Since the Sljeme track was revived, the Slovenian DH Cup has had mixed luck with the weather there – twice it was dry and twice it was wet, every other year. This time, at the sixth and final race of the 2025 20chocolate Downhill Cup series on the DH Legends track above the Croatian capital of Zagreb, we only managed one run in the all-day rain, which counted as the final.
On Saturday, the conditions were ideal for getting to know the 1600 m long track with a 300 m elevation drop on the northern side of Sljeme. However, on Sunday morning just under a hundred riders from Croatia, Austria, and Slovenia were greeted by a rainy day and a completely soggy track. To make matters worse, there was a strong wind at the top in the morning, which caused the start of training to be postponed. When the wind died down, most of the riders had a great time during the morning training session, but due to the delay and temperatures just above freezing, the race organizers shortened the schedule to one run, which counted as the final and last in this year’s series.
Jerkič Among Elite, Berginc to Overall Victory
Luka Berginc (Coast Riders), leader in the men’s elite rankings, two-time national champion, and two-time Slovenia Cup winner in this category (2018 and 2023), was the first to take to the track with number one plate, but after a time of 2:41.32 compared to the junior who had been on the track earlier, it was clear that he had not had a dream performance. However, his only competitor for the overall victory, Marko Niemiz (Rajd Ljubljana), did not come to Sljeme, and Luka had his third overall victory in the bag even with the points for the seeding run not awarded this time.
The time was improved by just under three seconds by number 4, last year’s series champion Miha Jerkič (427 Savage Squad), who was plagued by a shoulder injury this year and only managed two fourth places. In the end, he remained in the “cold seat” (we renamed the leader’s seat from “hot” for this occasion) until the end and took his second elite victory in the Slovenian Cup. However, as he was beaten by four juniors and another U17 rider, he certainly could not be as happy as he was last year at Soriška planina.
Numbers 13 and 15 squeezed in between Jerkič and Berginc. Maj Babačič (Golovec trails) repeated his achievement from Soriška planina and, in his first elite season, took second place among the seniors. Fran Bošnjak (BBK Šišmiš) from nearby Samobor repeated his third place from Sljeme and won the Croatian downhill championship title for the second year in a row. Who knows how many titles he has won this year, but he certainly retained the one in Olympic cross-country. Lovel Matijaš (Coast Riders) won the silver medal in the Croatian championship and Marko Jelušič (BK Opušteno) the bronze.
In the overall cup standings, Aleš Virtič (DGK Pohorje – Spank Team) overtook Niemiz, to finish in second place.
Maša Komel Confirms Her Overall Title
In her first full season of downhill racing after last year’s overall victory in the SloEnduro series, Maša Komel (427 Savage Squad) won the title of the best in the 20chocolate Downhill Cup series even before the final round. She won her third race this year at Sljeme.
The young Maribor native Eva Podvornik (ŠD Grabit) from the under-15 category took her first second place among the “big girls,” finishing just five seconds behind the winner. Eva is also second in the final series standings. Third place went to Ana Inkret (Calcit Bike Team), and fourth to local rider Larisa Bošnjak (BKK Šišmiš), who won the Croatian championship title and third place in the overall series standings.
Fast Juniors
For Max Žvegla (Bikehanic – Lumar), this was his first junior season with a series of domestic and international appearances, in which he ended up on the ground too often. As consolation, he won the final race at Sljeme at the end of the season, where he won among the U17 last year. This time, he was faster than all the elite. And not only him, the juniors took the first four places on the overall five man podium! Jakob Lorber (Golovec trails) came in second, Maks Struna (KK Završnica) third, and Matej Osolin (Golovec trails) fourth.
Max Žvegla said:
“The ride wasn’t the best. I was quite surprised that it was enough for the top. In the end, everything turned out well, which is what matters. My first overall victory in the Slovenian Cup. This was also my last race of the season; I have another season ahead of me in the junior category. There are some fast under 17 riders coming up, but I’m not worried, because today I really didn’t ride as well as I could have. And of course, I need to train.”
Osolin won the overall junior classification ahead of Struna and Sven Podvornik (ŠD Grabit).
And an Even Faster Under Seventeen Rider!
The fastest time of the day was achieved by the winner among the U17, Šimun Juras (BK Fortica). The Dalmatian was 53 hundredths of a second faster than Žvegla. He left his peers far behind, but it is still worth mentioning the double Croatian victory, as Tin Kelečić (BK Opušteno) came second and Ažbe Bizjan (Golovec trails) third. Juras also became the junior national champion, as the categories are combined in Croatia.
With four victories, Juras also convincingly won the series classification ahead of Svit Kunaver Smolkovič (Bikehanic – Lumar) in second place and Maks Fošnarič (DGK Pohorje – Spank Team) in third place.
In Other Categories
Among U15 boys, Tai Bizjak (KK Ravne na Koroškem) won his first victory and moved up to second place in the standings. Nik Brumen (427 Savage Squad) remained at the top with a comfortable lead from maximum points from the first half of the season.
Among the youngest in the U13 category, Jaka Kline (DGK Pohorje – Spank Team), a boy with downhill (this time downhill skiing) genes, climbed to the top step for the first time. The overall victory went to Vili Semenič (KK Črn trn).
Among the masters, the fastest in the mud was the experienced Jure Logar, leader of the Maribor team 427 Savage Squad, while Saša Merljak (Wolf Racing Team) remained at the top of the rankings. Berislav Topol (BK Stvaramo staze) won among the amateurs and also became the Croatian masters champion, as this category is for riders aged 30 and over in Croatia and 35 and over in the series. Tadej Skočir became the amateur cup champion.
All DH Sljeme results and series standings
The Loop is Complete
Four months after it began, the Slovenian Downhill Cup 20chocolate Downhill Cup ended with a race organized by DSR Bike Park Sljeme, just over 30 kilometers as the crow flies from the first venue. As we discovered in mid-May, the start of the first race offers a view of the track for the last race. In between, the series visited Koroška, Pohorje, Austrian Koroška, and Gorenjska. Six races, 11 time trials, hundreds of riders from dozens of countries… The series calendar for the 2026 season is in the works!
Photos by Anže Furlan