WORLD TROPHY TEAM (WT)
The defending World Trophy Team Champions eased their way into the week with all four American riders delivering solid results on the opening day. Robert led the team’s charge with a couple top-five test-finishes throughout the day. He experienced a crash on the opening test but from there he maintained a consistent pace around the top-10. Kentucky native Ryan Sipes (GAS) also put forth a consistent day, finishing 10th overall individually, while West Virginia’s Layne Michael (YAM) sits 12th overall with a strong fourth-place finish in the final test of the day. As a team, the U.S. squad sits third overall just .3 of a second behind Team Spain.

Taylor Robert: “Day one was definitely the roughest start I’ve had at ISDE in a little while. I crashed in the very first test, but hopefully I got that out of the way now and just moving forward from here. I gradually got better throughout the day and started minimizing some mistakes. I think the whole team in general had a bit of a slow start but we definitely got better throughout the day. We’ll just try to keep chipping away at the lead, it’s day one and we’ve got a lot of racing left. As far as myself, I was riding good but the times weren’t where I was hoping they would be, so I just need to pick up the pace a little bit tomorrow.”

JUNIOR WORLD TROPHY TEAM (JWT)
Oliveira had a strong start to the week as he led the U.S. Junior World Trophy Team to a third-place standing on day one. Oliveira, a west coast specialist in the U.S., hovered around the top-15 overall throughout the day, making a big charge at the end to finish sixth in the last test. Cody Barnes (HON) of Illinois contributed a consistent score inside the top-20 overall, with Nevada’s Austin Walton delivering on-pace results as well.

Dante Oliveira: “I started out strong and finished strong. The course started out a little rough at first, kind of an awkward flow the first time around but the second time it got a little smoother and the lines were a little more developed, so I feel like you were able to charge a little harder. I didn’t have any tip-overs or major mistakes, so I’m excited for that. I’m super pumped with how we did as a team but I wish I would have been a little higher up in the overall. I’m looking forward to charging a little harder the rest of the week.”

WOMEN’S WORLD TROPHY TEAM
KTM-Supported rider Brandy Richards had an impressive start to the week as she topped the Women’s classification by almost two minutes. With solid results from Indiana’s Rachel Gutish (HQV) in fourth overall and Britney Gallegos (HQV) in 15th, the Women’s World Trophy Team is off to a strong title defense with more than three minutes over the Spaniards in second.

Brandy Richards: “The first day here at ISDE was actually spectacular. The tests are super fun and I didn’t have any issues, I just kind of rode consistent to get through the first day and had a lot of fun. The transfers were really fun and the tests flow really well. I’m looking forward to tomorrow!”

Racing from the 2021 International Six Days Enduro will resume on Tuesday, August 31 with day two of six from Lombardy-Piedmont, Italy. For updates on KTM riders, follow along on Instagram and be on the lookout for daily recaps on all of the U.S. teams. For a list of complete results, please visit https://fim-isde.com/2021-results/. 

World Trophy Classification (After Day 1 of 6)
1. Italy, 2:27:24.71
2. Spain, +52.37
3. USA, +52.64
4. France, +1:19.19
5. Sweden, +2:25.97

Junior World Trophy Classification (After Day 1 of 6)
1. Italy, 2:29:10.48
2. France, +1:05.85
3. USA, +1:07.61
4. Sweden, +2:47.13
5. Spain, +3:41.34

Women’s World Trophy Classification (After Day 1 of 6)
1. USA, 1:49:18.12
2. Spain, +3:18.18
3. Great Britain, +3:30.35
4. Portugal, +5:48.01
5. France, +7:36.35