Mountain biking

4X ProTour Round 4 - Val Di Sole, Italy

Round 4 of the 2014 4X ProTour will take place in Val Di Sole, Italy on Saturday 28th June. The longest track in the entire series has been growing in popularity for its great passages and lot of action since its first use at the World Cup in 2008. The crowd is always great here and for the first time, the 4X ProTour will join with the IXS downhill cup to provide Italian fans with even more action of 4X and DH. Beckeman Felix of Sweden and Katy Curd won here last year. Katy is currently number one in women's overall ranking and Felix is also on form and will definitely go for the win again this year.

26. 6. 2014 Photos: 13

Set in the alps in northern Italy, Val Di Sole is a stunning venue which has one of the world's best 4X race tracks. With big, open turns, passing here is always at a premium. Every race always sees record numbers of passes and you never know who's going to win until the riders cross the finish line. With a great organization team, Val Di Sole is really an event that all mountain bike fans should have on their bucket list.....

Val di Sole saw 7.500 spectators in 2013

What we can look forward to:

Women's race:

2014 has seen 4X move forward again with 3 superb races so far in the 7 race series. In the women's, there have been 3 different winners so far. Round 1 saw Dana Elena Schweika taking a convincing win. Round 2 was dominated by Lucia Oetjen whilst round 3 was all about Katy Curd. Last weekend Katy Curd became the 4X World Champion in Leogang, Austria, so she will be under pressure to show the world why she is number 1! Can round 4 bring another winner in the women's category? Maybe Julia Hendrysiak or Julia Lackas from Germany can challenge......

Katy Curd - one of the best female MTB riders today

Men's race:

In the men's, Tomas Slavik took the win at round 1, Quentin Derbier won at round 2 and Slavik again took the win in round 3. Will Slavik win for a third time, can Derbier pressure him again or will it be a new winner in Italy? At the world championships last week in Austria, it was Slavik who took the win and who will be wearing the rainbow stripes in Italy. Fresh from injury was Michal Mechura. Michal will be looking to kick-start his ProTour campaign in Italy. Felix Beckeman, Scott Beaumont, Lewis Lacey and Michal Prokop are all on form at the minute and without doubt will be looking to challenge for the win in Val Di Sole.

Tomas Slavik of Czech is unstoppable; here after winning Fort William