Race Report: SloEnduro Round 4, Zagorje ob Savi

Round four of 2023 season was held in Zagorje ob Savi, on Cilenca trails on the namesake mountain. After two greasy races and one soaking wet we’ve finally seen some dust!

On Sunday 194 riders from five nations started in second edition of SloEnduro Cilenca. The Slovenians, all the neighbours except the Italians this time, and our Ljubljana Frenchman Ange…

The trails were not only dry, the organizers and builders of Zagorje valley cycling club added two new trails to the system for this occasion. All the categories started the day on the first new trail, then the riders on the long course finished their ride on the other one. It made for the larger part on special stage 4, also the Spar Online SuperStage. This one and the stage 2, the longest one of the day, shared the top part and were very physically demanding due to some climbing. One can’t say that racing uphill is something that the racers love but it is a part of the discipline of enduro.

Vid Peršak The Unbeatable

With the series leader Miha Smrdel and his teammate Jernej Kavčič (MBK Črni Vrh) skipping this race due to school exams season it was clear there were less riders on start who were able to snatch s stage from Vid Peršak (Orbea Fox Enduro Team) or even put his win at risk. But they sure tried.

Vid Peršak

Vid did end up winning all four special stages of the day but was closely followed by David Ivartnik (Golovec trails). David never finished very far from Vid but after over 13 minutes of racing the gap was 28 seconds. The other riders were another half a minute behind and packed closer together. Tim Krašovec (Wolf Racing Team) celebrated his third place with two 4th and one 3rd stage finish. Two Austrians joined the top three on the overall podium – Timmy Fockenberger (Radwerker.at) in fourth and Valentin Frey (Team Dorrong) in fifth place.

David Ivartnik

Tim Krašovec

Timmy Fockenberger

For the second race in a row there were no junior in top five overall but two just missed out: Maj Babačič (Calcit Bike Team) finished in 6th and Miha Jerkič (KK Črn trn) in 7th overall, the first one with one 3rd place stage finish and Jerkič with two, but each of them messed it up on one of the stages.

It was quite a nice race. I still did some testing for suspension setting for the upcoming World Cup races. It was my first time at Cilenca, I’m happy to see there are so many great places to ride and Cilenca must be one of them! My race went well, I had some traffic on stages 2 and 4 but otherwise it was a good day!—Vid Peršak

Series standings – men

With two wins and one third place Smrdel has enough points (1050) to stay in the lead even after missing a race. Ivartnik (860) moved from fourth to second and Jerkič (820) stayed in third. With two wins in to races Peršak moved from 7th to 4th. Nejc Huth (Energijateam.com) who was in second also missed the race and is now in fifth place.

Tina Smrdel stays on top

In women’s race Tina Smrdel successfully defended the family and team honour. She won three out of four stages, including the Spar Online SuperStage. Teja Cerar (Golovec Trails) managed to ride away with a win on stage 2 but that didn’t secure her the second spot on podium. Maša Komel (KK Črn trn) managed to beat her by just one second to improve her third from two weeks ago, her first SloEnduro podium.

Tina Smrdel

I had fluent enough riding in all four stages, with no major problems, so I’m happy with my race. I was too close to some of the trees but otherwise nothing special. I did too many small mistakes on stage two and that cost me the stage win. But overall it was a great day and I hope for one like this in Trbovlje as well.—Tina Smrdel

Series standings – women

Tina Smrdel already gathered 1400 points, Tamara Homar (ŠKD Super potencial, 4th place this time) is second with 830 and Simona Kuchyňková of Slovakia, the winner of first two rounds, is third with 800 points.

In long course categories

We already mentioned two fastest junior men, Babačič and Jerkič, who finished right behind the top five. Jan Polovšak (Bosch Black Hole Enduro Team) was third in 12th overall.

The masters had a battle for the books: the top three, all from masters 1 category, finished together in places from 15th to 17th overall, just over two seconds apart. Nejc Černilogar (MTB klub Kranj Scott Team) had the strongest legs on the physical stages. Luka Peskar (KD Ram) won in masters 2 and Martin Brus (Kamplc Racing Team) in masters 3.

Žiga Šemrov (ŠKD Super potencial) wad once again the fastest amateur rider in 11th overall.

Tadej Tekavčič (Golovec trails) won the e-bike category race by winning three out of five special stages, including a very convincing win on the powerstage.

The short course

In the three stages race Áron Babó (FRO Racing) won in the U17 male category and Nežka Libnik (Bosch Black Hole Enduro Team) in U17 female category.

Žiga Munih (Pedal Racing Team) took his first win in U15 boys and Vita Vaner (obe DGK Pohorje – Spank team) in U15 girls.

The forementioned Ange Jamin (Golovec trails) registered a strong win among the 26 riders in the 4Fun beginners class.

The youngest

In the two stage race for the U13 categories Tjaž Stres (Kamplc Racing Team) took his second win of the season among the boys while Eva Podvornik (DGK Pohorje – Spank team) faced no competition among the girls.

Coming up next…

Points racing takes a break for a while. It’s Slovenian Enduro National Championships next on June 10 and 11 in Trbovlje. It’s also a World Cup Qualifier event. The propositions and registration at www.sloenduro.com.