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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127781
'.. World Championship Observed Trials Series OBSERVED TRIALS·'. Round 1: Navacerrada, Spain turned ou t to give th eir h er oes so me vocal su pport. Th a t Spa in w ou ld pro v id e lon g, tou gh , d ifficu lt - not to mention da ngerous - hazard s was pret ty much a foregone conclus ion, but when 32 of the 36 star ters collected a maximum five marks on the very first section, a cha lleng ing weekend w as in th e car ds . The exception was actually Tarres , who used his unri valed experience to so mehow coax and drag his Gas Gas 270 to the top of the opening rock climb. But th e section t urned ou t to b e something of a false start. From there on in, Colomer took charge an d ro m pe d throu gh the next four d ry, dusty, rocky sections abs o lu te ly clea n w hi le h is im me diate rivals - Tarres, Doug Lampkin and a rejuventated Am os Bilbao all looked nerv ou s and tense, d ropping all manner of points everywhere. The ninth section was d iffer ent , set in a stiff-flowi ng and very slip pery mountain stream which brou ght both Colom, er and Tarres to a sta nds till while Lamp.kin and Bilbao ace d th e obs tacles with single- dab rides. Colom er then pulle d a ride right out (left) Marc Colomer cont inued his recent hot streak with a win at the open ing round, of the World Observed Tr ials Champ ionship Series in Spain. Here, Colomer negotiates the tricky final section, which was actually held Indoors. (Below) Seven-t ime World Champ ion Jordi Tarres got off to a slow start in Spain but rallied to a second -place finish. By John Dickinson NAVACERRADA,SPAIN,APR.13-14 arc Colorner, the 21-year-old Sp an iard w h o compl etel y dominated the 1995-96 World Indoor Trials Seri es" showed everyo ne that he means bu siness outdoors as well in 1996 w it h a bl is te r in g w in a t the open ing r ou n d o f th e World Tr ia ls Cha m p ions hip , s tage d in h is n ati ve Spa in . Colomer, mounted on his HRC-powered 1997 Monte sa prototyp e, led the even t th rough out the 14-section, threeloop event, which was staged over tw o M 8 days, to grab the all-im portantZn poi nts alo ng w ith h is e ighth career World Ch ampionship victory. Seco nd p lace w ent to seve n- ti me Worl d Cha m pi on [ ordi Tarres, whose form ha s not been good ove r the wi nter, cau sin g him to lose tw o Spanish Ch am pionship rounds to Colomer. Even so, his fellow com petit ors took notice th at jus t as he rode into the first section, Tarres' form sud delll.v came back. The Spanish "'frial w as staged at the base of the snow-capped mountains just , 30 miles north of Madrid, and although the Spanish cap ital itself is not known as a trials hotbed, an estima ted 10,000 fans