Spain Rules Trials des Nations
T
his year's Trials des Nations
(TdN), held in Monza, Italy,
September 23-25, was dominat-
ed by the Spaniards, with Team
Spain winning both the men's and
women's divisions in front of an
estimated 30,000 fans.
In the Trails des Nations, each
participating country sends three
men and three women to fight it
out in their respective classes. This
year featured a new two-person
TDN Challenge, featuring a male
and female on each team. Addi-
tionally, there are two levels for the
men, Trials 1 (premiere/TdN class)
and Trials 2 (International).
Headed by Toni Bou, Team
Spain, made up of Bou (Monte-
sa/Honda), Jamie Busto (Vertigo)
and Adam Raga (TRRS), readily
took the top spot of in the Tri-
als de Nations competition. The
trio roared to victory over the
two-day competition. Overall,
the Spaniards tallied a winning
low-point score of nine, followed
by Italy—Matteo Grattarola (Beta),
Luca Petrella (GasGas) and
Lorenzo Gandola (Beta)—with 31
and Great Britain—Jack Peace
(Sherco), Billy Green (Scorpa)
and Toby Martyn (TRRS)—with
52. France and Norway rounded
out the top five.
In Trial 2 it was the Czech Re-
public taking the win with a score
of seven, followed by Germany
with 10 and Austria with 17. From
there, it was Sweden (18), Austra-
lia (22) and the USA (24) rounding
out the top six. Team USA came
out on top of a tie with Belgium.
Team USA had a tough first
loop with 23 points dropped but
only had a single mark in the
second loop. This was a great
and promising way for the U.S.
squad, made up of Daniel Blanc-
Gonnet (GasGas), Josh Roper
(GasGas) and Alex Myers (Scor-
pa), to finish out the weekend.
In the Women's division, it
was a tight contest for the win
between Spain and Great Brit-
ain, which was led by current
Women's World Champion Emma
Bristow. The two powerhouses
came down to a six-point tie,
but Spain went 5-1, while Great
Britain went 3-3, so the tiebreak-
er went to Spain for having the
better score on the second day.
Italy was well back with 24 points
in third. Then came Norway (35),
Germany (38), Czech Republic
(52) and USA (76).
Italy won the TDN Challenge
with riders Mirko Pedretti (Beta)
and Alessia Bacchetta (GasGas).
Trials legend Bernard "Bernie"
Schreiber was in attendance. On
Saturday, Schreiber, America's
only World Champion in trials,
was the master of ceremonies for
the inaugural Vintage Trophy Trial.
This was a one-day individual
event that had a Trophy class and
a support line. Dennis Sweet and
David Klein represented the U.S.
with Sweet finishing seventh in
the Trophy class and Klein taking
10th in the Support class.
David Klein
TRIALS DES NATIONS
1. Spain (9)
2. Italy (31)
3. Great Britain (52)
4. France (70)
5. Norway (116)
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 P45
Team Spain dominated
the Trials des Nations in
Italy.
PHOTO: FUTURE7MEDIA
