Hi all. We are just back from our biggest weekend of the year. The 2015 UCI 4X World Championships which were held in Val Di Sole, Italy. The track is a favourite with all the riders. It is huge! Massive corners, great jumps and permanent floodlights make this an incredible race track. For team rider Scott Beaumont, it is one of his favourite tracks. With several podiums here in the past he has been looking forward to this race all year.

‘Even with my ongoing injury, I feel confident of challenging for the title in Val Di Sole. This track has always suited me so let’s get in the gate and see what happens’ said Boom Boom early on in the week.

Practice began on Wednesday and Scott instantly looked great on the track. Hitting the pro line doubles early on in the session then linking full runs up to qualifying lines. Unfortunately late on in the session, disaster struck. Scott crashed out hard on the logs. Crawling off the track, it did not look good. A very badly bruised left leg and even more damage to his back was the unfortunate outcome.

Thursday rolled around and Scott was limping but ok to ride. A massage, lots of tape and an ice bath and it was time for Thursday night practice and qualifying. Scott was looking ok but clearly not as fast as he previous day. Coming into this race Scott was UCI World ranked number 1 so he would start qualifying first. 40 minutes before he qualifying run, it started raining just to add to Scott’s problems. Being the first rider to qualify, and carrying his injuries, scott rode cautious, happy to simply qualify for the main event on Friday night. 11th would be the outcome but the main thing was he simply qualified.

So Friday night arrived and it was time for the 2015 4X World Championships. Scott had a great nights sleep on Thursday and came into the event feeling pretty good. The gate dropped at 20.30 and it was time to roll the dice in front of 10,000 spectators. Scott got off to a great start winning his early races. In the quarter final Scott got in traffic through the 2nd turn and was in 2nd place. On the penultimate straight, Scott carried a huge amount of speed and moved into 1st with a clean move. Scott won the race and was into the semi final.

In the semi final Scott was in gate 3. Against 3 of the fastest 4X riders in the world, Scott’s back injury and fresh leg injury meant he came out of the gate in 3rd. When he was up to speed Scott was all over Aiko Gohler in 2nd. At the end of the proline, scott made an aggressive move to the inside and moved into 2nd. On the next straight Scott was re passed by Aiko. Through the rocks and onto the last straight Scott moved alongside Aiko and at the finish line it was a photo finish. It took the officials 5 minutes to separate the 2 riders. Scott waited in the finish circle starring non stop at the timing clock. The news eventually came through. Aiko got the decision. Scott was simply crushed. The dream was over and Scott was simply in the gutter.

Having to regroup and head back up for the small final to sort out 5th to 8th Scott was clearly not in the mood for racing again. The gate dropped and frankly Scott rode down to finish 3rd in that race and give himself 7th overall at the World Championships.

This race was the first time in 2015 that Scott was clearly in a lot of pain and his injury problems prevented him from performing at his best. Scott has been pretty down in the last week but we are now all focused on the final 4X ProTour round in Belgium on Saturday 5th September. Scott currently has a 57 point lead in the series and since he moved to mountain biking from bmx it has been his dream to win the overall World Series and World Championships. The World Championships is over for 2015 but Scott is on the cusp of landing the overall 4X ProTour title. He continues to have the same injury problems but we have everything crossed that he can make this dream a reality.

Our new team film has just been released featuring round 3 of the 2015 4X ProTour from Szczawno Zdroj in Poland.

Scott had a great weekend, whilst still suffering with his back injury. Check out the film to see how he finished up…..

Round 3 of the 2015 4X ProTour was held in a town called Szczawno Zdroj (pronounced Sch-av-no Stroy) in Poland.

Scott, still battling some huge injury problems, again entered this race in less than perfect condition and accordingly restricted his practice time to just 5 runs over the 5 hour session. In pain, like at every other race this year, Scott was stretching and doing everything to a plan that had been formulated by his physios to try and maximise his race performance.

After his last practice run – the Go Pro course preview for PinkBike (with commentary), Scott was ready for qualifying.

Qualifying began, and with Scott currently leading the 4X ProTour overall and being the highest ranked UCI rider (currently 2nd) at the event, he was the last rider to qualify. Understandably, his gate was mediocre, but his track speed again, like previous rounds, looked great. Across the finish line and Scott was just 0.08 off the fastest time and qualified in 2nd. The top 10 were separated by less than a second, showing just how deep the talent pool is in 4X right now.

On to the racing. Scott won his early rounds and looked comfortable out on the track. In his semi final, he would race overall series contender Quentin Derbier from France. Scott took gate 1, Derbier in 2, Simon Waldburger in 3 and Alex Metcalfe. Scott made a great start but instantly Derbier was gone. A broken chain out of the start saw him crash out of the race. What looked like a hard semi final on paper, turned out to be a lot easier!

So Scott was in his 3rd consecutive final of 2015.

Fastest qualifier Hannes Slavik took 1, Scott in 2, Waldburger in 3 and Czech rider Dennis Drozd in 4. The gate dropped and Scott was in the middle of a sandwich with Hannes and Waldburger both hitting Scott’s handlebars as they tried to get the better of him. In turn 1 Scott made a really aggressive move and dived inside. He lost a bit of traction and that was just enough for Slavik to pass by on the outside. Scott was in second and did well to hold the position in turn 2. From there Scott settled into 2nd but unfortunately Slavik was too far ahead.

What an incredible weekend we have just had at the Schwalbe 4X National Championships. The event was held in Moelfre in Wales on a really natural track with plenty of jumps and berms thrown in.

Practice went really well for Scott. Due to his pre-existing back injury, he limited his practice to 5 practice laps and 3 practice gates in order to minimise any pressure on his back.

Into qualifying and Scott, as number 1 ranked rider was the last to go. Making a decent start, Scott was smooth and precise on his run. Crossing the finish line and he took the fastest time by 0.5 seconds.

Straight back to his team tent for some ice treatment before racing began. Scott won his first heats with no real problems. In his quarter final, again, Scott looked controlled – saving energy where he could and getting the job done. In the semi final Scott took gate 1. The gate dropped and Scott took a commanding lead into turn 1. By the finish line he had booked his place in the final.

In the final, again Scott took gate 1. With his best gate of the day Scott took the lead and did not look back winning the race from start to finish.

This win is the 6th time that Scott has won the 4X National Championship but in his own words this one was special. With all the injuries Scott has had in 2015 to retain this title was pretty incredible.

We now travel straight to Poland for round 3 of the 4X ProTour. Scott is currently leading the overall title chase and that without doubt is the focus of Scott’s year. We will report from Poland as soon as the race is finished.

Be sure to get live updates on our social media:

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On Saturday night, 11th July, the 2015 Schwalbe 4X National Championships are taking place at Moelfre in North Wales. After a tough year so far, I am ready to defend the title that I won in 2014.

The track in Moelfre is a step back to a traditional old school track. Grass turns, rough ground and a natural look and feel will certainly spice things up. For me, a natural track suits my style and I am looking forward to racing.

My Yeti DJ is perfect for these conditions. No flex in the frame will allow me to attack the track hard and get the most from it.

Full details on the race are on the British 4X website: http://www.british4x.com/news/national-champs-2015/

So for now, it’s back to training and hopefully I will see some of you there on Saturday night.