Superenduro PRO 3: Madesimo, Saturday Racing
With the weather beating the alps right now this weekend was always going to be difficult. Last night race direction made the hard decisions and announced a change of plan for today - racing would start half an hour earlier at 1pm and riders would tackle three stages. What was set to be stage 3 became stage 1, stage 1 became stage 2 and stage 2 became stage 3 with the race ending in the town centre.
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 Early morning weather check - no good. The day opened with on and off rain showers and masses of clouds swirling around the mountaintops. |
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| At the riders' briefing this morning the changes were explained to riders and the plan for the rest of the weekend was put to the riders. The general mood seemed to be pretty happy with the call as racing in the big mountains means you are very much at the mercy of the weather, which can either choose to laugh with you or at you. |
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| I got it wrong with Louise Paulin's collarbone yesterday - she broke it five weeks ago, not two. Still, it's a speedy return to racing. Before the depart this afternoon she retired to one of the park benches to get some quiet time before the racing began. |
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| Katy Winton put in a big ride today to be sitting second this evening, just a handful of seconds behind series leader Louise Paulin. |
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| Marco Millivinti has continued his run as top Italian so far this weekend, sitting in second this evening. While this puts his series standing on firmer ground, his position in the race has benefited massively from the luck of the draw with the weather - after stage two Lars Sternberg, Adam Craig and Greg Callaghan were all sitting ahead of him, but the rain came down hard for their runs losing them huge chunks of time as they slipped and slid through the bike park, while the tracks were dry for Marco. |
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| Ben Cruz opened his account today with a win on the first two stages, backing up the form that took him to a top ten finish last weekend in Valloire at the EWS. |
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| When we talk about this being a mountain sport, the start of stage two should give you and idea of the kind of exposure to the elements we're talking about. |
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| Busted collar bone or not, Louise Paulin picked up where she left off at the last race in Punta Ala. What makes her lead all the more impressive is that second and third place are held by Katy Winton and Caro Gehrig, both EWS regulars, putting her form this season properly into context. |
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| Greg Callaghan was flying as racing started, sitting close to the front of the action and making this gnarly as shit, off-camber rock slab/step section with a cliff to one side look comfortable. |
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| Another view on that sketchy rock drop - you get a better sense from this angle of the steps in the rock and the camber which make it so shady, especially with that cliff to your side. |
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| Stages with high, alpine meadows is a welcome addition to any race and the second stage today is a good addition to the course here in Madesimo. |
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| At the top of stage two there was a vicious sprint through the meadows and the rocky channels that run along side them. |
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| After the pedalling there is a 10 metre-long puddle which left most riders off the bike and running, cyclocross-style before things pointed properly downhill and the real fun started. |
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| Throughout the afternoon the weather moved in and out quickly, alternating the conditions between sun, showers and storms in a matter of just minutes. |
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| Lars Sternberg kept his ass strictly covered today and was keeping pace with his countryman, Ben Cruz, in the first couple of stages. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and he came down in the worst of the conditions on the final stage and lost a full 35 seconds on the fastest time on the stage, set by a rider in dry conditions. |
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| If you're paying for parts, this is the only option if a rock claims your tyre - the long run home. We have to take our hats off to this fella for his commitment, even with his tyre in tatters he was running down the course to try and save precious seconds. |
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| Ben Cruz was on the limit of the good weather on the final stage, he had a small crash at the top of the bike park section, but nursed it home to fifth on the stage, which was enough to give him a 12 second lead going into tomorrow. |
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| After crossing the finish line riders their bikes were checked to make sure they were still using the same frame, fork and wheels they started with earlier. It may sound over-dramatic, but this kind of policing of the rules is needed to make sure they are strictly adhered to as the durability rules help make the racing fairer for privateers who can't afford to run lightweight, but fragile kit. |
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| This must have been a miserable ride down for Sam Flanagan - he was on track during the heaviest of the rain this afternoon, but flatted right at the top, so had to nurse the bike all the way down as the rain bucketed down on him. |
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| There's an old superstition that cows lie down when bad weather is coming... Unfortunately it's not just bovine intuition as modern methods of meteorology also say that a storm is coming tomorrow and it's a big one. As things stand the programme for the day is unannounced as it's not a great idea to be high up on the mountainside in a thunderstorm... |
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Do you believe me now?
The official allowed you to race with hardtail?
Good for you if they allowed that in Italy. In my place hardtail didn't allow to join enduro racing.
Huge props for you and the event organizer.
Wish i could have fun like you too.
Sometimes fullsus is a blessed, but sometimes i do wanna just have fun and enjoy the hype of racing a hardtail AM. Dont care bout the result, just wanna enjoy the hype.
I wonder Uedro, on what rank do you finished in the overall?
Usually in Superenduro Pro races I'm in between 1/2 of the overall classification and 3/4 of it. It depends how I race and how the track characteristics are.
Beside that, rubber would be a good cushion if you suddenly go OTB.
Or the rear axle being bolted and its hard to change a tire on track?