Race report and photos from 4x Pro Tour rd3 at Val di Sole, Italy.

COMEZZADURA (TRENTINO – ITALY), 02 JUNE 2012 –

As the sun went down over Val di Sole, riders from across the world were going wheel-to-wheel for round two of the 4X Pro Tour.

The 64 men who made it through yesterday’s qualifier battled it out on the 45 second track. All night long the defending world champion, Michal Prokop (Czech Republic), was looking strong, getting the lead from the gate and pulling away from the competition. In the final it was not to be though, his countryman, Thomas Slavik, took the lead into the first corner and not matter what Prokop tried, he couldn’t close the gap. Scott Beaumont (Great Britain) took the third step of the podium.
In the women’s racing, last year’s defending series champion and world champion, Anneke Beerten (Netherlands), was unbeatable, winning every one of her heats and comfortably taking the win in the final. She was one of the few ladies who tackled the intimidating jumps on the track’s pro-line.  Katy Curd (Great Britain) was her nearest competitor and looked strong throughout her heats, but she couldn’t find the power out of the gate to stay with Beerten. Celine Gros backed up qualifying 17th in the downhill earlier in the day with the third spot of the podium.

Men Final
1 1 CZE19870612 SLAVIK Tomas RSP 4 Cross Team
2 2 CZE19810401 PROKOP Michal SPECIALIZED Racing
3 3 GBR19780602 BEAUMONT Scott Yeti Racing UK
4 4 SWE19911121 BECKEMAN Felix Trek Sweden Racing/Fox Head

Women Final
1 3 NED19820707 BEERTEN Anneke MILKA-SUPERIOR MTB RACING TEAM
2 1 GBR19890427 CURD Katy ROSE VAUJANY GRAVITY MTB TEAM
3 2 FRA19830128 GROS Céline Team Morzine-Avoriaz
4 4 SUI19810926 OETJEN Lucia Thömus Racing Team