Even if you scripted this weekend it would have been hard to find a more perfect storyline than what has happened here in Wicklow over the last couple of days. A rising star of the sport taking his maiden victory on home turf? An unlikely venue winning the hearts of some of the world's best riders? Perfect blue skies in Ireland? For the most part, real life doesn't work like that, but somehow the universe aligned itself and this weekend turned into one that will stay in many peoples memories for years to come.
When you consider that the EWS rule book requires a minimum of 20 minutes of stage time in a race, a 300m hill sounds an implausible venue. Yet that is precisely what Wicklow is - what made it work is the incredible network of trails the locals have been quitely digging here for years, the rowdiest fans we have ever seen at an EWS, one of the sharpest race organisations you'll find anywhere and the fact that everyone here seems genuinely excited to have you and the race here in their home. Throw in a meteorological quirk of good fate and the canvas was set for a great race. Yet to top it all off with local lad, Greg Callaghan, taking his first EWS win here is more than anyone could have asked for. After cheering the riders on all day this was almost too much for the crowd as they mobbed him on his approach to the finish, carried him above their heads when he reached the line. It was a huge, roaring climax to an incredible race. A true fairytale weekend...
Phil Atwill was enjoying the transfers.
Hats off to Dan Wolfe for even racing today - he dislocated his elbow this week and has been working hard to get it in shape to ride today.
Adrien Dailly took the win in the under 21 men today.
Tracy Moseley was supreme on track today - winning six out of the seven stages.
After winning in Rotorua, Anne-Caroline would settle for second today.
So close but still so far, Anneke Beerten finished in 4rth just one step off the podium.
.002 seconds before Josh Carlson drifting wide into the sharp needles of the Gorse bush on Stage 1.
It was oh-so close again for Justin Leov this weekend - he took the wins on stages three and four today, but Greg Callaghan was just too strong for him in the end.
Jerome Clementz had his worst EWS result ever.... in 8th.
Unfortunately for Alex Cure, his handlebars met an untimely fate at the top of Stage 2
Alex Cure is a boss. Broken handlebars from the previous stage, rear brake lever removed, and still riding the gnarliest part of stage three NFG.
If there is one photo that sums up why today was so much fun - the fans were mental, and never more mental than when Greg Callaghan.
After multilpe injuries, Dan Atherton was back in the top ten today.
Jesse Melamed had a huge ride today to bag his first ever top ten - he finished ninth.
The crowd here in Ireland was second to none, and Nico Lau was sure to take the extra time to get everyone even more psyched up to start stage 3.
With 7 stages all going down in just a matter if a few hours today was a blur.
Meggie Bichard has made a big impact on the womens field this year - taking fourth in Rotorua and backing up with a sixth this weekend.
Hovering just outside the top 5 all morning, Richie Rude turned it up a notch on the final 2 stages of the day to grab the final spot on the podium in Ireland.
Martin Maes put in a consistent ride today to take fourth, but that's likely to be a disappointment to the focused, young Belgian who has his sights step on the top step.
Seventh for Rene Wildhaber - not bad for a man who is still in a fair bit of pain from his broken hand on a bike he has barely had time to get used to.
Marco Osborne took 16th in his return to EWS racing for the first time after massive injuries sidelined him in 2014.
Cecile Ravanel has some of the best technical skills in the business, and made quick work of the nastiness atop Stage 3.
Anka Martin snakes through the final turns of Stage 7.
On pace for a podium position, it would all come undone for Fabien Barel at the top of Stage 4 with a rear puncture.
Isabeau Courdurier hitting warp speed on Stage 5 would finish the weekend in 5th overall.
Joe Barnes was right up at the sharp end fighting for the win until a puncture on stage six took around 40 second off him. It's took his credit that he still managed a solid 12th despite it.
Greg Callaghans girlfriend, Katy Winton, was going spare on the finish with the nervous wait to find out how Greg had done.
Greg had more than a few supporters here this weekend.
There was an awkward moment when Tracy Moseley and Anne-Caroline Chausson waited to find out how close they were. It turned out that Tracy put 28 seconds in to Anne-Caroline today. This smile says it all...
Dave the Bullet. Medic. Part-time course sweeper. Part-time trail builder. Full-time legend.
The Callaghan Clan at the finish, all 26 strong.
The Emerald Enduro's fastest Women.
How happy was Greg Callaghan to take his maiden win? About this happy.
After the podiums the crowd lifted the winning riders above them.
Niall and his amazing team. Thank you.
Trailforks.com
About the Photographers
Matt Wragg • Age: 32 • Years Shooting: 3 Maybe best-known as a long-standing member of Pinkbike's European editorial team, Matt is also a successful commercial photographer. As the first English-speaking photographer to follow and document the nascent European enduro scene, he was shooting enduro well before it became a marketing buzzword or a shade of blue. Today he is still one of the few photographers to make his living following the discipline and has built up an enviable client list that includes many of the top teams and brands in the world.
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Congratulations to Greg, it has to be awesome to win a race like this with all of your friends supporting you
I'll get my coat now.
Owned over 20 alu bars...broke one (no name flat bar doing trials drop to flat on a 1996 Cannondale 'Beast of the East.'
Now that's science folks!
Neg away...
I've used 3 alloy bars and 2 carbon bars over the last 5 years, and broken one alloy bar on a really gnarly fall.
Carbon and aluminum don't feel the same. All I'm saying is that, clearly, a lot of guys prefer carbon.
There's a reason we're all talking about this right now, and it's because it's notable. It's notable because it simply doesn't happen very much. These guys push their bikes to the limit, many of them running carbon bars - how many instances can you think of where this happened?
Here's to rooting for Richie - He'll get his, soon.
The only items that are "marked" and must remain for the whole race are Frame, Fork, and Wheels. Even those items can be changed (with a 5 minute penalty) so that the rider doesn't actually DNF.
There's no rule about swapping bars though.
Middle of stage six. Sorry about the shake'y cam but it was Greg and I got a little excited.
World cup atmosphere
Will he become Jason Born of enduro?
@davetrump yep 10th at the first round and probably a top 10 in Scotland but I'm betting no more top 5's for the rest of the year. Do you really think he'd beat Barel, Clementz, Leov on trails he doesn't know?
Anyway enough negativity that honestly wasn't really directed at Greg, the same could be said about Wyn in Rotorua. It was just a comment on Enduro in general.
Good photos from the team, now UKGE is free of British Cycling we might have the possibility of a round in the Emerald Isle in 2016
Disclaimer: I own carbon frame and carbon rims... aluminium stem spacers though...
I understand carbon is stiff at lighter weights than aluminium, but what are the less obvious pros and cons of both?
Taking nothing away from the guy, he's obviously a total pinner, but if that was a DH race everyone would have been able to learn their lines 100% but there is no way everyone could memorize all those trails to anything like the degree as Greg with his local knowledge.
Don't know what the answer is but it kinda sucks.