The World Xtreme Enduro Championship (WXEC) kicks off its year of press and promotion at the Hell’s Gate Extreme Enduro race in Tuscany, Italy, on 6 February.

Now in its seventh year, Hell’s Gate is an all-day extreme race that begins in the morning and ends at night. Created by former Italian Enduro Champion, Fabio Fasola, the competitors face the toughest of terrain through rocks, streams, freezing temperatures in a timed format like traditional enduro.

Hell’s Gate has never allowed more than 10 finishers. David Knight won three consecutive years in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Wayne Braybrook took home the trophy while Taddy Blazusiak achieved back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2009. This year boasts an all-star lineup of riders including Blazusiak who will be going for three in a row, 12-time World Trials Champion Dougie Lampkin and 2009 Red Bull Romaniacs winner Andreas Lettenbichler, just to name a few. It’s a “who’s who” of the Extreme Enduro world.

The WXEC, which begins in 2011, is using this year to promote the series, create a rider ranking and prepare for the official debut next year. “The idea is to build awareness for the Championship by providing information to the competitors, the press and the extreme enduro industry at the event.” Says Jeff Pakosta of Throttle Entertainment. “This is an excellent way to give everyone the facts they need in order to prepare for next year. We will be represented at each one of the five WXEC events this year.”

The WXEC is a worldwide tour of Extreme Enduro events that culminates in one champion at the end of the year. Riders will be awarded points at each round of the series. The rider who has gathered the most points in the end will be the World Xtreme Enduro Champion. The other four races include The Tough One, Erzbergrodeo, Red Bull Romaniacs and The Roof of Africa. A sixth race is being planned for the United States that will act as the final Championship race. More details on the location of this race to come.

Extreme Enduro is described as man and machine against incredibly difficult terrain on a time-clock. The sport is relatively new compared to traditional Enduro and Motocross. However, the sport is increasing worldwide with the formation of races like the Indoor World Cup and the US Endurocross Series.