Last weekend, Spicak was the venue for the fourth round of the iXS Downhill Cup. Around 300 participants from 21 nations came to determine the winners on the challenging course in the Czech Bohemian Forest.

An old familiar face

Spicak has long been a familiar venue in the iXS Cup calendar. From 2010 to 2021, the European Cup was always held in the bike park on the German-Czech border before two years of abstinence interrupted this habit. So it was all the more pleasing that a race was now back and that even the Open classes could be offered this opportunity.

The track

For the race, the track with the characteristic name "Struggle" was transformed back into a race-ready course, with some sections having been revised compared to the previous EDC venue. The line was now somewhat smoother and some passages had been toned down. With a length of around 1,800 metres and an elevation gain of 350 metres, the course is already in the upper echelons in terms of topographical data compared to other locations in the series. But as if that wasn't challenging enough, the changing surface of rocks, stones, forest floor and root passages challenged the athletes. During the track walk, many of the protagonists expressed their respect and faced a tough piece of work for the weekend.

The favourites

Friday and Saturday offered all those present plenty of training time in the best summer weather, so that nothing stood in the way of an exciting seeding run. A few favourites who seemed to cope particularly well with the conditions already emerged during training and so there were no big surprises in the results of the individual classes in the end. The fastest elite riders were Sabina Kosárková (CZE - Kellys Factory Team) with a time of 3:30.606 minutes and Jan Pająk (POL - BSR DH Team) with 3:00.208 minutes.

Mudparty

On Saturday evening, the almost obligatory rain arrived and continued throughout the night. This presented the racers with a completely different picture on Sunday morning. They had to adapt to the new conditions, although the loamy ground offered more grip than expected. In training, the conditions were not as bad as partly predicted, because at least it remained dry from above. However, this changed in the afternoon and it was once again a real mud race.

The Elite Women

In the elite women's class, the previous day's fastest rider coped best with the wet course. Sabina Kosárková needed 3:49.525 minutes to win, beating Emma Bindhammer (AUT - radUnion St. Johann) into second place by around four seconds. Third place went to Lea Stornebel (GER - Ergotec Racing Team), who was thus able to extend her lead in the overall standings.

The Elite Men

Jannik Abbou (GER - DH Talent Team) celebrated his first international victory in the Elite Men's class. With a time of 3:17.468 minutes and a wafer-thin lead, he relegated Elias Heil (GER - Bergrausch Racing) to second place. Nils Klasen (GER - Team Racepark Schulenberg) completed the podium.

The quickest

Additional mention should also be made of the younger participants, as the series sees itself as a forge for young talent on the international stage. First and foremost, Rosa Zierl (AUT - Cube Next Generation) deserves the necessary attention, as the U17 rider often achieves the best time of the day of all the female participants. Once again, she beat the elite time by around 10 seconds. Her brother Anton Zierl (AUT - Cube Next Generation) from the Rookies U15 category equalled her time and took almost 3 seconds off the Elite Men. However, the conditions were much drier here.

Richard Tandara (POL - CTM Racing Team) from the Pro U17 male category also rode a touch faster than the Elite Men class. The youngsters really showed this weekend that they have what it takes.

See you soon

Spicak was definitely an enrichment for the race calendar of the iXS Downhill Cup and has positively influenced the standard of the course. Next on the series programme is Ilmenau, which will also host the German Championships.