Monday’s Morning Glory is enduro21’s salute to a rider that delivered the goods over the weekend. This morning Simone Albergoni is our guy...

Simone Albergoni has long been Italy’s best performing Enduro World Championship rider. A seasoned veteran of the tough EWC tour, the Italian has achieved much yet frustratingly never managed to emulate the world championship successes enjoyed by his countrymen Sala, Rinaldi and Grasso before him.

The last few years have been tough on Albergoni, 2011 in particular. A rider that historically has always performed best on smaller capacity machinery, after placing third in the Enduro 1 title chase in both 2008 and 2009 Simone opted for a notable class change.

In 2010 he moved away from both four-stroke power and the E1 class and took on the might of Knight, Nambotin, Guillaume and more in Enduro 3 on a 300cc two-stroke. Once again Simone placed third.

Downsizing to the E2 class last year proved a largely fruitless experience. Managing just one podium finish throughout his 16-day EWC campaign, it seemed as if the likeable Italian’s time as a top-flight EWC runner was drawing to a close.

Simone has proved that certainly isn’t the case in recent weeks. Firstly, at the opening round of the EWC in Chile he quickly overcame a disappointing start to place as runner-up in the E1 class on day two. One week later in Argentina a 3/2 result saw Albergoni the second fastest rider behind Antoine Meo.

This weekend’s opening round of the Italian Enduro Championship saw Simone’s good form continue. Fighting back from a one-minute penalty to place fourth overall on day one, Simone then secured a deserved outright victory on day two.

In light of current E1 championship leader Antoine Meo’s impressive form clinching that elusive first EWC title is going to be difficult for Albergoni this year. But the hard-charging Honda rider is back at his best, and showing that he’s anything but finished as a top-level EWC racer.