iXS European Downhill Cup in Maribor/Slovenia

18 Sep 2013

On the last weekend in September, the iXS European Downhill Cup will be headed to Maribor in Slovenia. With one of the most popular downhill tracks, Maribor will once more enter the international stage in 2013.

Maribor is well known among the downhill scene for its high-class racing: the perfect place, a challenging course, a beautiful scenery and the trained organization are this year's ingredients for an unforgettable final weekend of the iXS European Cup. 300 riders from more than 20 different nations will have to face a 2.6 km track with a total of 450 vertical meters on offer. Among the starters will be some of the biggest names of the scene and as nothing is decided yet, it will definitely be an interesting weekend.

Manon Carpenter (GBR - Madison Saracen DH Team), who went second in the last World Cup, is one of the odds-on favorites in the Elite Women category, due to her third place in the UCI rankings. One of her competitors is Myriam Nicole (FRA - Commencal/Riding Addiction), who reached the third place in the World Cup in Hafjell/NOR last weekend and who already won the qualifying in Maribor once before in 2010. In the meantime, Zarja Cernilogar (SLO - Blackthorn GT) should be totally relaxed: Not only will the race be a home match for her, but in addition her final result as this year's winner of the overall standings is already in the books.

But there are also some names to be mentioned in the Elite Men category: Rémi Thirion (FRA - Commencal/Riding Addiction), World Cup winner of Vallnord/Andorra, Markus Pekoll (AUT - MS Mondraker Team), place 11 in the UCI rankings, Ruaridh Cunningham (GBR - Unior/Trek), who already won twice races of the EDC and Robin Wallner (SWE - Team W-Racing) who won the overall standings in 2012 and went 25th in the last World Cup in Maribor.

As long as the registration is still open, the list of pros is getting longer and longer. Unfortunately, Maribor will be the last big event of the season, before a very long off-season lays ahead.