The opening round of the 2025 4X ProTour took place in Val Di Sole, Italy at the weekend. Held as part of the UCI World Cup weekend, this event attracts thousands of fans who flock to Val Di Sole to watch 4X ProTour and the World Cup disciplines of DH and XC.
The track in Val Di Sole is incredible. Built for the 4X World Championships in 2008 the track has stood the test of time, only receiving some minor updates in the last 17 years. It is one of the best tracks on the circuit and always provides entertainment. Huge corners, massive jumps and a big rock garden litter this 45 second long track to test the best in the world.
Thursday – Qualifying:
Practice was busy, as riders only had an hour to master this technical track. It was super dry and loose but riders were up to speed and qualifying was going to be tight. The sun was setting, and the track was ready for qualifying. The format for this year’s race was qualifying on Thursday night and finals on Friday night. With the schedule fitting around DH, it was great to see a few DH riders entered.
With just one lap to qualify into the main event, the pressure was on all the riders to have a smooth but aggressive lap.
In the elite women’s qualifying, it was an amazing ride from George Swift who crossed the finish line in a time of 55.632, a full second ahead of Lena Szerling in 2nd and Lena Bauer in 3rd.
In elite men’s qualifying, it was going to be tight. Every rider was looking for a perfect run but the fast track this year was tricky and catching a few riders out. Janis Lehman set the early pace starting at number 44. Neko Mulally slipped in to 2nd and Samuel Williman also set a great time and sat in 3rd.
Then with 12 riders to go an alpine storm rolled through. Lightening and heavy rain transformed the track. Favourites Tomas Brozik, Gustaw Dadela and Jachym Vanek all struggled. 4X godfather Scott Beaumont was able to slot into 13th in the tricky conditions with legend Hannes Slavik putting in a great run to finish in 4th. But the Goat, Tomas Slavik stepped up. In treacherous conditions, he absolutely nailed it and took the fastest time with 46.437 from Tristan Botteram and Julian Stimpfl.
Friday – Race:
As normal the crowds flocked in their thousands to Val Di Sole for the 4X under floodlights. Thousands of fans with chainsaws, flares, fireworks, horns and old frames being beaten with metal. Anything that made noise was trackside. The atmosphere was electric. The best it has ever been.
At 21.00 the gate dropped and the nights racing got underway. In the first round of racing was tight and there were a few of shocks. DH star Ed Masters fought hard but didn’t transfer. Nicolas Mihaljevic also went out along with 5th place qualifier Janis Lehmann and Erik Emmrich. But the shock was Gustaw Dadela and Tomas Brozik. Both riders are normally in the top 5 but on this night they ended up 30th and 24th respectively!
In the quarter finals, the level was incredible. Bar to bar racing and the crowds were going wild. Matt Walker went out after a crash in turn 1. Roberto Cristofoli and Sam Willimann were also out but the huge shock was world number 2 – Jachym Vanek went out after finishing third behind Tomas Slavik and Luca Thurlow.
In the women’s semi finals, Abby Hogie rode a perfect lap to take the win ahead of fastest qualifier Katherine Oldfield. A crash in turn 1 saw fastest qualifier Yeti Factory rider George Swift go out along with last years 4X ProTour Champion Katherine Oldfield. In semi final 2, Lena Bauer took a great win from Michaela Ramirez. Ramirez, a pro BMX’er from Peru was here to compete in her first 4X race. She was learning every lap and would make it to the final. Lena Szerling finished 3rd but unfortunately Nina-Yves Cameron crashed out and broke her collarbone. Speedy recovery to her.
The downhillers who raced in the men’s were being whittled down, but in the semi finals they would come up against the experienced 4X riders. in Semi Final 1, we would see 4X legends Tomas Slavik, Hannes Slavik and Scott Beaumont go up against Luca Thurlow. Just to note here. Scott Beaumont broke his T8 and T9 vertebrae 6 weeks ago. His starts were slow all night but he was using his experience to pass riders all over the track through the night. This came to light in the semi final. The gate dropped and Beaumont was left behind. At the first drop Thurlow exploded as his chain snapped and he crashed out. The 2 Slavik’s battled into turn 1, whilst Beaumont wound it up and carried speed. Hannes Slavik dived inside on turn 2 and ran wide leaving Tomas Slavik out of track. Beaumont dived even more inside and exiting the turn Hannes was leading from Beaumont as Tomas Slavik was on the floor. It was hard racing, but a racing incident all the same. Hannes Slavik and Scott Beaumont transferred to the final.
In semi final 2, Tristan Botteram, Julian Stimpfl, Davide Cappello and Neko Mulally lined up. The gate dropped and Botteram had an amazing race with Stimpfl, pulling away from the others to transfer to the final.
Onto the final and the women stepped up to the gate. The times in qualifying had been tight and no one was sure which way this race would go. In the small final, George Swift, put the semi final behind her as she was able to take the win and claim the final step of the podium in 5th. Lena Szerling crossed line ahead of Katherine Oldfield to give them 6th and 7th for the night with Nina-Yves Cameron not starting due to her injury.
In the main final, Katherine Byng got the holeshot but was unable to clamp down the inside. Lena Bauer got her wheel inside and made a clean pass. Abby Hogie followed her through and Byng slipped back to 3rd. Bauer and Hogie battled all the way but it was Bauer taking the win from Hogie with Byng in 3rd and Micaela Ramirez in 4th.
Next it was the mens small final. The gate dropped and through the first 2 corners it was hectic. But there was no way Tomas Slavik was going to lose this race. He pulled away and took a convincing win from Davide Cappello, Neko Mulally and Luca Thurlow.
The last race of the day was the elite men’s final. Hannes Slavik took gate 1, Tristan Botteram took gate 2, Julian Stimpfl took 3 and Scott Beaumont slotted into 4. The scene was set for a brilliant final.
As the gate dropped, it was Slavik with the initial jump out of the gate and he held the inside line in turn 1. Botteram moved into 2nd and was hunting Slavik. Then in came the momentum building, slow starting Scott Beaumont! He charged into turn 2 and moved into 2nd. It was an amazing move but then Botteram cut back to re take the position. Botteram gained ground all the way down the track but in turn 5 a mistake from Beaumont ended his night allowing Stimpfl through. In the rocks, Botteram rolled the dice and almost made the pass. He kept Slavik honest all the way but was not able to make a pass. Hannes Slavik took the win from Botteram, Stimpfl and Beaumont.
After the race an impressive podium was held and the awards were given out to the winners.
We just wanted to add that this was one of the best 4X races in the history of the sport. The track was the best it has ever been, the crowd was simply crazy and the riders put on an incredible show. Thank you Val Di Sole.
The next stop of the 2025 4X ProTour will take place in 3 weeks, on July 11th/12th at JBC Bikepark in Czech Republic, home of, you guessed it, Tomas Slavik. Tomas has built his track even bigger than ever. The other riders have 3 weeks to try and get a plan figured out for how to stop him taking another win. We can’t wait to see that race unfold.
Results
Women:
1.Lena Bauer (AUT)
2. Abigail Hogie (USA)
3. Katherine Byng (GBR)
4. Michaela Ramirez (PER)
5. Katherine Oldfield (GBR)
Men:
1. Hannes Slavik (AUT)
2. Tristan Botteram (NED)
3. Julian Stimpfl (ITA)
4. Scott Beaumont (GBR)
5. Tomas Slavik (CZE)
That’s it from Val Di Sole. Incredible racing and huge crowds. Thank you to the organising committee at Val Di Sole for another amazing 4X ProTour race. This venue has the heart of all 4X riders and fans. See you again in 2026.
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Photo Credits: Charles Robertson