Excellent result by Luka Rafael Kišiček - first place at a strong international cadet race in Spain
Great news is coming from Spain, where members of the MTB CRO Team are currently attending training camps and competitions. Here is the race recap from their coach, Perica Kišiček:
“The advantage for Luka in this race was that cadets don’t have rankings yet, so national champions are placed at the front of the starting grid – and Luka used that opportunity perfectly. From the very beginning, he looked fast and fresh, constantly battling at the front for first place. At times, he even created a noticeable gap. The final attack he made near the end of the lap ultimately secured the victory. Luka also had a minor crash due to congestion on the track, but that didn’t stop him from winning the race.
The entire team and club management are extremely proud of this result. A lot of hard work and belief stand behind it.
After the races in Sant Fruitós and La Nucía, where he was consistently among the leaders, we believed this was possible. However, there was no pressure – the day before the race we were completely relaxed, and by then we were already well in rhythm since it was our third race in three weeks.
I would also like to highlight that Luka Dragičević and Leon Gabriel Kišiček delivered excellent performances as well. Since they started from the very last row, they lost a lot of time at the start and on the first lap. They are particularly strong on descents, but riders starting from the back often slow down on technical sections, which prevents them from showing their full potential in the final results. Nevertheless, both riders gained a huge number of positions during the race.
Leon started the UCI HC / World Junior Series race on Sunday morning from the very last row with starting number 223 (123rd on the grid). He fought his way up to 48th place, which means he improved by 75 positions. Even though he raced together with all junior riders, he was classified in the national category because he still doesn’t have UCI points. As a result, he actually won the national category. It surprised us a bit because we didn’t initially understand why he was being called to the podium, but we certainly learned how to properly register for World Junior Series races in the future. We are very happy to have started our first Junior Series in this way.
Luka Dragičević competed in the same cadet race as Luka K. Despite two crashes in front of him during the race, he achieved an excellent result, moving from 389 (89th starting position) to 33rd place, gaining 56 positions. He was also 11th in his age group.”
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The Chelva race holds a special place for the team, especially after Leon’s Top 10 finish in Spain in 2025. It is a highly technical but also very fun course - exactly the type of terrain that suits the riders well. We will definitely return to Chelva!
- race
- 22. February 2026.
