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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/879212
IN THE WIND P34 SPAIN WINS TRIAL DES NATIONS H ome heroes Spain un- derlined their complete dominance of top-flight trial by storming to an emphatic victory at the 2017 FIM Trial des Nations at Baiona, September 22-24, in the process extending their record-rewriting win streak at the event to a phenomenal 14 victories in a row. Fielding the three top-ranked riders in the world this year led by reigning and 11-time FIM Trial World Champion Toni Bou (Repsol Honda) with Adam Raga (TRRS) and Jaime Busto (Rep- sol Honda), the Spanish team were simply untouchable on the towering coastal rocks lining the Atlantic coastline. "I'm very happy," says Bou. "The Trial des Nations is al- ways special because we work together as a team. For the national team to win in Spain is very important and makes it even more special for the fans and the riders." Following their comfortable qualification win on Friday, Spain had the advantage of starting at the back of the seven-nation field although such was their mastery of the 15 sections they could have started at the front without fear of being challenged. With the best two results in each section counting towards the teams' overall scores, Spain wasted little time in opening up a commanding lead—much to the vociferous home fans' delight— and after the first seven sections led Great Britain by 10 marks, an advantage they comfortably maintained at the halfway stage. Their opening lap was not without drama, however, with Bou crashing heavily over the handlebars on section three, but solid cleans from Raga and Busto made sure the Spanish score was not affected. After a disastrous maximum in qualification forced them to start at the front of the field, James Dabill (GasGas), Jack Price (GasGas) and Iwan Roberts (Beta) focused on keeping Great Britain ahead of third-placed Japan. With light rain beginning to fall, which made the sections slippery, Spain then moved up a gear and completed the second lap for the loss of just one mark to take their total to a sensa- tional six. A late five almost dropped Great Britain into the clutches of the Japanese trio of Taka- hisa Fujinami (Repsol Honda), Kenichi Kuroyama (Yamaha) and Tomoyuki Ogawa (Honda), but cleans on the final two sections earned them second on 42, three marks ahead of Japan. Italy's Matteo Grattarola (GasGas), Gianluca Tournour (GasGas) and Daniele Maurino (Scorpa) came home fourth on 84, two marks ahead of France's Benoit Bincaz (Scor- pa), Alexandre Ferrer (Sherco) Once again, the Spaniards proved to be too tough to beat in the Trial des Nations.