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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/146679
~ TRIALS Trials des Nations ~ (Left to right) Joan Po~s, Amos Bilbao, Jordi Tarres' and Marc Colome earned Spain its second-consecutive Trials des Nations championship in runaway fashion. Finland's Tommi Avahla was the overall winner, but his team didn't fare as well. Spain wins again, but the new champ beats 'em all By Donn Maeda WATKINS GLEN/MONTOUR FALLS, NY, SEPT. 7 he Spanish team of Amos Bilbao, Marc Colome, Joan Pons and four-time World Champion Jordi Tarres may have won bragging rights by earning Spain its secondconsecutive Trials des Nations title, but it was Tommi Avahla, the newly crowned World Champion from Finland, who turned in the standout performance of the day. With the pressure of the World Championship Series' off, Avahla relaxed and "had good fun" on the 14section loop that ran through the hills of Watkins Glen and Montour Falls, and he ended the day with a remarkable score of only seven points. Avahla's Finnish teammates, however, could not match their captain's performance and the team was relegated to fifth overall. As a team, Spain easily bested the runner-up French squad, a low 39 "dabs" to 77. Philippe Berlatier, Bruno Camozzi, Thierry Gerard and threetime World Champion Thierry Michaud upheld French honors. Third overall with a score of 82 went to the Italian team of Diego Bosis, Stefano Dellio, Donato Miglio and Piero Sembini. Like its Motocross des Nations and International Six Days Enduro coun- T 16 terparts, the Trials des Nations pits the best riders from each country against one another. Four riders are allowed to represent each country, and the top three scores count towards the team's overall ranking. Teams that fielded only three riders didn't have the luxury of a "throw-out" score, and two-man teams received an additional set of points derived from the average of their existing two scores. This year, 12 countries were represented, and it was the first-time that the event, now in its 14th year, has visited the U.S. Like the preceding World Championship round, the Trials des Nations loop consisted of waterfalls, mud and hills, but was notably easier. "The sections were much easier today," said Tarres. "But maybe that is better, because not all teams are as skilled as the rest." The American team of Geoff Aaron, Raymond Peters, High School Champion Cory Pincock and five-time National Champion Ry~n Young were never a threat and finished ninth overall with 378 points. Young was the top American with a score of 112, even though he opted to pass on a few sections and thus card automatic fives. 'Aaron, on the other hand, attempted every section on all three loops and