WIND
IN THE
P68
bringing up the rear on 45, includ-
ing a single time penalty.
As the rain got heavier and
grip became much harder to
find on the smooth boulders, the
Spanish team, featuring the top-
three-ranked riders in the world,
tightened its grip on the title and
its second-lap total of 19, while a
big increase on lap one was eas-
ily good enough to ensure the
TdN title was staying with Spain
for yet another year.
"It has been very special for
me to win here in Arteixo near
my home in Galicia," said Marcel-
li. "The whole team has worked
so hard and given 100 percent
and we are all super-happy."
The competition in the sec-
ond-tier International Trophy was
incredibly close all day, with the
German team of Paul Reum-
schussel (Montesa), Jonathan
Heidel (Beta) and Rodney Bereit-
er (Beta) completing the opening
lap for the loss of just one mark
to lead Norway's Sondre Haga,
Jarand-matias Vold Gunvaldsen
and Jone Sandvik (Sherco) by
four at the halfway point.
On lap two the scores were
reversed, with Norway winning
the tie-break to take the title for
a fourth time.
"It's been a great day, although
it got way more exciting than
we expected," said Haga. "We
had a five on the first lap that
set us back and we were lucky
it started to rain as that made it
easier to make mistakes and we
were able to fight back."
Now in its fifth season, the
Challenge des Nations category
for two-rider, mixed-gender
teams was won by the German
team of Marco Laure (Beta) and
Magdalena Hubner (Sherco) on
a total of 21, putting them seven
clear of Spain's Oriol Garcia
(Sherco) and Queralt Fontdevila
(Beta), with the Czech pairing of
Tadeas Mikunda (Electric Mo-
tion) and Petra Budinova third
on 42.
"It was hard work for Magda-
lena and me," said Laure, "but
together as a team we worked
well, and I'm delighted with how
it went."
CN
TRIAL DES NATIONS
1. Spain (27)
2. Great Britain (65)
3. Italy (94)
4. France (95)
INTERNATIONAL (Top 5)
1. Norway (6)
2. Germany (6)
3. Japan (14)
4. USA (21)
5. Sweden (57)
Gabriel Marcelli
helped Team Spain
win the Trial of
Nations for the 22nd
consecutive year.
