Return of the king
By TMX Archives on 27th May 15
Six-time SuperEnduro champ,Taddy Blazusiak, returns to where his career took off the Erzberg Rodeo
Over the last 20 years the Erzberg Rodeo has grown into the most globally visible, single most important race on the enduro calendar.
Winning a race like Erzberg makes you a global star.
Okay, so the actual prize you get – a chunk of rock – is not a great reward for the effort it takes to cross the finish line first but the knock-on effects are substantial. It will kick-start a fledging career, earn you a factory ride and a tonne of respect. Yes, winning Erzberg is a big deal.
This year it‘ll mean even more! Why? Because for the first time in a very, very long time three of the event's most successful riders will square up against each other.
Taddy Blazusiak, Jonny Walker and Graham Jarvis are set to go head-to-head at the Iron Giant. That's something worth getting seriously excited about.
Absent from the race since claiming a record-breaking fifth win in 2011, Taddy Blazusiak finally makes his long awaited return.
Coming home to where it all started for him, Blazusiak faces some super tough opposition. Carding his sixth Erzberg victory won't come easy.
Last year, Jonny Walker delivered one of the most impressive performances ever seen around the Eisenerz quarry. Since, well, Blazusiak himself arrived on the enduro scene.
Delivering a start-to-finish victory Walker made mince meat of everything and anything Erzberg could throw at him. Walker barely broke a sweat having completed the 30-kilometre plus course in less than 100 minutes.
An unlucky 13 minutes later – having clawed his way back from outside the top 40 – Graham Jarvis crossed the finish line as runner-up.
It was a tough battle for the Husqvarna rider but a heroic recovery ride at that.
It was clear that he'd put everything on the line. A race that was once viewed as a marathon had now become a sub two-hour sprint.
FOR FULL REPORT & PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS, THURSDAY, MAY 21 (ISSUE 1972)
