![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Maribor-DH-2025-43.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter Saturday’s training on an extremely dusty and slippery track, which also took some crashes (we wish a speedy recovery to Jakob Kov\u0161ca, whose broken femur was operated on Sunday morning), a heavy overnight downpour turned the dust into mud, but by the time of the afternoon’s timed runs, the seeding and the final, the conditions were already perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monika Hrastnik (AON Racing – Tourne Campervans), 31, a member of the top ten fastest riders in the World Cup, came to the track, where she has already won two European titles, as an eight-time national champion and the main favourite. She justified her role and was fastest by a wide margin in both runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The battle for the title of vice champion was interesting, with two members of Maribor teams competing – Ma\u0161a Komel (427 Savage Squad), who switched to downhill from enduro for this season, and junior Eva Zala Stergar (DGK Pohorje – Spank Team). In the seeding, they were separated by only 39 hundredths of a second, but in the final Ma\u0161a managed to improve her time by a good two seconds and with a 28-second gap behind Monika she earned the silver medal, while the home junior took the bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another young local competitor, Eva Podvornik (\u0160D Grabit), only 14 years old, won her first title in the new national championship category for girls under 17, which was introduced this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the series standings after three races, Ma\u0161a Komel is leading Eva Podvornik, with Ne\u017ea \u0160tern (MTB klub Kranj) in third place, who missed the championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I really like that they changed the lower part because we are all trained on this track, we are all almost over the limit. I’m glad that there were a lot of girls. I know them, I know how they ride, and they are progressing every year, which is very good to see. Now the European Championships. I’m going every race to win, especially a championship. It would be my fourth title, which would be very nice. Some people say the jersey is ugly, I don’t think it is. I haven’t been on this track in Spain yet, we’ll see what it’s like. But I’m looking forward to the championship being over, to take a little break, it’s quite tiring.”<\/p>\nMonika Hrastnik<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n After winning the first round of this year’s series in Gorjanci and despite a slip-up at the second round in Ravne na Koro\u0161kem, the title of elite National Champion for Marko Niemiz (Rajd Ljubljana) is not a huge surprise. But when he returned last year after almost three years away from racing with a sensational victory on his enduro bike at the final round of the series in Sljeme, nobody could have imagined that he would become national champion the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 23-year-old Niemiz, on a bike borrowed from two-time national champion \u017dig Pandur, was second in the seeding, beaten only by Austrian Sebastian Weinhandl (Bike Club Schladming-Dachstein). Croatian Matija Crnkovi\u0107 (Coast Riders) surprised with the third fastest time, followed by last year’s series winner Miha Jerki\u010d (427 Savage Squad) and defending champion Tilen Leban (KD De\u0161 Fle\u0161). Luka Berginc (Coast Riders) and Ga\u0161per Jure\u010di\u010d (Grabit), two of the favourites, finished second to last and last with unlucky performances, so Beginc opened the final in this category, while the injured Jure\u010di\u010d did not make the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Berginc, the 2021 and 2023 champion, took the early lead and was still in the hot seat with only the fastest two from the seeding run still on the track. Luka was the only one at that moment to go under three and a half minutes and Jerki\u010d was also 2 seconds and 25 hundredths behind him. Berginc’s time was less than half a second faster than Niemiz’s time in the seeding. But Niemiz bettered his own time by a good two seconds, which was enough for the national title!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DH Pohorje win went to the last man on the track, 20-year-old Sebastian Weinhandel. The third place finisher from this year’s Austrian Championships really had his day at Pohorje, beating Niemiz by 10 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, Niemiz does not have any junior national titles in his collection. The last time he stood on the top step of a national championship podium was in Javornik in 2018 as an U17, which was his fifth consecutive national championship title, as he has two from the U17 category and three from the U15 category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Niemiz also leads the series standings with 700 points from three races, second-placed Berginc has 430 points from two races, and Jure\u010di\u010d is third with 378 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m surprised too, to one extent. I wouldn’t have thought that I would be able to do it on a borrowed bike and after not having been here for four years. Everything is different. I wouldn’t say that the two rides were so good, I was down in the seeeding and in the final I made too many mistakes, one after the other. I’m surprised about the time, but it was enough. Now I’m also in the team for the European Championships, I didn’t plan to do that, I’ll try to enjoy it and do my best in international field. On a borrowed bike, I don’t have another one.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\nMarko Niemiz<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n “Overall, it was a really good race weekend. Maribor is just an hour away from where I live, which makes it a regular training spot for me. My final training run didn\u2019t go as planned, so I was happy with a really good seeding run The only negative thing was that I had to start last, but I managed to stay focused and keep the nerves to get another excellent run when it counted. I honestly didn\u2019t expect to be two seconds faster than in the seeding. Taking the win made me incredibly happy. Huge compliments to the organizers for running such a flawless event\u2014Austria could definitely take a few notes from you! “<\/p>\nSebastian Weinhandl<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A\u017ebe Kalin\u0161ek, twice champion in the U17 (and twice before in the U15), now a member of the Mondraker Factory Racing, was the favourite in his first season among the 19 juniors, despite an injury at the start of the season. This was only his third race since his comeback. He started with a crash in Friday’s practice and on race day, with a punctured tyre, he did not finish the sdng. Vincent Vodan (Ger), Paul Schmidinger (Aut) and Alexander Pervan (Cro) came out on top, followed by Maks Struna (KK Zavr\u0161nica) and defending champion Matej Osolin (Golovec Trails).