The pressure was on heading out to Portugal for the final round of the Portugal Cup at Boticas! Jack was leading the series and needed a solid result to win the overall, something he was set on achieving after finishing 2nd in 2023 by a margin of just 4 points. Nuno was sitting 2nd in the series overall, and leading the under 23 series, and after winning the previous round was keen to back that up with another solid performance. Rueben was in a position to fight for a top 3 overall position in the under 23 category, and was still hunting those remaining illusive UCI points needed for him to race world cups.
Before heading to the race, we had another Gravity School coaching camp at Ventoso Gravity Park. This was also the first camp to take place based at our new headquarters in Portugal. Jack and Gravity School spend so much time in Portugal, and with the official opening of the bike park imminent, it was time for us to find our own headquarters, and stop relying totally on Mark of Trail Tools, and Andre at Going Bike. To see the exciting new property, check out the Finding Speed Episode! Over the coming months we will be preparing the property for the busy winter ahead, with holiday and coaching camps starting this October.
Joining this camp was Marcus and Bjorn, back for more after their great experience on the April camp. Bjorn had actually bought himself a RAAW Yalla! DH bike. We also had 3 young riders with us for this camp, Adam Vines, Tom Kelsey and Blake Toomey, who are 14, 14 and 15 respectively. After 2 solid coaching days the guys were ready to head to the race and send it. Jack had a big (and stupid), crash at the end of the day on Thursday while riding with Rueben collecting the timing system from the track, separating his collar bone at the sternum, sprained wrist, and lots of cuts and bruises. This was a prime example of, do what I say not what I do from the coach!
Boticas was the venue for Rd 4 of the Portugal Cup and the race was a cat 1 UCI event, meaning good points and prize money to play for. The track is fairly straight forward, being fast with flat out corners. The weather was set to be perfect, with clear skies and warm temperatures, so everyone was excited for a big weekend of racing. Except Jack, who was struggling to breath and even get out of bed, so he was unsure if he’d even be able to ride on Saturday morning.
Saturday was a good day for the guys, everyone getting good practice runs in and enjoying the track. Nuno was really enjoying himself, riding fast and taking some sick lines, and it was looking like he would be a strong contender for the win on Sunday. Young Blake took a big crash on his very first run, hitting his shoulder and head, so it was going to be a battle for him to ride the rest of the weekend. Jack managed to ride, and after coaching the guys all day, doing follow camera runs and spotting lines for the guys, he even managed to do a full run which was a solid time compared with Rueben and Nuno, so it was looking like he’d be able to put down a good enough result to secure the overall on Sunday.
Heading into Sunday and race day, the mood was great in the pits. In the under 15 category Tom was 3rd and Adam was 2nd in seeding, Adam only 1 second back from 1st, so it was going to be an exciting race. In elite Jack surprised everyone including himself, by seeding 1st with a smooth run, with Nuno close behind in 2nd and Rueben in 5th. Marcus and Bjorn were both in the top 20. Heading into the race runs Jack was planning to put down a smooth run, and just settle for a solid result somewhere in the top 10 to secure the overall series win. However, in the build up to the finals the mindset shifted, following a text from his old man which read “there is no reason why you shouldn’t be going up there to win the race”.
Kicking things off in under 15 category Tom backed up his impressive seeding result with 3rd in the race, and unfortunately Adam crashed out. Blake managed to ride despite his injuries, pushing through the pain to put down a solid run in the under 17 category. In elite Bjorn crashed but only went 2 seconds slower than his seeding time, meaning he was set to improve his time by quite a margin. Marcus did the same time as his qualifying run, which he was frustrated with saying he pushed too hard and made mistakes. Rueben improved his time and finished 3rd in under 23 and 6th overall, just behind Nuno who was 2nd in under 23 and 5th overall. Jack left the start gate with only one thing on his mind, winning the race. He had a great run, and took the win by a narrow margin of 0.2 seconds, and importantly confirmed the series overall win for 2024.
This week and race wrapped up our time in Portugal for the “preseason” camps and races, and the team and Gravity School will now be heading the IXS European Cup races. The next episode will see how Jack gets on returning to the Megavalanche after his horrific crash on the glacier in 2023
