Words by Filip Polc: After my first winning run from Santos we moved to the classical #citydownhill stop in Valparaiso / Chile - Red Bull Valparaiso Cerro Abajo 2015. If someone hasn't been in 'Valpo' before, I need to say this is super unique city with lots of art , graffiti, crazy bars and party places full of hippies. On the other side, one can also find many super steep streets here - it brings the best opportunity to build gnarly race tracks here.
2015 edition brought a new light into the style of the track, even faster stair sets, crazy drop (that transfers riders from a 2nd floor building to a big drop connecting to the next section) and to make it even harder for us racer… a lots of pedaling! This made the track super physical and also technical.
the track ender, a crazy jump from a building
My last practice run was a bit crazy when I crashed pretty hard to the asphalt route and it really didn't feel good at all. At least I now know how the new Leatt elbow pads work! Hehe… But luckily for me, I was able to get back on my bike and finish 3rd in qualification, loosing 5sec. to the sprint machine Tomas Slavik. With this position, I had to be even more focused to build my race plan for the finals.
From the beginning, I had a nice and smooth run and this was my key. Adding all my power to the pedaling section, tagging down in front of the police station and braking at the last moment made me cut 7 seconds from my qualification run and once again I won by a narrow margin, beating Tomas Slavik by 0,264 sec.
-end-
1. Filip Polc - 3:03:367
2. Tomas Slavik - 3:03:631
3. Johannes Fischbach - 3:05:435
Photos: © Jan Kasl photography
Source: http://www.citydownhill.com
