The 19th edition of the Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajoan emblematic proof of downhill in Chile and all of Latin America of urban descent that crowned the Czech Tomás Slavík as champion by being the fastest in the famous race through the port city of steep streets. This is a real urban downhill challenge MTB the one where cyclists climb up a ceiling and passing through a royal house, they go down narrow stairsis facing difficult falls and avoid obstacles man-made streets along the narrow residential streets of the town.
Each edition that takes place sees subtle changes to the course to present riders with some different challenges. In this one of 2023, the placement of a tabbed wallride, and his in and out had caused athletes to reflect on their techniques during training. the race too is part of the new urban descent series Red Bull Cerro Abajo that is replicated in the cities of Medellín and Guanajuato (Colombia and Mexico respectively).
This time the classification had reduced from 26 cyclists to a final of 16 men. They included Chilean enduro mountain bike specialist Pedro Burns, Red Bull Monserrate Cerro Abajo 2022 winner Camilo Sánchez, British UCI World Cup regular Phil Atwill and Frenchman Adrien Loren, previous Cerro Abajo winner.
But it was Czech Slavík who drilled the race victory in 2m 16.815s, just under 1.5s faster than Colombian Juanfer Vélez, who had been last in the finals as the fastest qualifier with Brazilian national downhill champion Lucas Borba completing the podium on the day. Slavík’s winning streak was notable as he suffered an ankle ligament injury in his right leg due to a fall in practice before qualifying, where he worked hard to finish with the third fastest time. At 35, he revealed: “I’m super excited. Tearing the ligaments in my ankle, I thought this chance to get a third win, it’s like, it’s gone and I was already thinking about next year here. Whenever the journey is hard, then victory tastes better. So today it tastes great.”
Both Vélez and Borba beat the time of the Czech in the upper part of the route, however, the mid-course errors they made them lose momentum and speed to leave Slavík on top. The Czech, second last year, previously won in 2017 and 2018. In the 18th edition he took a epic battle for first place among Chilean Pedro Ferrira and Czech Tomas Slavikand only thousandths of seconds apart allowed Ferreira to establish himself as the undisputed champion of this 2022. This time Slavík had his revenge, and also led the Red Bull Cerro Abajo 2023 series. The next race will be in Medellin on March 4.
