- Xross Team®
On the second day of the biggest Hard Enduro race in Serbia, Tara mountain prepared the mix of incredibly beautiful nature and merciless wilderness and tested the endurance of the riders in the exhausting race. They pushed their bikes uphill, they fall into the creeks, they got lost in the woods and some of them run out of fuel. Although with muddy faces and totally exhausted, they managed to get to the finish with smiles on their faces because of the adrenaline adventure that the beautiful Serbian mountain prepared for them.
After yesterday's gloomy weather, on the second day of the Xross Challenge race, the sunshine has wished all the best for the riders. In front of them, there was 90km of a track with numerous challenges.
Even the best riders, such as Philipp Bertl, were thrown on their knees at the famous “Mousetrap” – it is the uphill that got its name because the bikes are literally flying over the riders' heads and fall on them like a mousetrap. A new uphill also gave a headache to the riders and they have used the last atoms of their strength in order to push their bikes up that hill, and for that, they often needed help from the audience. Upon arriving at the top of the hill, they got the chance to ride on the crest and enjoy the perfect view of the most beautiful parts of the Tara, and then there was the downhill, which came as an award for the previous hard moments.
The notorious Mousetrap / Photo: Predrag Vucković
No matter what Tara mountain has thrown in front of the riders it seemed that Bertl knows how to handle it, his willingness to face even the toughest obstacles tells us that he is a rider of steel will, readiness and courage. He started the race as the second, behind Miha Spindler, but he managed to overtake him quickly and maintain the pace until the finish.
– I got lost a couple of times but I managed to find the way, the weather was beautiful, the track was dry and easier to ride. There were also some parts where I could rest my body while riding. The track had several new uphills and downhills which were really nice to ride, in general, it was much more interesting than last year – said Bertl, who obviously does not intend to give away his Xross Challenge champion title.
In second place was Croatian rider Matija Zec.
– I think the race is awesome, the track today was much harder than yesterday, longer and more demanding, but I like it. The hardest obstacle was extreme uphill where we needed the help from the audience to pull the bikes up – said Zec, the young rider whose name you should definitely remember because his time is yet to come.
The third arrived Peter Topic, and yesterday winner Miha Spindler didn’t have the best day – he had bad luck but the fact that he managed to come fourth clearly says how excellent and experienced rider he is and shows how hard Xross Challenge is.
– Bertl passed me by really fast, I got lost in the woods and fell off the bike. On my way, I saw Zec and then we rode together, but I run out of fuel before the checkpoint so I had to wait and a lot of other riders pass me by. But once I put the fuel in the tank I was fast and manage to overtake them. Uphills were really hard because of the loose soil, so it was serious trouble. In the end, I was racing with Kevin Gallas, I managed to pass but his bike fell into the creek. It was a good race, the track is really demanding and I am ready for tomorrow – Spindler said.
When the next bike roared up the hill no one on the finish line expected to see Gallas.
– I fell down, I got lost, I run out of fuel and in the end, my bike fell into the water. I had to pull it out, some good people offered to help me – says visibly exhausted Gallas but with the smile on his face.
“It is the best race I ever had.”, “It is an incredibly good track.”, “It is super hard…” – these are just some of the comments of the riders who managed to get to the finish line.
It is uncertain who will be on the winning podium tomorrow and who will be the new Xross Challenge champion.
