Val di Sole, Italy UCI World Cup Round 7 22-23 August 2015
It was a while ago now but as the snow has just arrived, it’s about time I pulled together some of the photos from summer. Excuse the iPhone shots but hopefully they go some way to capturing the feel of the place. So, In August I decided to go and watch the 7th round of the World Cup in Italy, I was there at the time with my family and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to do it. I’d been to Fort Bill a few times to watch but I’d always wanted to see a World Cup somewhere out of the UK. It definitely lived up to my expectations, so much so , if I can I’ll be back there to watch 2016 World Champs ! If you can go for a riding holiday at a similar time to a World Cup race nearby, go for it, it’s an awesome experience. The mountains , culture and food mixed with the passion the fans have for racing made for an electric atmosphere.
Rough river and a rough track…
There was a hell of a buzz at the bottom of the track. You could hear the noise of the crowd, chainsaws and air raid sirens ripping down from the hillside… While you sat and had a Cappuccino. It’s not bad.
4X , DH and XC all finishing at the same place makes for a great area at the bottom.
Middle Station, start gate.
Downhill flat out vs clipped in XC . I know who I was here to watch but it was great to see the events side by side, not to mention Nino Shurter pulling big whips over the jumps!
Sprint to the finish….
Gwin looking focused. Perhaps some open eye visualisation going on? Whatever he did, it worked.
It’s a long way up and a long way down ( especially if your walking )….
Bruni looking well in control while the evil commentator laughs on….
Steep,fast,loose,rooty , rocky it has all the best elements of a proper DH track.
Did i mention steep? The great thing is, this is no one-line Scalextrix track, if you have skills/balls there are plenty of big lines to go for to separate people out.
Deep, dusty loam and big rocks. A junior rider carrying decent speed through one of the flatter parts of the track !
Andrew Crimmins hitting the steep stuff at speed!
Rachel Atherton came trucking through this section at some speed. The crowd were pretty wild , it must just sound like a massive blur of noise for the riders.
Gwin just looked precision, no excess movement , no loose back end just pinned all the way for the win – and the series.
Looking forward to coming back to this amazing place. Until next year!