Josep Garcia is the best rider at International Six Days Enduro 2021, the Olympics of Enduro!

Held in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions of northern Italy, the 2021 ISDE challenged well over 600 riders with five days of dry and dusty special test racing, followed by the traditional final day motocross races. Hot weather greeted riders right from the start of the event with tests becoming tougher, and dustier, as the competition progressed.

Finding the demanding conditions and fast tests very much to his liking, Josep Garcia immediately laid down the gauntlet to his rivals, going quickest overall on the opening day before repeating the feat on day two with an even greater advantage. It was soon clear that the fight for the overall would be fought between Garcia and Italy’s Andrea Verona, with the pair topping the majority of special tests.

Taking his third consecutive day win on Wednesday, a hard crash on Thursday resulted in Josep completing the day as second-fastest, albeit just three seconds down on Verona. With the positions reversed again on day five with Josep finishing fastest by close to 20 seconds, the KTM 350 EXC-F rider went into the final motocross on Saturday with a healthy lead in both the overall and the Enduro2 categories.

Riding to ensure a safe finish, yet still wanting to put on a show for the hundreds of fans lining the track, Garcia got a good start in the final motocross before fighting his way through to second place. Unable to catch and pass Team USA’s Dante Oliveira, Josep’s runner-up result on the final day secured his win in both the Enduro2 class and saw him complete the event as the overall fastest rider, also helping Spain to their runner-up result in the World Trophy category.

Josep Garcia: “I’m really happy, it’s a dream come true to win the Six Days overall. Thanks to all my team and KTM for giving me the opportunity to do this. It’s been a really tough week, as I knew it would be tight at the top of the standings and you are forced to focus 100 percent the whole time. The days are very long too with many hours on the bike. My crash on day four thankfully didn’t cost me too much time, and I came out of it ok physically. I’m really pleased with my week and my bike has been perfect. Winning four of the five full days is great and I think I only had three falls over the whole week. Sadly, we didn’t quite manage to take the win in the World Trophy, but the team gave their all and to finish as runner-up is really good. It’s been an incredible event for me.”

In the Manufacturer’s Team Award, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing took the win thanks to the efforts of Josep Garcia, Taylor Robert, and the USA’s junior rider Dante Oliveira, who placed an excellent third overall in the Enduro2 class.