4X ProTour Round 1 Poland – Preview

On Saturday 4th May, season 2 of the 4X ProTour will begin on one of the finest 4X tracks in the world. Szczawno Zdroj in Poland will host the opening round for 2013 and the scene is set for plenty of action on Saturday night.

Chris Roberts and Scott Beaumont have worked relentlessly over the winter months and have created a five round series that will continue to put 4X Mountain Bike racing on the World stage.

Interest in the 4X ProTour has been high from day one, but over the last few weeks it has gained even more momentum with magazine interviews, organiser promotion, Facebook interaction and frequent Twitter posts by fans. The 2013 4X ProTour looks like being a huge success, even before the gate has dropped on Saturday night. With over 100 pre entries so far, (and unlike former World Cups, registration will be available at the event) the first round of the 2013 4X ProTour has a solid entry list.

Who to watch
In the men’s race, 2012 4X ProTour Champion Tomas Slavik will be the man to beat. After an amazing season in 2012, Tomas won the opening 3 rounds on his way towards the overall title. Slavik has already got his season off to a winning start last weekend at the second round of the Schwalbe British 4X Series in Falmouth, Cornwall. His reasons for racing in the UK early in the year – he wanted to be ready for round 1 of the 4X ProTour.

Slavik will not have it all his own way though. Michal Prokop will be back and looking for the form that has previously made him unstoppable in the 4X world. Injury free and ready, Prokop will be looking to find his best form to beat Slavik.

Quentin Derbier, Mechura brothers, Scott Beaumont and host of the world’s finest 4X riders will be pressing hard to topple the Czech Republic riders in 2013.

In the women’s race, Katy Curd will enter this race as the clear favourite. The 2012 4X European Champion won that championship in Szczawno and will be looking to repeat that win; to start her 2013 ProTour campaign in style. Celine Gros, Lucia Oetjens and Helene Fruhwirth plus many more will all be looking to beat Katy.

RACE SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY – 03.05.2012
16:00-20:00 – registration
18:30-20:30 – course opened for warm-up training
20:30-22:00 – gate training at night conditions with full medical assistance
SATURDAY – 04.05.2012
14:00-15:30 – training (Polish Cup Juniors and Elite men & women)
15:35-15:45 – Junior riders’ meeting
15:50-16:20 – Juniors’ qualifications
16:30-17:15 – Juniors’ final races
17:15-18:00 – Elite’s training
18:10-18:20 – riders’ meeting
18:30-19:30 – qualifications
19:45-20:15 – gate training for the qualified riders
20:30 – final races

Results’ announcement and the award ceremony – 15 minutes after the final race on the stage in the middle section of the hill. To make the whole day more attractive to the viewers we are organizing races for Juniors as an edition of the Polish Cup (like we did last year).

LOCATION:
Szczawno-Zdrój is situated in the south-west of Poland (Lower Silesia), 86 km from Wrocław, 339 km from Berlin and 204 km from Prague. The nearest airport (Wrocław Strachowice) is 80 km away, the nearest train station (Wałbrzych Miasto) – just 4,6 km
For more information visit our website mtb-anna.eu. We’re working on its upgrade but apart from that you’ll find some interesting stuff there like the race’s rules as well as photos and videos from previous races. Any questions? E-mail us at mtbanna@wp.pl

OFFICIAL INVITATION FROM THE ORGANIZERS:
Once again we are honored and satisfied to invite riders from all over the world to compete at our four cross course – Sunny Meadow in Szczawno-Zdrój, Poland. We have been organizing 4X Festina Night Race for seven years now and the last two races in 2010 and 2011 were introduced to Euro Fourcross Series. We are proud to be in the new 4X Pro Tour series launched this year, especially that we are the only new venue among the ones with a big experience in the former World Cup events. We realize that it is an enormous challenge we are going to face, but we are ready to cope with it.
Another great thing about being in the 4X ProTour is the possibility to promote our town and our course among more and more riders, coaches and people interested in the development of one of the most spectacular biking events in the world. We are looking forward to meeting plenty of riders and thousands of viewers at Sunny Meadow 4X course in Szczawno-Zdrój on 4th May.
We wish the riders the best results and the viewers unforgettable thrills.
See you inPoland!
Tadeusz Wlaźlak, mayor of Szczawno-Zdrój
Andrzej Skrzypczak, race director

ACCOMMODATION:
Plenty of hotel rooms are still available in Szczawno Zdroj for this race weekend. Please contact us if you need some specific accommodation.

2012 Season recap video by Sam Oakes

If you require further information on the 4X ProTour, have a look at the official website:
www.4xprotour.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/4xprotour
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/4xprotour

Photos by Charles Robertson