Round four of 2021 SloEnduro series on slick trails of MTB trail center Kočevje brings new name on top in men’s race and a comeback in women’s race.
After Ajdovščina, Gorjanci and Koroška/Kaernten this year’s SloEnduro »big league« paid a visit to Kočevje and its MTB trail center. 52 riders competed on three special stages which meant over 1400 vertical meters of climbing and descending in training and race runs. Out of these 350 (twice) were on the last special stage of the day with the top part on a freshly built Angry Bee trail. The U17 and U15 left out the 3rd stage of the day, there were 51 of them on start, and they were joined by the »hobby« class riders, 14 of them. So the total of riders was 117.
After some rain overnight and in the morning the trails were quite muddy during the morning training. In the afternoon the mud thickened and caused some problems mainly on transfers on Friderik climb trail, while the conditions on special stages were getting closer to dry.
David races the donated bike to first victory
David Ivartnik, member of Energijateam.com, but also active with the Golovec trails crew, comes from cross-country racing, also races some marathons and stage races, even downhill and road, but it looks like he will settle in enduro. 2021 is only his second elite year but most successful in enduro so far. He started it with 4th place in Ajdovščina, then finished 3rd at Gorjanci, then 11th at Black Hole. He came to Kočevje as 4th in the standings and wore number plate 3 in the absence of Vid Peršak.
David was missing in the results after special stage one – it turned out he was not happy with his run and instead of stopping for timing transponder read-out he just proceeded to second stage. He finally turned his transponder in after SS2 only to find out he was fastest in both stages and was leading with a gap of 14 seconds over series leader Miha Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) and Jan Štucin (Pedal racing team).
David went on to win special stage three, the longest of the day, 3.61 up on second placed teammate Nejc Huth and 8.32 on third placed Smrdel.
So it’s SloEnduro victory number one for David Ivartnik with the total time of 13 minutes, 22 seconds and 76 hundred! Miha Smrdel finished second (+22.66) and Nejc Huth third (+28.64). Austrian Valentin Frey (Im.Puls Sport Unior Klagenfurt, +51.15) followed in fourth and Jan Štucin (+56.54) in fifth. Translated in categories: an elite rider, a junior, a master, a junior and another elite. Well mixed!
Behind David’s win there is a story of his bike which got stolen in front of his eyes in the beginning of July. Almost at the same time David suffered from another major unplanned expense. Golovec trails crew responded with a crowd funding initiative to fund David for a new bike. He raced the Black Hole on a borrowed bike and got the new one for Kočevje. Obviously a fast bike!
»It seemed like a lot of pedalling for my current fitness but I enjoyed every second of my race, so… I was happy to have a wet race, lots of people would say otherwise but for me mud always represents fun. And there is nothing better than having fun in a race, obviously a good result follows,« told David.
Mommy Ana makes a return
Ana Tancik, the former Slovenian champion, also a member of Energijateam.com, put a number plate on her bike again after three years. She didn’t have a real rival without any non-Slovenians on start and won all three special stages. She was followed by teammate Tamara Homar in second and Urška Korasa (KD Zverinice) in third place.
»It was quite a crazy day. First the rain which derailed me a bit, then sun and dry conditions. I’m happy I got my will back, plus some time and a babysitter. I enjoyed the race and the result came along,« says Ana.
Full course categories
Štucin and Jan Markič (ŠKTD Avče) stepped on podium with Ivartnik in the elite category. In junior men Smrdel and Frey were followed by Blaž Polovšak (KK Ravne) in third. Nejc Huth was the fastest master 1 rider, Branko Belingar (Avče) won in master 2 and Martin Brus (Kamplc racing team) in master 3.
Short course
The young riders provided a great show. U15 was won by Juš Ažman (KK Završnica), U17 with no less than 25 finishers by Miha Jerkič (KK Črn trn) and U17 female once again by Tina Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) who was even faster than Ana Tancik on SS1 and SS2.
Mario Pintar won the hobby class race.
Kenda SuperStage
Ana Tancik and David Ivartnik (both of Energijateam.com) were the fastest on special stage 3, the longest of the day with the top part on the new Angry Bee trail.
All results here
Leaders remain the same
Smrdel remains in the overall lead with 1300 points while Ivartnik moves into second place with 980. Markič also passes Vid Peršak and is now third with 825 points. Peršak who skipped this race for a round of EWS is now fourth with 800 points and Huth is fifth with 730.
Gaia Kravanja (KK Črn trn) keeps her lead in women’s standings.
Find the overall and category standings at prijavim.se.
Next in SloEnduro
We are looking forward to the big and classic SloEnduro final in just over month, on October 3rd in Grožnjan, Croatia. But before that we hope to see you all at the very popular SloEnduro 4Fun event, the Golovec trails in Ljubljana on September 12 as part of Ljubljana MTB Vikend festival.
Photos by Anže Petkovšek @anzepetkovsek
David Ivartnik in cover photo.