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kalin\u0161ek was the first to take to the course in the final and sat in the hot sun in the finish area for a long time. He stayed there until the end of the category, and his time remained the second fastest time of the day after the elite category. Behind A\u017ebe, the international riders mixed it up a bit, with Schmidinger in second and Vodan in third. Osolin took the silver of the national championship with a fifth place and a time just under four seconds better than in the seeding, while the bronze went to Struna, who was eighth overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin Mark Milar (Rajd Ljubljana), this time only 12th in the final, hung on to his lead in the series standings, closely followed by Osolin and Struna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Great. The track was drying quickly, so I put a bit less pressure on the front tyre for the qualifying, but it split on the rocky section. Then the tactic was to go a bit safer in the final. We put the settings to dry and it worked. It would have been great to get the best time overall, but I didn’t expect it when I saw the times from the seeding. Third race since my injury and my fifth title. I have medium expectations for the European Championships, it would be great to finish as high as possible. Every race I feel better on the bike and my confidence is coming back.”<\/p>\nA\u017ebe Kalin\u0161ek<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In the seding run of the U17 male category, Jakob Pra\u010dek (KK Kamplc \/ Cube Next Generation) was the fastest with a top time, second overall. In the final, his performance was slightly bettered by last year’s Cup winner Svit Kunaver Smolkovi\u010d (Bikehanic Lumar), but Pra\u010dek’s rear tyre slid off his rim and he finished down the results list. The title went to Kunaver Smolkovi\u010d, silver to Gabriel Nosan (\u0160D BATT) and bronze to Val Peserl (427 Savage Squad). The fast Croatian \u0160imun Juras (BK Fortica) came in second overall and is now leading in the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the men’s master category, it was already clear from the seeding performance that the medals would be shared by three former successful competitors in the junior and elite categories, unless something went terribly wrong. Sa\u0161a Merljak and Bo\u0161tjan Volf (both Wolf Racing Team), who were separated by only 17 hundredths of a second in the seeding, swapped positions and Volf became the champion. The bronze went to local Jure Logar (427 Savage Squad).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merljak leads the series standings ahead of Logar and Volf, who missed the DH Poseka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The local amateur competition was scarce, or rather a number of riders didn’t show up for the start on Sunday. The championship podium taken by two members of the Alliance ASE Racing Team, Dante Brelih with gold and Gabrijel Kemperl with silver medal. In the international competition, Italy’s Marco Vicenzino (Tecno Bike) won ahead of Slovakia’s Marek Katrinec, with Brelih third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matic Kokl (Alliance) is leading in the standings ahead of Tadej Sko\u010dir and Brelih.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the under-15 category, local Nik Brumen (427 Savage Squad) was once again the fastest, and is undefeated in the series this year. Second place went to Nikolaj Vukojevi\u010d (Golovec trails) and third to Rok Pavli\u010d (DGK Pohorje).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brumen leads the standings with a maximum score of 900 points, followed by Tai Bizjak (KK Ravne na Koro\u0161kem) and Max Sli\u0161ko (427 Savage Squad).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The youngest category U13 competed on a shorter course than Trikotna jasa, won by Tin Adam (427 Savage Squad) ahead of Vili Semeni\u010d (KK \u010crn trn) and clubmate Lija Leber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 20chocolate Downhill Cup series will continue in a month’s time in Weissensee \/ White Lake in Carinthia, Austria. The race will take place on Saturday, 23 August. The race will be held in cooperation with the Austrian Gravity Series and will also be the championship of the state of Carinthia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Details and registration coming soon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exciting racing for national titles and some fast guests from abroad on the World Cup track in Maribor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":59673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,5],"tags":[61,66],"blocksy_meta":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59721,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59719\/revisions\/59721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Maribor_DH_2025-59.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWomen: Monika’s 9th<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250720-_hrastnik.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sloveniadownhillcup.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Maribor-DH-2025-42_hrastnik.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>\n
Men: Niemiz Not Stopping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>\n
\n
Juniors: Kalin\u0161ek Continues Title Streak<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
U17 Men: SKS!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a>Veterans’ Trophy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAmateur Men<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Youngest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a>All DH Pohorje and Cup standings in the 20chocolate Downhill Cup series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Podiums – National Championships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPodiums – 20chocolate Downhill Cup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTo Carinthia, Austria<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Photos by Rene Gomolj, Jure Kranjec in Denis Jane\u017ei\u010d<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"