The race weekend in Italy ended much better than it started for our team, with Ben Zwar showing good performance and make it to the semi-finals. Léona Pierrini was all out of luck on the first day, with a big crash on the first training session.
The Black snake has once again proved to be one of the hardest tracks on the World Cup circuit, especially in the changing weather conditions like we had in the past days. Organizers did a massive job on the track, with smaller changes that our riders liked. Léona and Ben came from the track walk all pumped and couldn’t wait to get on her bikes.
After couple of runs on the first training, Léona found a great amount of speed & confidence, trying to get the most out of the chosen lines. But danger is never at rest in downhill racing, especially on this track. Léona was on the high pace through on of the technical sections when she hit or caught something with her bike and just had an instant massive crash. She was back on her feet right away and even made it to the finish line, but the later checkup at the hospital confirmed an ankle injury. Léona needs to rest for at least ten days before she can start recovery and training. Get well soon!
Ben had a much better week in Italy. Fresh of the Crankworx DH race in Innsbruck, where he finished in 12th, he had a clear goal for the weekend. He was building up on speed and had a solid run in the qualifications, finishing in 48th with a gap of twelve seconds. Ben of course wanted to improve on that on the today’s race, and in many ways he did, but it wasn’t enough for the finals. He was 43rd.
No finals for Ben in Val di Sole, but the speed is building up and we’re sure the rest of the season will bring good things!
LINKS
Semi-finals on YouTube
Official website (results)
Photos: Grega Stopar
