The first race of the iXS European Downhill Cup season has found his winners. In the Elite Men category Denis Kohút shines with the sun to compete. Abigail Hogie took home the win in the Elite Women category with her clean run down the hill. Let's start from beginning.

The race in Losinj starts above water. The Teams and their equipment have to take the ferry to get to the beautiful Island of Losinj. Easy as this, the European Downhill community get the first get together on wet surface. And wet does it all starts. The track walk and first practice session was accompanied by light drizzle. The riders had their first struggle with the wet soil under their wheels. Frane Medić (CRO - Croatian National Team) keep his fingers away from the brakes and flew along the course down to the harbour. Towards the afternoon, the Adriatic sun came out and gradually dried the course. The participants were grateful for the extra grip.

Qualification on Saturday

Perfect wheater ready for the Qualification Round on saturday afternoon. Fastest men in the Elite category has been last year's winner Adam Rojcek (SVK - Osmos Gravity Team) with 01:56.71, just half a second behind, his fellow countryman Rastislav Baranek (SVK - Kellys Factory Team) showed his ambitions.

In the women category, Abigail Hoggie (USA - Beyond Racing) secured with 02:25.44 on the course the final starting position for sunday. But the fastest times belonged to the young guns. The Under 17 Slovenian Donhill and Enduro National Champion Azbe Kalinsek (SLO - MTB TRBOVLJE) put down an incredible 01:56.50, while Lina Frehner (AUT) beat the American's time by 2 seconds.

From here, the course leads into a never-ending rock garden, the last chance to catch your breath. Only 1350 meters long and yet the 245 vertical meters demand a lot of skill, fitness and stability from the riders and their equipment. While the track starts off flat with bike park elements, this changes as soon as you leave the ridge.

Flat tires are not a rarity on the stony track, but rather the rule. On Saturday, you could hear constant pounding in the paddock. Many riders had to straighten their rims as best they could before qualifying began due to a lack of material. Most teams rode with inserts, especially in the rear wheel, but some riders, such as Valentin Rohrmoser (AUT - SportOkay.com Racing), eventually dispensed with inserts altogether and increased the tire pressure from run to run.

Finals Day on Sunday

Sunday started with chilly wheater, but ready to the starting time of sunday's practice the sky cleared and the temperatures rose into the comfort zone. The Pro Masters were sent onto the track first. Apparently, experience pays off and all bikes arrived at the finish line without a defect. With the U17 category the pace increased and unfortunately also the number of dropouts. Max Zvegla (SLO - Bikehanic - Lumar) crashed a little too hard in the Zarja section and caused the first interruption to the race. However, the fastest rider from the day before was not rattled by the interruption to his run and Azbe Kalinsek took the title with his second fastest time of the day. If the young Slovenian had been allowed to compete in the men's race, he would have finished at the top of the podium there too.

In the male U 19 category, Leo Simone (ITA - Bike O'Clock) took victory in 1:58.34 ahead of Lino Neumann (GER - Chilli Racing Brigade). The U 19 women's final was only contested between two riders. In the end, Karolína Kadlecová (X-Ride Team Racing) from the Czech Republic won by 27 seconds ahead of Katarina Väljako (Fun Timez Racing) from Estonia. The elite women's race then became exciting for the first time. In the end, Abigail Hogie from the USA (Beyond Racing) secured the top step of the podium ahead of Switzerland's Delphine Bulliard (Verbier Racing). Here Oliver Vogl (AUT - KEEN MOMENTUM) in Qualifying.

Final Elite Women

The elite women's final was anything but satisfactory for the reigning Norwegian champion Kine Haugom (DH Talent Team). First of all, there were some discussions because she started the qualifying race without the obligatory national sleeve, and then she also had bad luck on Sunday. A defect on her bike meant 4th place in the women's race.

Asia Sirolla from Italy had a difficult weekend with many heavy crashes, she didn't manage a clean run until the qualification on Saturday and had to fight with the sometimes very blocked passages on the rocky track. The Norwegian's bad luck was the Italian's good fortune on Sunday.

Final Elite Men

Marco Beevilacqua (ITA - Team Scott Motobase) flies into the paddock. Team Scott Motobase created a great atmosphere in the finish area throughout the weekend. A huge team, lively Italian and a rattling Vespa 50 as a shuttle showed a good mood to the outside world. We are already looking forward to the race in Abetone, iXS EDC #7 in Italy!

Simon Maurer (GER - Schornsteinfeger Maurer) was a likely winner this weekend. Strong and smooth practice runs indicate good preparation for the season. On Sunday, he was able to improve his qualifying time by almost four seconds and finished second, just one tenth of a second behind.

Denis Kohút from Slovakia (OSMOS Factory Team) wins the first stop of the European Downhill Cup in Losinj with a time of 1:53.929 and beams with the sun. Simon Maurer in 2nd place and Luka Berginc (SLO) from Team HollyMolly's Development Racing in 3rd place.

Thank you Losinj, it was amazing!