Zagorje ob Savi in Slovenia hosted round 5 of the series. The single day event by Zagorska dolina club was the first race held in Cilenca trails, a network of trails opened last year.
SloEnduro series now has a new venue at Cilenca trails and Europark sports park, one that we will be looking forward to return to. We also have two new race winners. On the long course, consisting of three stages, the winners were Tamara Homar (Energijateam.com) and Jan Štucin (Pedal racing team). While Jan has been on enduro scene for years after he started as a young rider, Tamara switched to this discipline from cross-country racing.
After setting fastest times in all the stages, Tamara won the race in a field of five women. Maja Vojska (MBK Črni Vrh) followed in second and Alja Marič (Golovec trails) in third place.
Jan on the other hand didn’t take a single stage win, he finished second in each of the three. The second placed David Ivartnik (Golovec trails), third placed Jan Markič (ŠKTD Avče) and fourth placed Tim Jež (Kamplc racing team) each took one.
When Vid Peršak and Miha Smrdel are not at the start – they both raced EWS in Italy this weekend – the gaps on top are usually a bit tighter. This time the top three, the only ones with a total race time of under 10 minutes, were 7.3 seconds apart.
Ivartnik and Homar won the Kenda SuperStage (S2).
The long course categories
This time the elite riders finished on top, the fastest U19 junior was Jernej Kavčič (MBK Črni Vrh) in fifth place, Miha Jerkič (KK Črn trn) was seventh and Jan Polovšak (KK Ravne) 12th. Right behind Kavčič in 6th was the fastest master (master 1) Blaž Černigoj (Kamplc) while the fastest amateur of the day was once again Nace Krivonog (Bosch Black Hole Enduro Team) in 9th overall.
The winners in other masters categories were David Taucer (ASD Federclub Trieste) in master 2 and Martin Brus (Kamplc) in master 3.
The short course
Once again a U15 category rider was the fastest on the short course with two stages. This time it was Matija Ferjančič (Kamplc), followed by top U17 riders: Jakob Lorber (KK Završnica), Patrik Trošt (Kamplc) and Lovro Kojzek (KK Ravne). The three were separated by only a half of a second.
Ian Laharnar (Kamplc) finished second in U15 and Izak Štrubelj (Bikehanic – 20 Chocolate) third. The serial winner Ažbe Kalinšek lucked out this time. After a mechanical he set 9th and 8th time on stages and was penalised with 30 seconds for finishing without a bike, so he finished 5th in U15 and 19th overall on the short course among 47 finishers. Just to put his race in a perspective: Ažbe won silver medal at the European Downhill Championships in Maribor the day before.
Only two girls on the short course this time: Nežka Libnik won in front of the rookie Azra Doler (both Bosch Black Hole Enduro Team).
And the Under 13 …
Another win for Jakob Praček (Kamplc), Žiga Munih (Pedal) in second and Kostja Matijevec Jerman (Golovec) in third!
All results here
After some riders dropped out during and after the training lap, 154 riders from four countries started the race.
The feedback on the new venue after the race was good. Of course it will happen the the course will suit some riders more that it will the others. The longest stage of the day (S2, French Connection + Jumanji, also the Kenda SuperStage), included some climbing, which is without a doubt in the spirit of enduro racing. But this made a selection and may have ruined some riders’ day. But surely everyone loved the freshly built singletrack on S3. The cheering there was off the scale as well. Overall the turnout of spectators from near and far was very good.
The organizers also took care of cold drinks and food for the riders and fans.
So is there any reason SloEnduro shouldn’t be returning to Zagorje in 2023?
Two more important races
Two more rounds bring points! The next one doubles as National Championships, it’s the SloEnduro Kope on July 23/24. Then the series final, the SloEnduro Kamplc in Ajdovščina on August 27/28. Propositions and registration for Kope coming up soon! See the calendar
The photos today: some action and the podiums. Jan Štucin on cover photo. Gallery follows.
Photos by Sara Todorović
