COPA CATALANA PRESENTED BY INTENSE
The Copa Catalana (presented by INTENSE) went down over the weekend of June 18-19. A great race, but what made it extra special was that it took place on the all-new 2022 Vallnord (Andorra) World Cup Downhill track.
Take a practice run down the new Vallnord World Cup track with Billy Pugh.
The Copa Catalana was a great opportunity not only for some of the World Cup superstars (Greg Minnaar, Loris Vergier, Thibaut Daprela, Myriam Nicole, were all at the race) to get some time on the track before round 5 of this year’s World Cup (July 16th), but also for everyone else to test their skills on what was a ‘full-on’ race track.
The track itself is in a new area of the Vallnord resort. Starting off at 2364m, with the finish at 1900m, it was loose and the weather was hot. The upper sections are all man made, featuring a bunch of jumps and berms, connecting off-camber areas and rock gardens, before getting very steep towards the bottom. For the World Cup we can expect very tight times, as the track is not very technical with one main fast line.
Spanish wonder kid Pau Menoyo won the race in front of the stacked field, with Myriam Nicole winning the women’s category. Two of our UK Ambassadors made the 1500km trip to the race. Andrew Titley had a great result with second place in Master 40, and Billy Pugh (with a stomach virus, and having lost his chain on his first run) took 9th in the Cadet category.
“The track was wild, super fast with BIG jumps at the top, then into steep rocks, and loads of natural sections with lots of line choice and loam. It was super technical and hard to hold the lines, but it was so good.” Billy Pugh
“I felt a bit out of my depth at first, but I manned-up and got the job done and finished second in the masters 40.” Andrew Titley (above left)
Other riders on INTENSE bikes were Mireia Pi who finished second in Women’s Elite, and Laia Gandin (above) who was first in the Women’s Cadet category.
