On The Pegs November 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 11 | Page 31

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 11 - November 2019
31
X-TRIAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP
The 2020 FIM X-Trial World Championship has named its first five competitors, in-
cluding the lead quartet from the 2019 season, who will return as “Championship
Riders”. Big names Bou, Raga, Busto and Bincaz will be among the contenders for
the title right from the season opener in La Réunion on 16th November.
Top billing as ever is 13-times World Champion Toni Bou, who closed out the last
campaign with a run of four consecutive victories to confirm his latest title. But
despite Bou’s success 2019 proved a challenging season for the Repsol Montesa
Honda man, and his main rivals from that entertaining campaign will be back to
keep him on his toes once again.
Adam Raga (TRRS) will start the new season as the main contender, having him-
self been 4-times World Champion. The 2019 X-Trial Barcelona winner showed he
hasn’t lost his touch with a world number two ranking and an unbroken sequence
of podium finishes last term. Meanwhile three youngsters continue their appren-
ticeship on the sport’s highest stage.
Spain’s Jaime Busto (Vertigo) starts the campaign with a third different manufac-
turer in four seasons having made the switch to Vertigo at the start of the summer,
and hopes the move will see him return to the form that saw him claim his first X-
Trial win in 2018. French hopeful Bincaz (Beta) also dropped a place in the rankings
last season, but will certainly be among the contenders from the off in the coming
campaign. And it’s a dream call-up for Gabriel Marcelli, the Montesa protégé in as
the Under-25 seed having already proven his ability to run with the big guns last
season in Granada and Bilbao.
Each of these permanent riders are sure to bring their passion and skill to pro-
vide an impressive spectacle throughout the FIM X-Trial World Championship that
can as always be followed on demand via www.x-trial.tv n