Manx MTB Enduro-supported riders Max Hitchin, Coral Hegginbotham and Sapphire Ascroft recently competed in the third round of the UCI Enduro World Cup in Italy.

The event was based in Canazei, Valle Di Fassa and consisted of two days of practice and then two days of big mountain racing.

Max rode a steady practice in his first race in Europe and the world scene, while Coral enjoyed the long stages at what was her second attempt at a World Cup. Unfortunately, Sapphire had a spill which damaged her gear shifter but thankfully she was uninjured.

Three big stages were planned for the Saturday and Max had a fantastic day, finishing eighth in the junior open class.

Coral remained intact after a couple of offs to finish the day in seventh junior woman and Sapphire was in the top 30 on the elite woman’s class.

The final day of racing was dramatically changed as a result of a thunderstorm which unfortunately meant that two stages had to be cancelled.

Max went all out on the first stage determined to improve his position but crashed and lost approximately three minutes.

Coral rode steadily to maintain her position and Sapphire produced a quick time to improve her overall position.

As stages two and three were cancelled, next it was onto the super technical stage four, Max laid down a fast time to gain back some ground, while Coral and Sapphire did very well to ride the rock gardens unscathed.

As the results came in, Max clawed his way back to 22nd overall in the open junior class, while Coral picked up a place with sixth overall in the junior world cup and Sapphire claimed 26th in the elite world cup.

Overall it was a successful trip and great experience for the young Manx riders who would like to thank Manx MTB Enduro as well as all of the mums and dads for their continued support.

STEVE COLLINS