Luka Berginc wins his seconds national title, Monika Hrastnik now already has seven. The battles in younger categories with even more drama.
What could be better than a race in a mountain pass ski resort while the cities are melting in summer heat!? On the past weekend Soriška planina in Julian Alps was the place to be for mountain bike racers.
Not just for the ones participating in round two of 20chocolate Downhill Cup which doubled as the 2023 Slovenian National Championships. On Saturday a round of SloXcup cross-country series was held at the same venue. There could be more weekends uniting multiple mountain bike disciplines! About 120 downhill and 150 cross-country riders showed up at Soriška planina.
Idrsko vs. Kobarid – 2 : 2
Kobarid is a small historic town in the Western Slovenia, known for WWI battles as described in Hemingway’s Farewell To The Arm. That’s where the defending champion Žak Gomilšček (Wolf Racing by Wheelbase) is from, and his main challenger Luka Berginc (DH Visit Pohorje) is from the village of Idrsko, just 2 km out of Kobarid. They are friends and sparing partners who pushed each other to the top of Slovenian downhill. In absence of the injured Jure Žabjek (Unior Sinter Factory Racing) these two were the main favourites for the title.
Berginc finished second in the opening round of iXS European Downhill Cup in Lošinj and just week before Soriška he won round one of the 20chocolate Downhill Cup at Petzen. On the other hand Gomilšček was a bit of a mystery because on European soil he only raced twice this year in two World Cup qualification runs after spending the spring in New Zealand. He is also changed teams and bikes over the winter.
The championship was held at Soriška planina for the third year. Gomilšček won it last year, Berginc the year before, and Gomilšček won his first elite title in Maribor in 2020.
Berginc proved his speed in the seeding run, he was the only one to ride the 1100 m track with a vertical drop of 250 m in under 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Gomilšček 2022 winning time was 2:34 and even if the times can’t really comparable from year to year due to track changes and conditions it was clear that Berginc already set the standard for the final run. Gomilšček was in second 4 seconds behind and his teammate from New Zealand Finn Hawkesby-Browne in third 7 seconds behind Berginc. Last year’s silver medallist Jan Cimperman (MTB Trbovlje) was fourth 7,54 behind Berginc.
The top four names remained in the same order after the final run. Cimperman took the lead but he only improved his seeding run time by a fraction of a second. He had his hands on at least the bronze medal since there were only two Slovenian riders on start and Hawkesby-Browne who was not a medal contender. The Kiwi was .98 faster than Cimperman. Then Gomilšček came flying in with 2:29.6! But this was still a bit slower than Berginc’s time in the seeding. Berginc was the last rider on track and notably improved his seeding run time. He finished in 2:26.46 and won his second National Championships elite title.
Title number 7 for Monika Hrastnik
Monika Hrastnik holds a DH Visit Pohorje license and is therefore technically Luka Berginc’s teammate even if she rides in a Dorval AM Commencal team kit. By winning her 7th national title she became the most successful rider in the 32 years of Slovenian Downhill National Championships.
The UCI ranking’s number 5 female downhill rider didn’t face a real competition but that doesn’t mean that the other riders didn’t give their best to get as close to her as possible. The enduro National Champion Tina Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) finished second 13 seconds down and the third fastest Katarina Primožič (ŠD BATT) was just a second slower than Smrdel. But since Primožič is not hold Slovenia Cycling license the Championship bronze went to Ana Inkret (Calcit Bike Team), a U17 rider who finished fourth.
Results
Elite men
- Luka Berginc (DH Visit Pohorje) 2:26.46
- Žak Gomilšček (Wolf Racing by Wheelbase) +3.14
- Finn Hawkesby-Browne (NZ, Wolf Racing by Wheelbase) +7.29
- Jan Cimperman (MTB Trbovlje) +10.03
- Jure Tunič (Wolf Racing Team) +11.01
Women
- Monika Hrastnik (DH Visit Pohorje) 2:49.39
- Tina Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) +13.11
- Katarina Primožič (ŠD BATT) +14.12
- Ana Inkret (Calcit Bike Team) +32.03
- Eva Zala Strgar (DGK Pohorje – Spank Team) +37.17
Complete results
Intense racing in younger categories
The races of younger age classes were intense, full of upsets and small gaps.
In men’s junior (U19) category Maj Babačič (Calcit Bike Team) won the title with a time just 2.34 up on second placed Miha Jerkič (KK Črn trn), the fastest from the seeding who failed to improve his time in the final. Maks Oblak (ŠD Supersnurf) snatched the bronze by just .02.
In U17 male category the 2022 U15 winner Ažbe Kalinšek (Wolf Racing by Wheelbase) won by a large margin and with a time that would have brought him a bronze in the elite category! Kalinšek crashed twice in the seeding run and finished in 9th place 14 seconds behind. But after his final run time it was clear that his competitors didn’t have much change to beat his time. In the end the second placed Juš Ažman (KK Završnica) was 10 seconds behind and the third placed Matej Osolin (Calcit Bike Team), the fastest rider from the seeding, finished third 11 seconds behind after jamming his chain right out of the start gate.
Masters and amateurs
Title defender Boštjan Volf (Wolf Racing by Wheelbase) was by far the fastest masters rider, followed by Rožle Mesec (Golovec trails) in second and Matjaž Rupar (Rajd Ljubljana) in third place.
The amateur male category was the largest this time and Tilen Ferk (ŠD BATT) was the fastest of the bunch, but the title went to license holder Andreas Vidovič (DGK Pohorje – Spank team) in second place.
The youngest
Last year’s U13 winner Jakob Praček (Kamplc Racing Team) won the U15 boys’ race with a gap of just .66 over second placed Svit Kunaver Smolkovič (MTB klub Kranj Scott Team), Gabriel Nosan (Calcit Bike Team) finished third.
In the youngest category, the U13 boys, Gal Palčič (Rajd Ljubljana) finished on the top step of the podium, his team mate Gal Novak on the second one and Nikolaj Vukojević (Golovec trails) on the third step.
Next one in September
This was a great double racing weekend at Soriška planina, one for the books. Thanks to Soriška planina resort, the MTB Železniki club as well as KK Završnica, the organizers of XC race who also gave a hand for Sunday’s downhill race. In partnership with Slovenia Cycling, over the weekend the host also held free guided tours and provided shuttles for cyclist.
Round 3 of 20chocolate Downhill Cup will be held on September 24 on Zagreb’s Sljeme mountain in Croatia. Details to follow at www.sloveniadownhillcup.si/en/races.
Photos by Jure Gasparič