![\"riders_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_10712\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/riders_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_10712.jpg\")
\nOminous start from Pichon<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tThe first rounds of the 2026 Italian Assoluti and Spanish Enduro Championships brought EnduroGP World Championship riders out of winter hibernation and into action alongside each other \u2013 Enduro21 picks the bones and talks to the riders after\u00a0their first international date\u00a0of the season.<\/p>\n
The start of the 2026 world enduro season brings with it a lot of talking points. Since we last saw them in action last October, a long list of riders have returned from injury, switched race teams and classes or a combination of all the above. Winter always drags on but for some of these guys it has been a much longer road back to cable tying a transponder on their bikes.<\/p>\n
Those riders include Steve Holcombe, Brad Freeman, Matteo Cavallo and Nathan Watson all back from injury. We see new riders in Sherco, Fantic, Honda RedMoto, and Red Bull KTM and they are just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n
With everyone seemingly split into two camps of \u2018as you were\u2019 and \u2018seeing how it goes\u2019, Enduro21 takes a look and weighs up how they stack against each other at this first weekend of \u201826.<\/p>\n
\nOminous start from Pichon<\/p>\n
Start as you mean to go on, right? That must be the mentality in the TM Boano camp and in particular for \u00a0Zach Pichon who came out the blocks like a 100m sprinter.<\/p>\n
The absolute rule for the top guys in the world right now is you have to be on it but make no mistakes \u2013 it\u2019s the benchmark by which GPs are won and which took Josep Garcia to the title again last year \u2013 and Pichon started his \u201926 season very much in this vein.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman looks up for it based on a winning margin of 40 seconds across 17 tests on day one of the Assoluti Italian series. The Italian series round one featured a lot of short tests by world championship standards but still, to gap your rivals by that much is impressive on the first day back at school.<\/p>\n
Like Garcia, Pichon has the luxury of staying with the same team and TM 300 Fi bike this season and that means he has only had to worry about getting better over winter. Things are working from a team perspective too with Jarno Boano\u2019s squad managing team Pichon and aiming for a world title to match their Italian one.<\/p>\n
Garcia away at sea<\/p>\n
Josep Garcia wasn\u2019t at his team\u2019s home enduro series in Italy but instead raced his own national series at the weekend, which began in Valverde del Camino, Spain. The truth is it was an easy win\u00a0for Josep with his rivals all across the Mediterranean in Italy and he romped to some huge margins ahead of 2025 Spanish title winner, Antoine Magain.<\/p>\n
Rewind one year and KTM rider had a broken collarbone which meant he missed the start of the Spanish enduro season and had question marks around him approaching the EnduroGP round one.<\/p>\n
Ultimately it allowed Sherco\u2019s Magain to claim the Spanish National Enduro crown, not undeservedly. But the rest is history as they say with Garcia coming back from that set-back to record perhaps his greatest season.<\/p>\n
With the monkey off his back and the overall title finally in 2024, the Josep seemingly rode with more freedom in 2025 and no-one had an answer. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Garcia wasn\u2019t lined up against any of his championship rivals, it is fair to say, but his winning margins \u2013 nearly three minutes on day two in \u201cthe Cathedral of Enduro\u201d, Valverde del Camino \u2013 was food for thought for the other boys as the champ arrives in much better shape and aiming at a third-straight title.<\/p>\n
![\"holcombe_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_8877\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/holcombe_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_8877.jpg\")
\nYing and yang for Holcombe<\/p>\n
Back across the blue waters of the Med and this was the first time we saw Steve Holcombe on a blue bike alongside his rivals with his boot and helmet on. The new Sherco signing has clocked up some races in recent months, taking wins in Sardegna and the UK as he gets up to speed on the 300 two-stroke.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the old deceptive trick some riders have to not look fast when they are actually fastest and Steve\u2019s looking very much in that mould on the SE 300 Sherco.<\/p>\n
Steve\u2019s weekend didn\u2019t start favourably with a mechanical problem on day one which meant a DNF after two tests. The CH Racing team fixed it but Holcombe had to start fresh on Sunday morning while his rivals already had their eyes dialled into the tests after day one.<\/p>\n
Having only walked the tests and with them beaten into a different shape by the end of day one, it was a tall order to come in fresh on day two: \u201cI\u2019m happy to finally start the Italian championship.\u201d Said Holcombe on Sunday night. \u201cThe Super Test went ok and day one we had a bit of a freak electrical issue which caused the bike to run hot and unfortunately stopped in the second test. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough coming into day two having not ridden the tests. I walked all the specials but it\u2019s not the same and I didn\u2019t have the same flow. So, I struggled to get into it because of that because you\u2019re always behind without the same knowledge which lines are good and which are bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI rode a little bit tight and I wouldn\u2019t say at my best but at least I can look at the results and see where I am. I can see there are things I can improve myself and with the bike. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really important to come do the first race, see where we are, see how everything\u2019s working, and have a good first race with the team. The guys were obviously pretty gutted with the problem on day one but this is our sport and mechanical things can happen. We used our joker card there but I\u2019m really looking forward to getting back and working on the areas that we can improve and keeping the ball rolling in round two.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"beta_teammates_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_6790\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/beta_teammates_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_6790.jpg\")
