held in Vermiglio from August 23rd to 25th.
A big crowd collected at the San Leonardo Lakes for the decisive day of Sunday August 25th, in spite of the rain downpours in the afternoon. The very intense program featured the Men’s Class 20” and 26” semifinals in the morning, and then in the afternoon the finals of the two Men’s category as well as the Elite Women’s one.
The clash among the 6 strongest women was won by World Champion Nina Reichenbach, who seems to never miss a chance when it comes to Val di Sole: here the German won her first World Championship in 2016, here she won the World Cup stage twelve months ago. This time, the World Champion needed to overcome a bad mistake in section 3 - HydroDolomiti Energia, that had launched young Spaniard Vera Baron into the provisional lead. With a perfect display in section four - Wurth Modyf, the German managed to regain the lead and clinched her first 2019 World Cup win with 230 points. Second was French Manon Basseville, with Czech Alzbeta Pecinkova finishing 3rd.
“Today the 4th section was crucial for me,” told Nina Reichenbach, new World Cup leader – “after that mistake in section 3, scoring 60 point was very important. The technical level was higher than in the semis, and I am glad to have given my best to take this win in Val di Sole, where I have some of my fondest memories as a rider.”
Rainbow ruled also in the Men’s Class 20”, where World Champion Thomas Pechhacker literally dominated, putting distance from him and the rest early on by taking full points in section 1 – Pontedilegno Tonale and 2 – Val di Sole, and finalizing his effort in spite of a bad mistake in section 5 – Trentino, when the first place was already safe. The Austrian closed with 240 points, leaving behind German Dominik Oswald and last year’s winner and World Cup leader Alejandro Montalvo of Spain.
“For the first time, I finally managed to chill out competing in the World Cup, I had lots of fun and this public also gives you a boost,” told the World Champion. “Last year, when I finished second, I had already fallen in love with this venue, as I like competing with natural obstacles, and then the landscapes, the surrounding nature and mountains complete a perfect atmosphere.”
The Men’s Class 26” closed the program in style, with a clash of titans between World Champion Jack Carthyand defending champion Nicolas Vallée. Vallée’s mistake in section 3 – HydroDolomiti Energia allowed the Brit to open a gap he would defend until the end, redeeming in the best possible way the disappointment of last year, when he had failed to reach the finals, and completing the “sweep” of rainbow jerseys. Unaffected by the rain falling for much of the Class 26” competition, Carthy offered a perfect performance, closing with a full score of 300. Vallée was second with 260 points, Swede Joacim Nymann was third with 200.
“I have managed to redeem last year’s result, and also the semifinals where I made lots of mistakes – told the Brit – and winning here, where I took my first Elite World Championship in 2016, is quite special. I love the venue here, it’s so technical and to clinch a perfect score was not easy at all: I was coming from some weeks of hard training, and I am happy with this win and the World Cup leadership.”
The Val di Sole show was unanimously appreciated by the athletes and the public, providing a perfect closure for the long season started back in March at Passo Tonale with the Winter Downhill, and continued with Giro d’Italia (Commezzadura), Giro d’Italia Under 23 (Dimaro-Folgarida), Tour Transalp (Mezzana), e-Enduro (Pejo), and Mountain Bike World Cup (Commezzadura).
“We are happy with this event, and with our whole season of cycling events – told Luciano Rizzi, President of Val di Sole Tourist Board and Grandi Eventi Val di Sole, - a real success in technical terms, as well as of attendance, visibility, communication. We can’t wait to start working on another great season.”
