2017 Portugal Enduro Series Round 5, Maia, I Love the 90's - Race Recap

Time for closure in the Portuguese Enduro Series. The fifth and final race of the series was held this past weekend in the area known as Maia, right next to Porto city, at the same time as the Red Bull Air Race. After some issues several months ago with wilderness restrictions and permissions, location for the race was modified. For many riders, the biggest concern was the almost non-existent big mountains in the surroundings of Maia. And indeed the race could be described as a "back to the 90's" mountain bike style, with a lot of pedaling, "gymkhana" like and physical trails. For some riders, it was the perfect occasion to earn back some points due to their better fitness but for many, it was a never ending series of brake-start-brake-start on almost non-existent gnarly or step zones.




After four previous races, the top places were secured by known riders. In the Elite Women's Category, Ana Leite (Enduro BTT de Braga) with three wins and a second place had already assured her top position on the podium and winner of the Portuguese Enduro Cup for 2017. In the Elite Men's Category, rider Emanuel Pombo (Ciclo Madeira Clube Desportivo) was in the same situation with two wins and two-second places, already had secured first place. Ze Manel Borges (BH-Miranda Racing Team / Enduro BTT Braga) participated in the first two races and won, but due to his participation in the Enduro World Series, missed third and fourth races.




With a bit less than 30km and about 900m of cumulative climbing, the race was not expected to be one of toughest ones. With five predominantly pedaling stages, the battle was served for all the riders. As usual, it was mandatory to go through all stages on the training day. Referee and volunteers were present at each stage start to check each rider and glue the sticker as a witness to have completed the training.




Race day started at 9am with top riders departing first. The stages were divided into two nearby hills. Stage 1 and 4 departed from the same point and the rest from another hill from where the planes on the Red Bull Air Race in Porto could be seen (and heard) in the distance. All stages were very similar, with dusty twisted trails, some of them just recently build by local club Maiatos/Reabnort. Big applause for them and volunteers for building the trails in time for the race and organizing such a good event.







Ze Manel Borges dominated the event, winning all five stages with Emanuel Pombo following him on each of them. The race finished with an advantage of 36 second for BH-Miranda Racing Team rider. In third position, Jose Oliveira also from Enduro BTT Braga at 1:09 from the winner. Stage 4 was the longest of all, taking a bit less than three minutes to finish for Borges. Stage 2 was short but demanding, with a lot of tight corners in between trees ready to knock you out.


Final results for the series can be found on the Portuguese Cycling Federation website.