Becking and Alleman Complete the Lošinj Double at the 4Islands Epic

The second day on Lošinj suited Hans Becking and Wout Alleman to a tee as they stormed to their second stage victory of the 2025 4Islands Epic, on Stage 1.

In so doing, the men in yellow extended their general classification advantage. The same was true for Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas, who won in orange to add 57 seconds to their overall lead.

The sun came out on Wednesday, 16 April, and the wind dropped from a gale to a breeze, allowing the Adriatic to turn from slate-grey overnight to the postcard-perfect turquoise for which the Kvarner Islands are famous. Though mud and puddles still added an extra layer of complexity to the task of racing the rocks, conditions were far more favourable for mountain biking on Stage 1 of the 2025 4Islands Epic. Buff Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport exploited the warmer weather on Lošinj to produce red-hot performances, en route to stage victories.

At 40 kilometres long, the first marathon day of the tenth edition of the race was hardly the toughest, on paper, of the event. The 850 metres of accumulated elevation gain provided opportunities for attacking and aggressive racing but also did not inspire caution. As such, Hans Becking and Wout Alleman could attack from the gun, to gain time on their rivals.

That is exactly what the Buff Megamo pairing did. Utilising the first kicker of the course, they established a 20 second buffer by the 5-kilometre mark, through Čikat. Behind both KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes teams were chasing with the Bulls, Metallurgica Venta 2, Singer KTM Racing and the Superior team. Missing from the pursuit were the defending champion Nicola Taffarel and his Mettallurgica Venta 1 teammate, Diego Arias. The latter suffered a puncture, which took them the best part of 2 and a half minutes to fix and subjected the Italian/Colombian combination to a day-long chase.

The misfortune continued for the Mettallurgica Venta squad. By the first aid station, 15 kilometres into the stage, Jacopo Billi and Andrea Candeago had dropped from the chase. Their position in the second group, on the trails, was taken up by the HEXATRI combination. 11 kilometres later, only the KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes teams were able to hold the gap to Buff Megamo. Nicolas and Lorenzo Samparisi, alongside Nicholas Pettinà and Ramon Vantaggiato, were still 25 seconds off the leaders, Becking and Dias, with a long descent to Vali Lošinj and an undulating final 14 kilometres to race.

Willing to take more risks, or more comfortable in the mud, Buff Megamo extended their advantage on the descent, adding a further minute to the Italian quartet. Becking and Alleman then held that 90 second advantage to the finish line. KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes were second, with KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes 2 being awarded the same time as their stablemates. Taffarel and Arias recovered to finish fifth but lost out in the sprint for fourth to HEXATRI’s Pierre Billaud and Théo Dupras.

“We have only raced two short stages, and there are three longer stages to go,” Alleman cautioned. “But it is good to have an advantage already. And at least we both feel good, and we’ve had some good fun. It’s looking good for the rest of the week, but anything can happen, especially on the downhills. So, we will have to stay focused and be careful.”

After two days on Lošinj, Alleman and Becking lead Pettinà and Vantaggiato by 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Nicolas and Lorenzo Samparisi hold third, a further 5 seconds back. Taffarel and Arias’s charge through the stage might have limited their time losses, but they are nonetheless 3:37 down on Buff Megamo. Simon Schneller and Urs Huber round out the top five.

In the UCI Women’s race, an early issue cost Bianca Haw and Vera Looser dearly as they ceded 65 seconds to the women in orange, Calderon and Kortekaas, inside the first 5 kilometres. This left Safari Essence Efficient Insure with an uphill task for the rest of the stage. Cannondale ISB Sport seized the opportunity to gain time and raced fast, but safely, through the rocky tracks and trails of Lošinj. By the 15-kilometre mark, Haw and Looser had clawed back 32 seconds of their early deficit and found themselves fighting for second on the course, alongside Janka Keseg Stevkova and Martina Krahulcova.

A sharp descent from the highest point of the stage and a steep climb back to the spine of the island later and Safari Essence Efficient Insure’s early efforts were beginning to take their toll. Calderon and Kortekaas might have ceded time to the Slovak National Team, but Haw and Looser were losing their bid to reel in the leaders. Going into the pivotal final 14 kilometres, the pre-race favourites held buffers of 17 and 48 seconds, yet anything could still happen on the treacherously slippery trails.

Sadly, for the Slovakian pair, they were the team to run into trouble. This allowed Safari Essence Efficient Insure to move into second on the trails, but Cannondale ISB Sport were effectively uncatchable at the front. Crossing the line, Calderon and Kortekaas added 57 seconds to their overall advantage. Cannondale ISB Sport 2’s Costanza Fasolis and Pilar Fernández also benefited from Keseg Stevkova and Krahulcova’s travails, finishing the day in third.

“It was not the best day of my life,” Kortekaas laughed. “I was like a cat with nine lives out there today! I died a few times but recovered as well. It was maybe a bit short for me today, so I hope the next few days will be better. Tomorrow will be challenging, not only in terms of the terrain, but it looks like bad weather again, too. It’s going to be… epic…”

“We had a puncture in the first 5 minutes of the day, which was not ideal!” Looser explained. “Everyone saw it, and then they went full gas. We struggled a bit to fix it, but after that, we rode well and were able to close the gap. We could see Monica [Calderon] and Tessa [Kortekaas] on the climbs but could never quite bridge to them.”

“It would be nice if we could sit wheel a bit tomorrow,” Haw joked. “Especially in the wind! It’s not a massive gap; it’s one puncture or mechanical. We lost a minute today with a puncture and were able to close right up, so we can take confidence into the longer stages to come.”

Going into the Queen Stage, Cannondale ISB Sport holds a 76 second advantage over Safari Essence Efficient Insure. Fasolis and Fernández move up to third, 4:19 back. Having lost 19 minutes and 39 seconds on Stage 1, the Slovak National Team slipped to fourth on the overall standings, only ahead of Velo Kartell’s Claudia Krenn and Nina Gunther thanks to their podium place on the Prologue.

More high winds are predicted for Cres on Stage 2, which could make the racing interesting. The 71-kilometre course should be contested under clear skies, but while the strong winds overnight dissipate in the early morning hours, they rise again from 10:00 to a moderate gale. This could have as big an impact on how the stage is contested as the route itself, which is slated to take in 1 800 metres of climbing along trails carved by flocks of sheep being herded across the island over the centuries.