{"id":3490,"date":"2017-05-08T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T09:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/43ride.com\/en\/?p=3490"},"modified":"2017-05-08T12:09:13","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T10:09:13","slug":"ixs-european-downhill-cup-1-jure-zabjek-and-eleonora-farina-win-in-kranjska-gora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/43ride.com\/en\/events\/2017\/ixs-european-downhill-cup-1-jure-zabjek-and-eleonora-farina-win-in-kranjska-gora\/","title":{"rendered":"iXS European Downhill Cup #1: Jure Zabjek and Eleonora Farina win in Kranjska Gora"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past weekend the iXS European Downhill Cup celebrated the first race of the new season. 350 riders from 28 different nations made their way to Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) to kick-off the 2017 EDC season. At the end of the day, Eleonora Farina and Jure Zabjek were the winners of an exciting race weekend.<\/p>\n

\"iXS
\nJure Zabjek (Unior Tools Team)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

For the third time already the opening race of the tenth(!) season of the iXS European Downhill Cup invited the downhill elite to Kransjka Gora (Slovenia). The fight for the title 2017 is now officially on and the competition seems to get stronger every year. This season the EDC includes 5 races in Slovenia, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n

\"iXS
\nMicha\u0142 \u015aliwa (Top Riders My\u015blenice)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Except for some minor changes, Kransjka Gora\u2019s race track looked very similar to last year\u2019s race, so most of the riders were rather familiar with the course and the overall conditions. As usual, the most important topic of the whole weekend was the roots\u2026 these breath-taking, nerve-wrecking roots. Especially those parts of the course are extremely demanding and take their toll. And as if that wasn\u2019t enough, the track is also extremely steep in some sections, before the track finally enters the open field. Fortunately, at least the weather was at its best this year, saving the athletes lots of trouble.<\/p>\n

Qualifications<\/h3>\n

The first odds-on favorite who entered the track in the seeding run was Matt Walker (NZL – Cube Global Squad). With his incredible victory at the Crankworx Rotorua Air DH last month he has already proven that he\u2019s in top form, so expectations were high this weekend!<\/p>\n

\"iXS
\nS\u0142awomir \u0141ukasik (NS Bikes Factory Racing)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

When he crossed the finish line he took the lead with a 6-second gap and for a long time it looked like he would succeed again. However, Stanislav Sehnal (CZE – Banshee Bikes) beat his time by split seconds, and then all eyes were on the last remaining two riders on the track – Jure Zabjek (SLO – Unior Tools Team) and S\u0142awomir \u0141ukasik (POL – NS Bikes Factory Racing).<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Zabjek set the best time of the day that not even \u0141ukasik could reach.<\/p>\n

\"iXS
\nEleonora Farina (GB Rifar Mondraker)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

In the Elite Women category Eleonora Farina (ITA – GB Rifar Mondraker) was the fastest rider of the seeding run, setting both the best time of 2.48 minutes and a clear goal for her final run on Sunday. In the past Farina reached the podium numerous times, without reaching the top so far \u2013 but apparently this was going to change this time!<\/p>\n

In the meantime, vice European Champion Monika Hrastnik (SLO – Blackthorn) finished in second place, followed by Veronika Widmann (ITA – FS Petrol Funn) in third.<\/p>\n