Brazilian Borba Wins 20th Edition of Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo in Chile
Brazilian Lucas Borba produced a superb descent to win the 20th edition of Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo at the most extreme urban downhill MTB competition in front of 15,000 fans. Here is all you need to know:
– Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo sees riders clatter over a roof and through a real house, descend narrow stairs, face difficult slopes and avoid artificial obstacles as they make their way through the narrow streets of the UNESCO heritage city to a finishing area in the centre.
– The field was reduced from 26 participants to a Sunday final of only 16 men with notable riders who qualified including Chilean MTB enduro specialist Pedro Burns, Red Bull Monserrate Cerro Abajo 2022 winner Camilo Sánchez, British UCI MTB World Cup regular Phil Atwill and Frenchman Adrien Loron – a Red Bull Monserrate Cerro Abajo winner.
– After finishing third in 2023, Borba delivered on his best classification time with an exciting, skilled descent as the last man on the downhill course to claim his first victory at Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo.
– Borba crossed the finish line in a scorching time of 2m 18.674s to be crowned the new “King of the Port”, denying local rider Felipe Agurto victory by just 0.181s while Loron rounded out the podium.
– Borba, the first Brazilian to take home the title in his fourth year running at it, said: “A lot of adrenaline, a lot of speed. It was an incredible race, very fast and unexpected. I’m very happy.”
– Three-time champion Tomáš Slavík suffered a broken chain leaving the starting booth, ruining his chance for a record fourth victory in Valparaíso, while Colombians Camilo Sánchez and Sebastian Holguín suffered a rear puncture and a heavy fall, respectively, after extremely fast first partials.
– The 2024 Red Bull Cerro Abajo series heads to the next stop in Guanajuato, Mexico, on March 23 before the season-ending race in Italy on October 20.
– To get in the mood for Mexico, fans can now watch the new “20 Years of Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo” documentary on Red Bull TV.
– This 30-minute film explores the history of the iconic urban downhill race over two decades and features insights from the founders, champions from various years, and never-before-seen footage.
– Sebastián Vázquez, the first winner of the Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo, declared: “Everyone wants to be in Valparaíso (Cerro Abajo) until they are in Valparaíso.”
2024 Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo result
1. Lucas Borba (BRA) 2m 18.674s
2. Felipe Agurto (CHI) 2m 18.855s
3. Adrien Loron (FRA) 2m 20.465s
4. Matías Nuñez (CHI) 2m 20.945s
5. Jerónimo Páez (ARG) 2m 20.998s
6. Alberto Nicolás (CHI) 2m 21.055s
7. Phil Atwill (GBR) 2m 21.625s
8. Pedro Burns (CHI) 2m 21.757s
9. Pedro Ferreira (CHI) 2m 22.472s
10. Gonzalo Gajdosech (ARG) 2m 23.608s
