The SloEnduro Kamplc in Ajdovščina is in the books—a classic event in the SloEnduro series, organized by the members of Kamplc club for the fifteenth time (including last year’s non-competitive SloEnduro Day) and the tenth time in Ajdovščina.
This time, due to legal restrictions, they prepared a slightly shorter but still more than challenging enough course the bike park area. A bit less elevation and a bit more pedaling on the special stages, but that’s enduro racing for you. On the long course with five special stages and just under 1,000 meters of elevation gain, only the two fastest riders finished in under 17 minutes of net race time.
Conditions were excellent, temperatures were quite high, and the course had dried out nicely after the rain. The race was attended by just over 200 competitors from SloEnduro’s “home” countries: Austria, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia.
New Winner From Junior Ranks
Even before the race, it was clear that there was a strong possibility SloEnduro would get a new race winner. Of all the round winners in the series’ 14-year history, only three were on the entry list; of these, Nejc Huth and Gerd Skant now compete in the masters category, while David Ivartnik is the only one remaining in the elite category. The rescheduled date for Kamplc, which crashed between two World Cup races, slightly reduced the turnout of the fastest riders, especially the international field. The young riders got their chance, and among them, the competitors from both Ajdovščina clubs took the initiative.
Lenart Sever (KK Črn trn) won the first two stages, both ahead of Blaž Stres (Kamplc Racing Team), with Aljaž Prosen (Kamplc) in third place. All three are in the junior category. After the second stage, which lasted more than six minutes, the gaps were significant; Stres trailed Sever by nearly six seconds. With a victory in the third stage, Maks Struna (KK Završnica) moved up to third place, so the top three were riders from three different age groups: Sever in his first year among juniors, Stres in his second year in the same category, and Struna in his first year among the elite.
The turning point came in the fourth stage, which Stres won by a comfortable margin, taking the lead ahead of Sever, who posted the third-fastest time, with Ian Laharnar, another junior from Kamplc and the fastest junior in the first race in Nova Gorica, slipping in between them with the second-fastest time, though he started the race in Ajdovščina feeling a bit sick.
Despite Sever’s victory in the final stage by just under a second, nothing changed at the top. Stres celebrated his first overall victory in SloEnduro by a mere 94 hundredths of a second ahead of Sever. Third-place finisher Struna was already 21 seconds behind. Two more juniors from the host club followed, Prosen in 4th and Laharnar in 5th place.
Blaž Stres: “My dream has come true with this first overall victory. The race was very grueling. I thought the stages would be tougher because of the mud, but in the end, the grip was perfect. I’m very happy about this victory, and I’m also glad we achieved it right here at home. With this, I’ve also secured my spot on the national team; we’re now looking ahead to the World Cup races in Val di Fassa, La Thuile, and Finale.”
Nežka Continues her Streak
In the women’s race, things were a bit less dramatic, although serial winner and junior world champion Nežka Libnik (KK Ravne na Koroškem) lost a stage for the first time ever, as she competes on the long course. This time, she was overtaken on the first stage of the day by Austrian Alexandra Eckert (Bikeclub Giant Stattegg) by a mere hundredth of a second. Nežka then took the initiative and, with four stage wins, built a 27-second lead over the Austrian by the end. Italian Gaia Asaro held onto third place all day. The next two Slovenian riders, Maja Vojska (MBK Črni Vrh) and returnee Neža Štern (MTB Club Kranj), settled for 4th and 5th place.
Nežka Libnik: “The day was quite demanding; it was hot, but the stages were very good, so it was all right. Even the shorter race was quite demanding—it’s not always about the distance. Now it’s on to the World Cup in Leogang.”
Top 5 on the long course
Men
- Blaž Stres (Kamplc Racing Team) 16:49.19
- Lenart Sever (KK Črn trn) +0.94
- Maks Struna (KK Završnica) +21.48
- Aljaž Prosen (Kamplc Racing Team) +25.53
- Ian Laharnar (Kamplc Racing Team) +2
Women
- Nežka Libnik (KK Ravne na Koroškem) 20:13.78
- Alexandra Eckert (Bikeclub Giant Stattegg) +27.66
- Gaia Asaro (Ita) +1:58.68
- Maja Vojska (MBK Črni Vrh) +2:31.28
- Neža Štern (MTB Club Kranj) +3:20.97
In Long-Course Categories
After no juniors made it into the top five in Nova Gorica—a rare occurrence—they dominated the podium this time.
Among the masters, Austrian Gerd Skant (Bikeclub Giant Stattegg) was too strong in the Master 1 category, winning three stages. Mitja Potočin (SD Strahovica) took advantage of Nejc Huth’s (Golovec trails) weaker performance in Stage 4 and jumped ahead of him into second place. The third-fastest rider overall in the masters categories would have been the winner in the Master 2 category, Primož Štrancar (MBČ Črni Vrh). Branko Maček (ŠKK Pendalna) won the Master 3 category.
Competitors in the e-bike category, of course, had an additional uphill power stage; with a lead of nearly a minute, Tilen Leban (Deš Fleš) won the overall standings of the six-stage race.
On Shorter Courses
The four-stage race for U17 male category was won without a single stage loss by local rider Erik Žgavc (KK Črn trn), who had already won in Nova Gorica. Gaber Novak (Rajd Ljubljana) took second place, while Rok Gleščič (KK Ravne na Koroškem) finished third.
Among the U17 girls, Eva Podvornik (ŠD Grabit) won ahead of Gaja Šuštar (Golovec trails). On the same course, Kristjan Špindler (Golovec) won the men’s amateur race.
With 48 riders, the boys’ under-15 category was the largest this time around. Here, too, the top spots were dominated by competitors from local clubs. Tjaž Stres (Kamplc), the brother of the long course winner, was 8 seconds faster than second-place finisher Jaka Sever (Črn trn), the winner of one of the four stages and the brother of the runner-up in the long course race. Third place also went to Kamplc, claimed by the winner of the Nova Gorica race, Rene Kovač.
The 4Fun category race on the same course was won by Hungarian Marcell Pongracz (Alpinbike Team Endura).
In the youngest U13 category, competitors faced off in two special stages. Here, the victory among the boys went to the youngest of the Sever brothers from KK Črn trn; Nejc won both stages. Ela Kolšek (Golovec) was the only participant among the girls.
All race results for SloEnduro Kamplc 2026
Series standings after two races are about to pop up here at prijavim.se.
Next up in SloEnduro Series…
SloEnduro Perkmandlc, which was supposed to take place on June 20 and 21 in Mežica, has unfortunately been canceled due to, to put it mildly, ill-conceived “environmental protection” legislation. So see you on August 29 and 30 at SloEnduro Krokar in Dobrna. Details and registration to follow.
Photos by Matej Lovrič/Obalna BIKE scena
