Now traditionally, every June I am at Tara mountain in my home country Serbia as the official photographer for Xross Challenge, the biggest and toughest hard enduro race in the Balkans. The fifth edition was held from 15th to 17th June and it will definitely be remembered as the hardest and muddiest race so far.
As you probably know I have been a part of this race since its beginning in 2014, and this year, my photo team included Aleksandar Dmitrovic, Bogdan Kosanovic, Mihai Stetcu, Vladimir Mladenovic and Attila Szabo. Tough weather conditions made the race even more challenging not only for riders, but for us photographers as well.
From the photographer point of view this event is pretty interesting, packed with enduro action in an incredibly beautiful and wild scenery that Tara mountain is.
Around 130 riders from 11 countries took participation in this race, and during three hellish days, they had to tackle around 200 km full of hard obstacles that awaited them in the mountains.
Heavy rains, that are not remembered in that area in the last 15 years, took the race to the extremes and made it even more difficult than it supposed to be. Mud was literally flying everywhere, bikes were out of control on slippery uphills and downhills, rivers and riverbeds were overflown – it was quite the challenge.
However the biggest impression was the persistence of riders who despite hard conditions were determined to overcome all obstacles, showing once again true hard enduro spirit.
The winner of the race was Red Bull rider Wade Young from South Africa who participated in the race for the first time and compared it to the famous Red Bull Romaniacs.
The sixth edition of Xross Challenge will be held from 14th to 16th of June 2019.