Young downhillers ride for championship title

The first iXS International Rookies Championships in the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis Bike Park will produce a whole host of new downhill stars. The new race format offers young talents the chance to present themselves on an international stage.

The sun is once again shining over the high plateau in the Austrian Oberinntal valley as the first iXS International Rookies Championships take place on Sunday. More than 200 young downhill bikers from all over Europe and the USA will be competing for the crown of International Champion. The huge turnout confirms the organizers in their efforts to promote the sport of downhill in Tirol. For the leading Alpine family region of Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis in particular, the new bike offer is a valuable addition to the summer season.

The young athletes know how to make the most of the opportunity to present themselves on this new stage and offer spectators a spectacular race. With the championships, the region in the Oberinntal (AUT) is opening up the stage to a new race format that has a great future. This is also proven by the large number of participants who come from all over Europe. A group of around 30 children with their parents and carers came from Poland alone.They all gave the organizers a flawless report card, as confirmed by downhill junior national champion Andreas Kolb: "The festival is great. It's very important that there is something for young people in bike sports too. For me, the bike park in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is currently the best in Austria." Prizes will be awarded in a total of eleven categories on Sunday. The fastest parent-child team will also be determined. As a bonus for the parents accompanying their children, the organizers will be holding a separate father-son/daughter classification. In the end, a French pairing came out on top.

Rookies Enduro Challenge completes the racing series
With the Kona-MTB-Festival Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis.ROOKIES, the region in the Oberinntal impressively proves that gravity biking has a great future. In addition to the championships on Sunday, the Rookies Enduro Challenge is also on the program. It shows that Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis not only has a cool bike park to offer, but also paradisiacal trails. Raphaela Richter from Germany took victory in the girls' category, while Maxi Koci from Austria won the U13 category. Sven Beckers from Germany secured victory in the juniors' category.

Swiss riders also taking part
The iXS International Rookies Championships in the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis bike park near the border also attracts many young Swiss riders. Not entirely surprisingly, Anna Newkirk wins the race in the U15 category. The young Swiss rider with American citizenship competes in the Rookies Cup in the still mixed U15 class for men and often doesn't really stand out in this field of participants. Now she has the attention she needs and is visibly proud to finally be at the top of the podium.Anna's brother Bennett Newkirk put in a good performance in the U17 class with fifth place. He also won the pump track challenge on the same weekend. Estelle Pillet even won the women's U19 class and two Swiss riders, Stefan and Simon Rüegg, also made it onto the podium in the father-son race.