All races in the Slovenian 20chocolate Downhill Cup season carry the same weight. One each year carries an extra prestige. On 20 July, Maribor will host it for the sixth time in the 34 years of the Slovenian National Downhill Championships.
The first time the National Downhill Championships were held on Maribor’s Pohorje mountain was in 1998, a year before the first World Cup race, as a test of the new track. The last time was five years ago, in 2020.
DH Pohorje will be the third race of the year for 20chocolate Downhill Cup series points. The national championship will provide even more national riders, as all those who regularly compete at higher international level will also be coming, with defending national title holder in women’s elite Monika Hrastnik leading the way. And the reputation of the legendary World Cup course will attract even more international riders than the other races in the series, so it’s safe to say that this will be the 20chocolate Downhill Cup series race with the strongest field this year.
The championship is organised by the Maribor sports club Grabit together with the city’s company Marprom, the operator of the Bike Park Pohorje Maribor, and in cooperation with the Cycling Federation of Slovenia.
Refreshed Track
The tireless builders of the Pohorje Maribor Bike Park are at work practically twelve months of the year and since the last race of the 20chocolate Downhill Cup series at the end of May last year, which also counted for the Austrian Gravity Series, there is something new also on the track, which has already hosted 12 World Cup races, two European Championships, seven European Cup races and “countless” national races. It is still 2200 m long with an elevation drop of 540 meters. Last year’s fastest times were under 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Most notable is the “rhythm” series of jumps before exiting the last woods section, which has grown considerably. It’s an added attraction for spectators just a few minutes’ walk from the finish line. There are more changes in the pipeline that the builders don’t want to talk about, so that no one has an advantage in the race.
The new attraction is therefore within walking distance of the finish, and spectators can also reach the classic attraction by taking the gondola to the middle station with a €2 ticket. That’s the Rock’n’Roll section. From the gondola middle station there is a five-minute walk to the section where sparks sometimes fly.
The Field
The men’s titles will be defended by the favourite, eight-time champion Monika Hrastnik (AON Racing – Tourne Campervans), and last year’s surprise champion Tilen Leban (Deš Fleš). With six winners in the men’s six races last year, and this year’s top podium finishers already being Marko Niemiz (Rajd Ljubljana) and Luka Berginc (Coast Riders), there will be a few favourites. Last year’s overall winner Miha Jerkič (427 Savage Squad) is returning from injury (this time on a downhill bike). Niemiz leads the standings ahead of Gašper Jurečič (ŠD Grabit) and Berginc. Niemiz did well on the enduro bike on the wet DH Planina, but on the DH Poseka such a bike was not a handicap, Miha Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) was the second fastest on one. This time, on a real downhill course, riders on shorter wheelbase bikes with less travel will have a hard time making it to the top.
Monika has no real rival in Slovenia, but of course Maša Komel (427 Savage Squad), the leader in the classification, and the juniors won’t be watching with their arms crossed. For the first time, they will also award the women’s under 17 title.
Among the junior men, Matej Osolin (Golovec Trails) will defend his title, but he is currently only eighth in the rankings, having missed the first race to compete in the World Cup, while he was second in Poseka behind enduro rider Tian Pečnik. He will be challenged by the youngsters from Rajd Ljubljana (Martin Mark Milar, Aljaž Bogataj, Max Žvegla from the Bikehanic – Lumar development team) and KK Završnica (Maks Struna, Anže Kofjač, Juš Ažman), local Sven Podvornik (ŠD Grabit) and others, and of course last year’s U17 champion Ažbe Kalinšek (Mondraker Factory Racing DH), who is racing World Cup in Andorra this weekend and hasn’t even competed in U19 category at home yet.
A similar enigma for the Slovenian Cup as Kalinšek is Jakob Praček (Cube Next Generation), last year’s national champion in the U15 category, who is focusing on European Cup races this year. Croatia’s Šimun Juras (BK Fortica), who will of course be competing outside the national championship, is on top of U17 ranking, followed by Maribor’s Maks Fošnarič (DGK Pohorje – Spank Team), Jakob Rozman (MTB klub Kranj) and, with only one race, Svit Kunaver Smolkovič (Rajd Ljubljana).
The battle for the national champions jerseys, the national championship medals and a new set of points in the 20chocolate Downhill Cup series will certainly be interesting on the legendary track. For added motivation, the prize money for the overall ranking of the junior and elite riders has also been increased.
Schedule
The series will start on Sunday at 13:30 with the qualifying round and the final round at 16:00. The ceremony will then take place in the square in front of the gondola building.
The track will be ready for riding on Friday. There will be plenty of time to practice with the gondola transport to the start. The competitors in the youngest U13 category can access their start from the middle station of the gondola.
Registration
Entries are open until Monday 14 July at noon. Enter from the propositions or at prijavim.se registration service, where you can also find the list of entered riders.
Let’s Ride!
For the accompanying persons, the organisers, in cooperation with the Slovenia Cycling, under the umbrella of the programme Let’s Ride! is organising an attractive four-hour free guided tour on Saturday. After a 12:00 assembly and a gondola ascent, they will ride to the Areh zone, ride the trails there and back through the park to the valley. Registration is required, the registration form can be found here.