Saturday 23rd August and it was race day for the final time in 2014. The forecast rain luckily came through the night and made the track perfect for racing. The sun was shining, TV cameras were rolling and the crowd were ready for the racing. First up were the women's finals. Girls lined up in the gate in following order: Heather Kay in gate 1, Ani Tomeva in 2, Gergana Radeva in 3 and Maria Georgieva in 4. The gate dropped and Kay got the holeshot with Tomeva close behind. Holding the inside lines Kay kept her head and led from start to finish to take her first ever 4X ProTour victory. Tomeva finished 2nd, Radeva in 3rd and Georgieva in 4th.
Heather Kay
The men's final everybody was looking forward to saw Tomas Slavik in gate 1, Derbier in 2, Beckeman in 3 and Beaumont in 4. The gate dropped and the riders were level. Into turn one Slavik and Derbier tangled handlebars and Beaumont almost got a drive around the outside. It didn't work and Beaumont lost a lot of time. Slavik was leading from Derbier. Through the esses Derbier drew alongside Slavik and it was tight down the third straight. Into the woods and Slavik held the lead. Beaumont meanwhile had caught Beckeman and on the last straight tried to gain on him down the outside. Slavik took the win from Derbier but the action was behind. Beaumont hit a soft patch on the track qhich threw his weight forward then catapulted him over the handlebars. It was a huge crash that looked severe. A couple of minutes later though, Scott was up and got back on his bike to finish the race. It was a tough end to the race but everyone was happy to see no major injuries to Scott.
Tomas Slavik
Later that evening, the award ceremonies took place for the race and the season overall at a big party in the city centre.
Women's:
1st - Helene Fruhwirth
2nd - Heather Kay
3rd - Natalia Piwowarczyk
4th - Eva Brauer
5th - Dana Schweika
Men's:
1st - Tomas Slavik
2nd - Quentin Derbier
3rd - Felix Beckeman
4th - Scott Beaumont
5th - Hannes Slavik
Congrats!
The dates and venues for the 2015 4X ProTour will be announced in the next few weeks so keep your eyes out to see where we will be racing in 2015.
Finally thanks to the 4X fans around the world for reading our race reports and watching our films. It is the support of you guys that makes the 4X ProTour such a great race series.
Those who missed the finals, below you'll find a full race reply.
Photos: © 4X ProTour, copyright applied.
Source: http://www.4xprotour.com