\nHello Brad, nice to see you\u2019re still alive!<\/p>\n
Another rider, in whole fact team making a positive return to racing is Beta and riders Brad Freeman and Nathan Watson. It felt weird not to have the Beta factory team at the second half EGP season last year as both Freeman and Watson hit the sidelines and literally went off the radar.<\/p>\n
In Brad\u2019s case no-one seemingly heard from him for months while he recovered from knee surgery but we\u2019re glad to see he\u2019s still on planet earth and happy to be back.<\/p>\n
Brad answered any critics who wondered if he would have the speed after such a long time off the bike, despite his last competitive race being the final GP of 2024 in France.<\/p>\n
It helps having some fast mates to train with as you get back to fitness and having Watson as a teammate, as well as a gang of British riders like Jamie McCanney, means Freeman arrives in good shape.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be back.\u201d Says Brad. \u201cApart from the one day in Portugal (2025 day one riding with only one knee basically), the last race I did properly was France \u201924 so it\u2019s been a loooong time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt a bit rusty yesterday, but it felt good to be back and I won a few tests but to be honest the result isn\u2019t that important. It was about trying to get back in the flow. I won some tests and I was leading the overall on day two until I made a mistake and lost almost a minute. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is the feeling is quite good and we\u2019ve got a couple of weeks now until Sicily, so we\u2019ll try and get a bit better and be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"boano_cavallo_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_10596\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/boano_cavallo_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_10596.jpg\")
\nDouble time for Cavallo<\/p>\n
Another rider surely as much relived as happy with his riding is Matteo Cavallo. The TM rider added to the Boano joy on Sunday night as he bagged an overall podium alongside teammate Pichon.<\/p>\n
In case you didn\u2019t know Matteo is another rider (along with Holcombe and Freeman to name two) who underwent knee surgery but the Italian having not one but both knees operated upon. We can only imagine the doubt a rider has to be able to come back.<\/p>\n
Cavallo went 5-3 scratch across the two days in Viareggio to match the other guys and though the Italian tests are different to the world championship, he\u2019s definitely thrown his hat into the ring.<\/p>\n
![\"andrea-verona_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_9672\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/andrea-verona_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_9672.jpg\")
\nMore homework needed<\/p>\n
Among the riders with a bit of homework to do after this opening Italian race (there\u2019s more than one) was the former world and Italian champion, Andrea Verona. Things looked good for the new Red Bull KTM rider, who\u2019s switched to formally be parked alongside Josep Garcia in the EnduroGP team.<\/p>\n
Pre-season testing was good and the Andrea told us he had adapted quickly to the PDS-type chassis set-up on his 450 EXC-F.<\/p>\n
Despite a win on the Friday Super test on the beach, Saturday\u2019s 12 tests resulted in Verona 40 seconds off the Pichon\u2019s total time as he says he struggled with feeling as the tests got rougher.<\/p>\n
Sunday was a different story though following overnight changes to bike set-up which brought the super-close times for the top five we\u2019ve become used to seeing (see results below).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a good first weekend on the new bike.\u201d Andrea told us. \u201cIn the end I would say it is an average result with second overall Saturday and fourth overall on Sunday. I started with good times on Saturday morning but I struggled finding a good flow in the rough tests. Then we made some changes overnight and we improved the feedback and the feeling and the speed was better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy about the improvements and for sure these races are really helpful for us to understand where we are with the new bike and to understand how to move forward before the world championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s two weeks off and we will test again before the next Italian championship, and we will use that as a test again before we go to the world championship.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"macdonald_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_10635\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/macdonald_italian-championship-2026_rnd1_10635.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A few riders were already off the pace \u2013 we think to be a minute or more off the leader counts as \u201coff the pace\u201d without wishing to sound harsh. We won\u2019t name names here but look down the time sheets and the clock stopped a lot later for some than we expected.<\/p>\n
Italian Enduro Rnd 1 results:<\/p>\n
![\"2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_1_results-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_1_results-1.jpg\")
![\"2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_1_results-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_1_results-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Italian Enduro Rnd 2 results:<\/p>\n
![\"2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_2_results-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_2_results-1.jpg\")
![\"2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_2_results-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026_assoluti_italian_enduro_rnd1_day_2_results-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n