All set for the first Italian Round of the WES season at the Bologna Apennine

Monaco (P.ty) Wednesday 2 June 2021 – With only a few days to go, the Apennine near Bologna is shaping up to be an interesting venue from a racing perspective. The event, presented by Suzuki Hybrid, will be taking place next 5-6 June at Castiglione dei Pepoli with a 2-race format.

In the women’s competition Sofia Wiedenroth (Specialized) is out with an injury, thus opening up the possibility of the rest of the field taking valuable points further into the season.

With Kathrin Stirnemann (Thömus) not attending the event due to the agenda of the Swiss National Team she coaches, the battle for the standings lead will be a close one, starting with a 3- point gap, between defending E-MTB World Champion Mélanie Pugin (BH) and Karen Pepper (Lapierre).

2019 E-MTB World Champion Nathalie Schneitter (Trek) will make her debut in the season at the Bologna-Appenino Round playing the party pooper role.

In the men’s we recently heard on our WES channels from Italian Vittorio Gambirasio (Lee Cougan) who at the first round in Monaco knew he had to focus on bike fitness between races and his physical preparation. Maintaining his speed and choosing when to peak is not an easy task. Especially across a whole weekend with multiple races taking place, fatigue will always be something to combat.

There are great expectations in the field for Marco Aurelio Fontana (Focus) and Andrea Garibbo (Haibike) joining the scene at their WES home round.

After his debut at WES Monaco, Roberto Fabbri (Fantic) will be part of the race again in this first Italian Round of the season.

Looking to the top riders in the men’s standings, the challenge is on, the riders threw down their times in Monaco, now their competition has an idea who has which strengths as they size each other up and prepare for the fierce competition on the track.

Jérôme Gilloux (Moustache) is leading by 10 points only, ahead of Joris Ryf (Bergstrom), he will do his best to defend his leader’s jersey.

Technically, it will be an interesting double race as the teams will be thinking about bike preparation and creating the right setup for the Apennine tracks. Motors all function within set limits, but suspension and tyre choice are vital to maintain an effective rolling machine. The weather could play an important role in the results, with teams needing to respond to conditions and making the correct tyre choices.

The race HQ will be located at Castiglione dei Pepoli, in Piazza della Libertà – the historic town centre – where the races will start from and also the official award ceremonies will be held there after each race (Saturday and Sunday).

WES Round 2 will be covered by Bike Channel DTV in Italy and on their web site with several pieces of content spread over the two-day long event and beyond. Italian TV Mediaset will also cover the event with highlights and specific edits.

WES highlights will be broadcast by Tdp (Teledeporte, RTVE) in Spain within the TV programme “Va de Bikes” produced by Carrota and on 17 media platforms reaching 120+ countries on 4 continents within “WOF – World of Freesports”, a multilingual action and outdoor sport magazine, produced and distributed by the German company quattro media.

For more information and the latest updates about the event or media accreditation please contact the WES address below.

Follow the races live timing and get the updated results HERE

Download the Press Release in PDF HERE