And it is a win for team Sweden in both the female and male categories today at Isabergstoppen with several international riders from Holland, Slovakia, Latvia and the USA making their way to challenge the Swedish posse on their home turf. The Velosolutions Pump Track itself turned out to be a big part of the battle, being the largest pumptrack in Scandinavia stretching over 2600 m2 and 295m in length.
The women class saw some great battles. The Swedish Champion Felicia Klingstrom spent the entire week in Isaberg preparing for this event looked blazingly fast! In the main event, Felicia went up against Paula Kibare (LAT) and gave everyone a great show where both riders were on the absolute limit. In the end, Felicia stepped away with the win and the ticket to the World Finals.
In the men’s division, the newly crowned Swedish Champion and young gun Love Sylwan immediately
put some pressure on the rest of the field, setting a blistering pace during qualifying with times in the mid 27 second range. Tommy Zula (USA) made an impressive return to pumptrack racing after a 9-month knee recovery, qualifying in 2nd place.
As the day went by, Tommy was getting faster in each round, and in the main final, he seemed to be ready to give Sylwan a run for his money. After both riders nailing an almost perfect lap, Love beat the former World Champion with narrowest margin of 0,05 seconds!
Results:
Women
1.Felicia KLINGSTRÖM
2. Paula KIBARE
3.Kristína MADARÁSOVÁ
4. Helena SUND
Men
1. Love SYLWAN
2.Tommy ZULA
3.Daniel HRADSKY
4.Filip SVANBERG
pics by Berglund photography