{"id":48486,"date":"2022-08-23T08:32:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T06:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniordownhillcup.com\/?p=48486\/"},"modified":"2022-08-23T08:32:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T06:32:46","slug":"dh-kope-jure-zabjek-returns-straight-to-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slodhcup.pumptrack.si\/en\/2022\/dh-kope-jure-zabjek-returns-straight-to-top\/","title":{"rendered":"DH Kope: Jure \u017dabjek returns straight to top"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The winners of round three of Unior Downhill Cup in Bike park Kope are Tina Smrdel (MBK \u010crni Vrh) and Jure \u017dabjek (Unior Sinter Factory Racing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

After races in Dalmatia and on Sori\u0161ka planina the Unior Downhill Cup <\/strong>series returned to Bike park Kope<\/a> this weekend \u2013 last year this was the site of first joint race with Auner Austrian Gravity Series<\/a> and the partnership was extended to this year’s race. The result was a strong field of around 160 riders from five countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organizers of MTB Koro\u0161ka<\/strong> squeezed close to the maximum from the only 180 available elevation meters drop of the terrain, so the track provided over 2 minutes of quality racing even for the fastest in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temperature wise the conditions in Kope resort were more like September or October but even with some rain during the final run the track remained dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elite men<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"jure
Jure \u017dabjek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jure \u017dabjek<\/strong> who returned to racing almost two months after cracking his ribs showed right away in the seeding run that he is back to speed. He was 2.9 second faster than his teammate \u017dak Gomil\u0161\u010dek<\/strong> in second place and 3.97 up on 4 time Hungarian champion Attila Liszi<\/strong> (Rad Company Racing Team) in third place. These would have been small gaps on the Maribor World Cup track but not on a short track with no obvious technical sections where a rider could gain (or loose) a lot of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan Cimperman<\/strong> (MTB Trbovlje), the second placed in the series ranking, followed in fourth place and the fastest Austrian Valentin Rohrmoser<\/strong> in fifth place. Not much changed in the final run. \u017dabjek’s final run was almost a second slower so Gomil\u0161\u010dek and Liszi were closer in second and third places respectively. Ale\u0161 Virti\u010d<\/strong> (Schneestern), the fast Slovenian living in Austria, fully recovered from last year’s back injury, moved from the back into fourth in front of Cimperman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good course, but maybe better suited for enduro bikes. Yet I decided to go with my downhill bike since I\u2019m not that used to my enduro bike. Plus I\u2019m racing downhill at the World Championships next week so I want to stay used to my downhill bike. We\u2019re taking off to the World tomorrow morning so I\u2019ll try to do my best in last three races of the season. I missed three races in Europe plus the North American World Cup rounds because of the injury but that\u2019s the way it is in this sport.\u201d<\/p>Jure \u017dabjek<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The top three of the series ranking remain the same, it’s Gomil\u0161\u010dek in first, Cimperman in second and \u017dabjek in third. But \u017dabjek collected the daily maximum of 300 points and is now only 20 points behind Cimperman. Gomil\u0161\u010dek still has a gap of 180 points on \u017dabjek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the seeding run it looked like we were in for a close final since the top three riders (out of four women on the start list) were separated by 1.8 second. Hungarian Abigel Halmai<\/strong> in first, Tina Smrdel<\/strong> in second and Nina Kova\u010d<\/strong> (Rajd Ljubljana) in third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"tina
Tina Smrdel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then in the final run junior Smrdel who is adding more and more downhill races to her enduro calendar (on enduro bike) improved her time by over two seconds, the Hungarian messed up her run and ended up as last. So Tina Smrdel won the place on top of the podium, Nina Kova\u010d was second and her teammate Nika Pe\u010dan<\/strong> third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing okay combining enduro and downhill races. There\u2019s another enduro races ahead, hopefully I can do well there as well. Today I may have been a bit faster on the technical parts in my final run, the roots on top and at the bottom. It\u2019s a short track, you just need to go full on.\u201d<\/p>Tina Smrdel<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Other categories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After Miha Smrdel who won the downhill National Championships, another enduro racer ended on top of junior men’s results list: Miha Jerki\u010d<\/strong> (KK \u010crn trn), the third placed at Sori\u0161ka planina. Obviously the \u00bbsingle stage enduros\u00ab suit him well too. Nikolas Kolle<\/strong> finished second (+2.84) and Jonas Berger<\/strong> third (both from Giant Stattegg team).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Miha
Miha Jerki\u010d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jakob Lorber<\/strong> (KK Zavr\u0161nica) whipped to victory in U17 men, A\u017ebe Kalin\u0161ek<\/strong> (Bikehanic \u2013 20 Chocolate) won in U15 men and Jakob Pra\u010dek<\/strong> (Kamplc racing team) in youngest category U13 men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa Zierl<\/strong> (MTB & Downhill Verein Tirol) was the fastest U15 girl and Eva Podvornik<\/strong> (DGK Pohorje \u2013 Spank team) the only U13 girl on the lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n