WINNING IN THE NAME OF XX

The XX Maremma Cup came to conclusion sunday, march 7th, with Marco Aurelio Fonatana's (Cannondale Factory Racing) victory in both the XC race and also with the overall title of the XX Maremma Cup. Good job Marco!

Marco Aurelio Fontana powering his was to first place in the Maremma Cup

Even World Champion Nino Schurter had to acknowledge that Marco has HUGE power in his legs!

The starting list of sunday's march 7th race looked like a who's who of the world of mountain biking, with all the Olympic Gold medals in attendance (Bart Brentjens, Miguel Martinez and Julien Absalon) plus many other champions. Even if Frischi was busy organizing and running the race we are sure he would have loved to join...right Frischi?

Fontana, Naf, Absalon, Frischi, Hermida, Schurter, Kugler, Vogel: as all-star as it gets!

But the week in Massa Marittima was not only made of serious racing and training rides, there were some good chances to have great fun, such as the friday afternoon XX Ride with the PROs, hosted by no other than Mr. Thomas Frischknecht himself. Frischi guided the editors on a loop of the race course, where the attending pros (Nino, Marco, Manuel Fumic, Jose Hermida, Ralf Naf and many others) shared their tips and tricks on how to make the most of the XX 2x10 drivetrain.

 Editors, pro riders, SRAMmies and XX: a recipe for good times!

After the loop Nino and a handful of other riders donned Freelap timing watches and set off to pin a benchmark time, and then the heat was on!

Not your usual race start...Nino leads the "hot lap" before the editors challenge.

One by one our guest editors took on the course for glory, pride, the title of best journalist at the XX Maremma Cup and a tasty italian salami!
The winner, with an amazing time only one minute off Nino's lap, was Oyvind Ass from Norway!

Oyvind celebrates his victory as Europe's fastest editor

Saturday saw the second and final sprint race in downtown Massa Marittima: a great show, the kids loved it! Multivan Merida's Andy Kugler came out with the win despite some little "love tapping" with no other than Nino Schurter...but in the end it was all smiles!

Part 4X, part downtown race, the saturday event was simply spectacular. As the pizzeria in the square the same night.

 

The kids loved the SRAM bangbangs! 

Besides the racing, the best part of XX Maremma Cup was surely the magic of having the world's best riders all in town, hosted by a legend like Frischi, and not only witness them all serious and focused on racing like it happens at World Cups, but also ready to have a laugh!