Enduro World Series Round Six: Val D'Isere - Sunday Racing
Yesterday was a difficult day. In the morning there was a course hold as one rider got helicoptered off the hill after a horrific cliffside crash (he broke his arm, which is lucky considering where and how he crashed). Then in the afternoon the weather closed in, thunderstorms shook the valley and the rain poured. That meant that riders only made one run down the second stage of the day, not two like they were supposed to. To start this morning the race organisers decided to have the second timed run on the second stage from yesterday, then, if the weather held, head over todays stage which was supposed to be ran four times: one practice run, two timed runs and a mass-start for the Enduro des Nations competition.
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 After yesterdays weather, everyone was a bit nervous about what today was going to bring us. It seemed to be keeping its options open. |
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| This mornings transport to the top. The weather got very real up at the summit last night. |
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| The town was wreathed in a layer of clouds that meant as you climbed up the visibility dropped to pretty much nothing. |
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| Morganne Jonnier huddles in the corner of the lift on the ride to the top. |
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| Once we got through the clouds the view was a little bit special... |
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| Joe Barnes, the most stylish man in enduro and well prepared for the winter conditions with his Norwegian ski coat. |
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| The stage started in this garage alongside the chairlift station. |
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| As riders took to the course for timed runs on the second stage from yesterday the sun just slipped above the line of the crest. |
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| This was supposed to be a photo of Jerome Clementz as he carried over his form from yesterday to win this stage again, but then Martin Maes came through and did this. I do have to admit making two mistakes about Martin in the article yesterday. First, he's only 16, not 17. And second, he is now on clipped pedals, but it doesn't seem to stop him getting loose... |
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| Adam Craig charges through a slash of golden, morning sunlight at the head of the course. |
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| Today didn't start on plan for Tracy Moseley, losing precious seconds and the lead to Anne-Caroline Chausson on the first stage of the day, leaving her about 8 seconds back. |
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| Lower down Maes made easy work of the loose conditions. |
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| Cedric Gracia, sideways in the morning mud. |
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| Joe Barnes is stylish on the bike, as well as in the lift station. |
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| Tobi Woggon this tie on his 29" BMC. |
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| Julia Hofmann on the bottom of the second stage. |
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| Now that is one hell of a pee with a view. |
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| In between runs, Manuel Ducci and Valentina Macheda huddled in their van and improvised a way to get warm. |
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| Jared Graves takes a leisurely practice run down the third and final stage of the day. |
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| Damien Oton charges through the low cloud. |
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| This is one of the great things about these enduros - they mark out fresh tracks in the grass which are great fun at high speed, but you'd never ride them outside a race. |
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| Sometimes the course was nothing more than some well-thought out gates on the side of the mountain. |
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| Hopefully this should give you an idea of the vertical drop on these stages - this was from about the halfway point. In all the stages dropped around 1,000 vertical metres. |
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| the organizers discuss to cancel the Enduro of Nations mass-start race. After the delays yesterday it was decided that the first race run on the third stage was to be the final one of the weekend. With the brutal, physical nature of the track, I suspect that was a welcome move as two runs down there would have hurt like hell. |
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| The easy practice run really paid off for Graves as he dominated what turned out to be the final stage of the day. There was supposed to be a another run down the stage and/or a mass-start for the Enduro of Nations competition. |
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| Anne-Caroline Chausson got smoked on the final stage, Tracy chewed up her 8 second lead and pulled out another 12 seconds advantage over her. Unfortunately Tracy then picked up a 30 second penalty for not wearing her number on her back today, gifting the win to ACC. |
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| Cecile Ravenelle rode strongly all weekend to take a great third overall this weekend. |
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| This may look pretty, but this climb on the final stage hurt, a grinding slog through the beautiful meadow. It's this kind of section that really sets enduro apart from downhill, putting your lungs to the test in the middle of an epic descent. |
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| Another of the new section, roughly cut into the mountain so there was just enough trail to follow, but with lots of little rocks and hole waiting to catch you out. |
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| Greg Callaghan (in yellow) had a few problems yesterday and found himself running at the back of the field today. He used the climb to his advantage to pull back positions from slower riders ahead of him. |
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| The final stage came down to a sprint between Graves and Clementz. Graves utterly dominated the stage, but fortunately for Jerome the lead he had built up was a bridge to far for the Australian. |
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| Jerome needed a second look at the results for the final stage, finishing in an uncharacteristic seventh place. |
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| The long, physical stage clearly took its toll on the young Martin Maes. Third overall in the scratch classification this weekend. One hell of a ride for the 16 year old. As a junior his ranking is separate though, which promoted Barel back up onto the mens podium. We've said all season about worrying about what he's going to be able to do in the future, but with rides like this, it's what he can do now other riders should be concerned with. |
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| Yesterday didn't go well for Anneke Beerten, she received a DNF when she got lost in the fog on the final stage, so sat out today. It's a real shame as it means she lost her third overall ranking in the series as she scored no points this weekend. When the other girls got back to the pits she came round with a tray of cream cakes from the local bakery. |
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| Race organiser Fred Glo explains her penalty to Tracy Moseley. |
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| With his win today Jerome Clementz also took the series title, with a race to spare. He is the first ever Enduro World Champion. It's good to see him take, it's good for enduro that someone who has devoted themselves to the discipline for so long emerged victorious. This year Jerome rode hard, had fun all the way and played fair. A proper champion. When I asked him what this meant for him, he simply said, "It means I can have more fun in September now! I can go surfing and have barbeques with my friends, as I don't need to go all out training for the last round of the season in Finale." |
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| On the last stage yesterday Jared Graves had a couple of big crashes, leaving him with this monster gash down his leg. Explaining how sore he was this morning, he said that on the first stage today he was just trying to hold onto the bike and get down the hill. |
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| Tracy Moseley and her second place trophy... It must have been heartbreaking to lose the win in that manner. It's testament to her character how well she took the bad news, watching her on the podium, you wouldn't have guessed what had just happened. |
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| A fist pump from Jerome as he heads up to take the podium for his third win of the season. |
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| The mens podium: Clementz, Graves and Barel. |
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Everyone knows they must where their numbers...
And everyone knows that with the full face on top of your head vs being worn as intended, is way way way more refreshing for the ride up. Thus, penalty!!
Ibeaver: is this the friendly atmosphere they talk about or nazi detail picking?
1- -> yes I was being sarcastic -> full face helmets are hot as hell to wear except going down. But all enduro riders must wear a helmet during / between all stages and if you don't have a trail lid, you must wear your full face on, not on top..... thus the comment. I think that was what peaty / minnar were on about with fab and his first helmet near penalty, first race. I could be wrong, but trying to be funny.
2 - @WAKI i have no clue what you mean...but I hope you aren't highjacking this thread?
"Tracy Moseley and her second place trophy... It must have been heartbreaking to lose the win in that manner, what's more, it means she has dropped behind Anne-Caroline Chausson in the overall standings, so now she has to beat her at Finale Ligure to clinch the title."
Considering that they went into this round with Tracy on 2900 points and Anne-Caroline on 1460, Tracy could have DNF'ed and still have the series points
lead.
content.26in.fr/p/news/25415/39074.jpg
Grweat Jerome, great Jared (he has an incredible riding in this series). Hope to get to Finale Ligure (unfortunately not on my bike, registration were sold-out some months ago) and meet you all there.
Martin Maes will probably do a lot better next year and beat other, more established, names, and still stay in the Juniors ranks.