Heading into the deciding round of the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship \u2013 the TrialGP of Spain \u2013 at Pobladura de las Regueras holding what could be a decisive eleven-point lead, defending TrialGP Women champion Berta Abellan (Scorpa) has a very simple gameplan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ll go for the win as always,” said the Spanish star. “I’m going to try to give my best and enjoy it a lot!”
While some other riders would be consumed with nerves heading into such a crucial event, the twenty-six-year-old from Barcelona \u2013 who won her first FIM gold medal last season after finishing second on five previous occasions \u2013 is remaining calm and collected, despite a strong challenge this season from Andrea Sofia Rabino (Beta).
The twenty-year-old from Italy has pushed Abellan relentlessly through all four rounds contested so far in the elite class for female riders, although her strongest opposition at the opening round in Japan came from another Italian rider, Alessia Bacchetta.
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A double winner on the first day at the Mobility Resort Motegi in May, Abellan started the Sunday with a faultless opening race before slipping to second behind Bacchetta.
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“The first day I felt incredibly good and everything went perfectly. The second day, I also felt very strong, but Alessia stole the show and did even better. I’m so happy for her, I know she works hard and deserves it! I’m happy to see everyone improving and pushing themselves and I was expecting a year with rivalry, to be honest.”
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With two third-placed finishes at the TrialGP of Japan, Rabino was very much in contention and she made her intentions obvious by winning both days at round two in Andorra, but Abellan dug deep and heading into the lion’s den in mid-June for the TrialGP of Italy she had the perfect response with a double win of her own.
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“In Italy I felt very comfortable, I really liked the terrain and I gave one-hundred per cent at all times. Besides, I enjoyed myself and had a great time on the bike.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following month the action shifted to Great Britain for the fourth and penultimate round of the TrialGP Women’s series where Rabino once again fought back, sweeping all four races to set up this weekend’s thrilling conclusion.
Ask Abellan about her mindset following the defeats in Andorra and Great Britain and she provides a valuable insight into her champion’s mentality.
“I think you learn twice as much from mistakes and it helps me improve and keep learning. Honestly, it’s good \u2013 there wouldn’t be good results without going through the not-so-good ones first \u2013 and I’d say it helped me much more than any victory.”
With just two days and four points-scoring races left to decide the title, Abellan is clear how much retaining her hard-earned crown would mean.
“It would be a dream come true! Honestly, I have a similar feeling to last year. It’s like it’s the first time and I have the same desire to win, but above all I want to enjoy it. I’ve worked hard to get here and I hope I can dedicate a victory to my people, my sponsors, my team and everyone who has supported me!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Heading into the deciding round of the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship \u2013 the TrialGP of Spain \u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[311,85],"class_list":["post-15886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-motorsports","tag-trialgp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t