Aleix Espargaro and Jorge Martin 14th in brutal mountain bike challenge

It was not a relaxing Easter weekend for Aleix Espargaro and Jorge Martin.

The MotoGP riders took part in the Vuelta Ibiza at the weekend, an extremely demanding three-day mountain bike race.

Espargaro and Martin finished 14th in their category, only 50 minutes behind the winners Dario Cherchi and Hector Leonardo Paez, who are professional mountain bikers.

They were 18th out of a total of 173 pairs.

Cycling coach Juan Jolobato, and fitness trainer Jorge Echevarria (who also works with Martin in the MotoGP paddock) accompanied the duo for the three days.

The families of the best friends were also on hand to enjoy the Ibiza sunshine while Espargaro and Martin used their weekend off to push themselves to the physical limit in a different discipline.

Cycling, for Espargaro, is nothing new although he is usually found on road bikes rather than mountain bikes.

But Espargaro does still have some mountain experience - in 2019 he finished fifth in the Cape Epic, a gruelling South African race.

Espargaro’s experience of cycling meant that he frequently had to encourage and push Martin through the three-day Ibiza event.

They return to MotoGP next week at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

After two rounds of the 2024 season, Pramac Ducati rider Martin is leading the standings.

But he knows that rival Ducati riders Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez particularly relish the American circuit.