Report: European Enduro Championships - Kirchberg, Austria

In extreme conditions - including snow - at the weekend, it was the Netherland’s Anneke Beerten and France's Jérôme Clementz, who played the experience card and won the Elite classes of the Enduro European Championships, making them the first ever European Enduro Champions.

Anneke Beerten (NED) is the first European Enduro Champion of the Women´s Elite.

“It was a really cool final run and for me, it was definitely the best of the day”, Anneke Beerten was really stoked after crossing the finish line as first of the Women’s Elite Class today in Kirchberg. Anita Gehrig, from Switzerland, and Raphaela Richter (GER) put up a good fight, but in the end Beerten took the prestigious trophy.

The Elite Women's podium.

It was no surprise in the Men’s Elite Class. Jérôme Clementz, title favourite and probably the world’s best Enduro biker, was the fastest down the legendary Fleckalm trail and countrymen Rémy Absalon had no chance to keep up with his dreams to become the first ever European Enduro Champion. Vid Persak from Slovenia completed this strong podium.

Jérôme Clémentz of France was the fastest in Kirchberg and he became the first European Enduro Champion.

Rémy Absalon races down Stage 4.

The Elite Men's podium.

Antje Kramer (GER) was the first European Enduro Champion in the Women’s Masterclass, even as she isn't a specialist for wet and muddy trails; for her, today was one of the greatest days and she had lots of fun riding the trails in Kirchberg.

Antje Kramer at the start of her last race.

"It was one of my greatest days!" said Antje.

Winner of the Men Master 30+ category was the outstanding René Wildhaber, from Switzerland, who decided to compete in the race a few days before. Austria’s Benedikt Purner crashed hard in Stage 3, but still managed to finish second place in the Men Master 30+ class and more than happy with this result: “This really exceeded my expectations. I had a bad crash in the last stage and did not know, if I could even finish the race. So, it went really well for me.” Daniel Schemmel, from Austria, is the proud first European Champion of the Men Juniors class.

Réne Wildhaber races down Stage 4.

The podium of the Men Master 30+

Altogether 198 riders competed in the first ever Enduro European Championships in a tough and muddy race. In four stages the riders had to scoop all their technical and physical skills to compete and survive in the uncompromising scenery of the Kitzbühler Alpen. Stage 1 was right next to the start and finish area and lead its way to Stage 2, the famous Gaisberg trail (the downhill section of the Austrian Downhill Masters in 2014) was really fast and certainly muddy and sticky for riders. Taking a relaxing ride in the chairlift to Stage 3, the riders had to give it their best on the Lisi Osl Trail. Named after the overall winner of the MTB Cross Country World Cup and local hero Lisi Osl, this trail was flowy on the upper parts and pretty technical and challenging on the lower section in the woods. The following last stage stretched the riders to their limits on the 1000 meters in altitude and 7km long Fleckalm trail. Tyrol’s longest singletrack was totally soaked with mud on race day. Only the real tough riders could push their limits in conditions were the mud was already covering their breaks and big parts of their bikes.

The trails in Kirchberg are outstanding and some riders actually just came here because of the legendary Fleckalm trail.

The first ever Enduro European Championships was a complete success and the competitors as well as the organisers was very happy despite the rain and mud. The weather made it both a challenge for the riders, organisers and the technical equipment. Without any serious crashes or injuries, the event was a great kick-off into the future and will go down in sporting history by bring the first UEC MTB European Enduro Champions ever.

Results of the first UEC MTB Enduro European Championships:

MEN ELITE
1. Jérôme Clementz FRA
2. Rémy Absalon FRA
3. Vid Persak SLO

WOMEN ELITE
1. Anneke Beerten NED
2. Anita Gehrig SUI
3. Raphaela Richter GER

MEN JUNIOR
1. Daniel Schemmel AUT
2. Killian Callaghan IRL
3. Kevin Maderegger AUT

WOMEN MASTER
1. Antje Kramer GER
2. Daniela Michel SUI
3. Eva Carrer SUI

MEN MASTER 30+
1. René Wildhaber SUI
2. Benedikt Purner AUT
3. Guillaume Heinrich FRA

MEN MASTER 40+
1. Remo Heutschi SUI
2. Wilfred Van de Haterd NED
3. Christian Schleker GER

MEN MASTER 50+
1. Carsten Geck GER
2. Roberto Masciadri ITA
3. Derek Laughland GBR

We proudly present the winners of the first UEC MTB Enduro European Championships.

For additional information and all results please visit the website and Facebook page.