Toni Bou has just added his 13th X-Trial world title after winning the penultimate round of the championship, held in the French city of Marseille.
To mathematically win the title, Toni Bou had to climb to the top of the podium, and he delivered. The proposed route, of great technical complexity, led to high scores and a good margin to recover from possible failures. In the final, Bou beat Jeroni Fajardo (Gas Gas) who, after not having a completely satisfactory start in the First Round, rode at a high level in the second to overtake Adam Raga (TRRS) for having invested less time in his course, as both riders finished tied at 16 points.
In the final, Toni Bou rode at a high level, responding with a 1 to 5 from Fajardo. Both riders racked up fives in the second and third sections and, from the fourth onwards, Bou continued to make the difference with a 3 and two zeros in the last three sections while his rival was charged with fiascos.
ADAM RAGA RUNNER-UP IN THE 2019 X-TRIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Adam Raga, who was the only one who still had a mathematical chance of challenging Bou for the title if he qualified ahead of him in Marseille, finished third, beating Miquel Gelabert (Sherco) by four points in the final for third place, who had been the best in the first round. In this way, he has mathematically secured the runner-up position in the World Championship.
Jaime Busto (Gas Gas) and Benoit Bincaz (Beta) were the riders ruled out in the Second Round. Busto had just finished second in Granada and Bincaz fourth, but he was unable to repeat the result.
The three eliminated in the First Round were Luca Petrella (Beta), Alex Ferrer (Sherco) who was competing in his first round of the season and the also Frenchman Téo Colairo (Gas Gas) who made his debut in the World Championship of the specialty in front of the 3,400 spectators who filled 90 percent of the capacity of the Palais des Sports.
Toni Bou (1st):
“It has been an event that is as demanding as it is rewarding. Here I had the first opportunity to become World Champion and I achieved it even though it wasn’t easy at all. The zones have made us give our best in each one of them and the public has had a great time. I wanted to take advantage of this first opportunity to win the title to avoid playing in Andorra La Vella, as there the pressure would have been enormous, increased by the fact of racing at home. Now I know that this event will be a party and I hope to close the season with another victory in front of my people. This thirteenth title has been more complicated than many others. The rivals pushed hard all season and I couldn’t relax at any time. My trajectory has been upward and tonight has come the culmination.”
Jeroni Fajardo (2nd):
“I’m very happy to have played a final again and to have finished in second place. It was a tricky and really tough test and on my first pass through the sections I wasn’t entirely inspired. In the second round, my riding improved substantially and in the final, Toni rode at a high level and took the win.”
Adam Raga (3rd):
“It was a very demanding trial from the beginning and in the second round I didn’t manage the time spent in the last section well, so I was out of the final. The atmosphere has been amazing and the crowd has constantly pushed us with their encouragement.”
