The thirteenth season of SloEnduro, the Slovenian cup in the mountain biking discipline of enduro, ended in style with 260 participants on an excellent course at the new venue in Bike Park Pohorje Maribor.
For the end of the 2025 season, the seventh race in a row this year, 260 competitors from eight countries came to Maribor. The reputation of the classic World Cup downhill venue and the excellent terrain and trails were additional attraction for this round. And the fact that SloEnduro had been waiting so many years for its first race in Maribor.
Six special stages and a seventh uphill power stage for the e-bike category awaited them. The stages were partly held on new trails, and there was not too much racing on the overly smooth bike park trails, which enduro competitors do not prefer. The stages took place between Areh area and the Snow Stadium. The fifth stage of the long course and the U17 category course, the Shimano SuperStage, was the most challenging, combining sections of several different trails, including the notorious rock garden of the downhill track, with an elevation drop of 540 m. Only the fastest riders completed it in under five minutes. The fastest trio completed all of the day’s stages on the long course in less than 16 minutes.
The participants were all enthusiastic about the track, which of course pleased the organizers from the Grabit sports club and Marprom / Bike Park Pohorje Maribor. SloEnduro should definitely return to this Slovenian MTB paradise!
Peršak Takes Final Battle
After the end of the World Cup season, Vid Peršak (AON Racing – Tourne Campervans) was too fast for his competitors. He won the first three stages and remained close enough to the top in the next three to win by five seconds ahead of Miha Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh), who was the fastest in the fourth and longest fifth stage. Smrdel had his work cut out for him with youngster Jakob Lorber (Golovec trails), who didn’t win any stages but moved into second place overall with his second-place finish in the third stage. Smrdel pushed him back into third place in the fourth stage and was ultimately just seven hundredths of a second faster than him! Lorber was nevertheless delighted with his first junior win and best overall result to date.
The fourth spot among the fastest men on the long course went to the competitor with start number one, Hungarian junior Áron Babó (Rad Company Racing Team). He was the third fastest in three stages, including the longest one, but lost too much ground in the other three to be able to compete for the top spot this time. He finished 12 seconds behind Peršak. Fourth place in Maribor went to Austrian Valentin Frey (RS Radwerker), a good two seconds behind Babó.
“The organizers did a great job, with a nice set of stages, from flow to natural and downhill stage as well. A nice combination and even nicer weather at the end. I was also here to test a few things for next year, and the mission was a success,” said Vid.
Can Vid imagine a double World Cup in Maribor, downhill and enduro? Vid: “It would be a dream come true if the World Cup returned to Slovenia. We’ll see, but unfortunately money rules the world here too, the demands are getting higher and higher, I would like to see racing return to the forefront, not who has more money for the organization.”
The 17-year-old Hungarian champion Babó nevertheless maintained more than enough of a lead over Smrdel in the overall standings to become the sixth overall winner of the series in history (Peršak has five titles and Smrdel has three). Babó was already the best junior in SloEnduro last year and third overall, and this year he finished the World Cup as the third junior.
Smrdel is second overall, third is junior Ian Laharnar (Kamplc Racing Team), followed by last year’s winner Peršak in fourth, a decade after his first overall title, and another junior, Blaž Stres (Kamplc), in fifth place.
In the special classification of elite, Smrdel is followed by Tim Jež (Kamplc) and David Ivartnik (Golovec trails), who was injured during training in Maribor and did not compete in the race. In the junior classification, the top three places were shared by Babó, Laharnar, and Stres.
Nežka Remains Undefeated
World junior champion Nežka Libnik (KK Ravne na Koroškem) remains undefeated. She is finishing the season with the overall title and the maximum possible number of points.
This time, she beat second-placed Austrian Alexandra Eckert (Bikeclub Giant Stattegg) by one minute and 20 seconds, with Hungarian Csenge Anna Bokros (Vesc Cycling Team) in third place, 10 seconds behind Eckert.
“This year has been a successful season, I have to say. Everything was perfectly organized here in Maribor, the stages were excellently prepared, so it was really great. Now I’m going to take a little break and then start preparing for next season,” said Nežka.
Damjana Munih Kacafura (TCS Gravity) took second place in the final series standings, while Ana Inkret (Calcit Bike Team) came in third.
In Other Long Course Categories
The fastest master was Mitja Potočin (KD Hrastnik) from the youngest master category, Master 1. Primož Štrancar (MBK Črni Vrh) won in the Master 2 category, and Austrian Michael Strohmayer (ASKÖ MK Factory Team) won in Master 3. In the final rankings, Nejc Huth (Energijateam.com) topped Master 1, Marko Munih (TCD Gravty) topped Master 2, and Branko Maček (ŠKK Pendalna) topped Master 3.
The fastest amateur in the final in Maribor was Alessandro Cenzon (ASD Federclubtrieste-Tecnoedile) from Trieste, while Matija Šinigoj (Deš Fleš) won the overall.
In the e-bike category, the winner was local rider Matej Cvikl (ŠD Grabit).
On Shorter Courses
In the most numerous category of under 17 boys, Lenart Sever (KK Črn trn) did not allow any surprises. Without losing any stages, he won his fourth victory this year on the track with five stages and confirmed his overall title. He was followed 22 seconds behind by his town rival Aljaž Prosen (Kamplc Racing Team), who is also second overall. Another 6 seconds behind, Svit Črešnar Koren (MTB Club Kranj) finished on the podium for the first time. Third place overall went to national champion Nik Potočan (KK Ravne na Koroškem).
The U17 girls were apparently satisfied with the rankings, as they did not compete this time. The overall winner is Lana Kuzma (KK Črn trn), ahead of Romania’s Irina Marie and Zoja Bizjak (Kamplc).
The four-stage U15 race was a close one. Matic Krajnc (Črn trn) won for the first time with a 1.9-second lead over Rene Kovač (Kamplc), who has four wins this year and won the overall classification. Gal Palčič (Rajd Ljubljana) took third place, 3.3 seconds behind the winner, with two stage wins. In the final standings, Tjaž Stres (Kamplc) is second and Kranjc third.
Among the U15 girls, Eva Podvornik (ŠD Grabit) won ahead of Maša Gregorc (SD Strahovica) and Gaja Šuštar (Golovec trails). The order is the same in the final standings.
Among the 33 competitors in the 4Fun category, Oskar Hozjan won on the same track as the U15 used.
To the youngest competitors in two special stages. In the U13 boys’ category, Rok Žavbi (SD Strahovica) won for the second time this year, followed by Jaka Fujan (Golovec) in second place and Anej Paranuk (TCS Gravity) in third. The overall winner was Vasilij Lavrenčič (Črn trn) ahead of Fujan and Paranuk. The U13 girls’ duel was won by Ela Kolšek ahead of Špela Zadel, while Lija Leber (427 Savage Squad), who was absent this time, collected the most points throughout the season.
All SloEnduro Pohorje Maribor Results
All SloEnduro Series Final Standings
The awards ceremony for the best riders in the final SloEnduro series rankings will be held at a joint event organized by the Mountain and BMX Commission of the Slovenian Cycling Federation after the end of the season.
It’s Not Over Yet!
The race for points in the 2025 SloEnduro series is over, but the non-competitive SloEnduro Grisium Day on October 11 and 12 in Grožnjan, Croatia, remains on the calendar. Details and registration available here any time now.
Photos by Matej Lovrič/Obalna BIKE scena
