8 Rounds, 4 New Venues - Enduro World Series 2018 Calendar
The Enduro World Series is excited to reveal its 2018 calendar as it continues its quest to uncover the world’s best riding destinations.
The series' sixth season will once again feature eight rounds across three continents and will start the first half of the year with four completely new venues.
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Round One: La Barnechea, Chile
Starting in March, the series will head back to South America to join our friends at Montenbaik, with round one taking place in Lo Barnechea, Chile. Located just East of the capital Santiago, don’t let this venue’s proximity to the city fool you—this race is going to include two massive days of riding in the high Andes. Riders will take on this barren moonscape that’s unlike anything they’ll have experienced before.
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Round Two: Manizales, Colombia
Round two stays in South America, this time heading to Colombia for the first time. Taking place amongst the hugely varied terrain of Manizales, the venue will see trails with everything from pine forests to lush rainforests and world famous coffee plantations. The race will start with a downtown prologue, followed by one big day of racing in the surrounding mountains.
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Round Three: Olargues - Montagnes Du Caroux, France
It’s back to Europe for round three and another new venue, Olargues - Montagnes Du Caroux. Situated in the South West of France, this area is synonymous with the famous Epic Enduro race hosted there each year. Riders can expect dry rocky trails encircling this medieval village that will take in two days of racing featuring classic style French trails that will push both the rider’s technical and physical limits.
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Round Four: Petzen-Jamnica, Slovenia and Austria
Round four is not only a new venue but for the first time will feature two countries in the same race—Slovenia and Austria. This cross border race starts in Jamnica in Slovenia, where racers will take on beautiful hand cut singletrack before day two heads to Petzen in Austria. Here riders will experience some of the longest stages in EWS history—and even some underground liaisons—in what surely will be one of the most diverse races to date.
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Round Five: La Thuile, Italy
It’s back to familiar territory for round five and the big mountains of La Thuile, Italy. This rider favourite, nestled below the imposing Mont Blanc, is the epitome of all that is good about classic Alpine singletrack: long, steep descents, tough climbs and just enough chairlift assistance to keep it fun. It’s the third time the series has visited La Thuile and it’s easy to see why—it’s simply too good not to return.
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Round Six: Whistler, Canada
It’s back to Whistler, Canada for round six. The classic Crankworx round barely needs an introduction, such is the legendary status of the world’s largest mountain bike festival. This one-day extravaganza always pushes riders to the limit, rightfully earning the nickname ‘Crankzilla’. But however hard it gets, the riders always come back for more and can’t get enough of those iconic trails.
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Round Seven: Ainsa Sobrabre, Spain
Ainsa Sobrabre in Spain was a huge hit with the riders when the series visited in 2015 and so it’s back by popular demand for round seven. This two-day race will once again start from the twelfth-century castle at the heart of this tiny village, before heading out into the surrounding mountains and into the dusty trails of the Pyrenees foothills.
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Round Eight: Finale Ligure, Italy
As ever, it’s the beautiful Finale Ligure in Italy that will close out the season. A stalwart of the calendar, this incredible area on the Italian Riviera has everything you could possibly want to end the year; sun sea and several hundred kilometers of prime singletrack. It’s the perfect end to the year, as the World Champions are crowned against the glittering backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea.
 | We’re really proud to announce our sixth season welcoming some new exciting venues with some absolute classics too. We have developed some great and long-standing partnerships now with these organizing groups and it’s exciting to see the sport grow and grow. We feel the balance of drama, travel, excitement, and adventure with logistical ease and spectator friendliness is our best yet for 2018.” |
2018 EWS Event Dates
1. 24/25 March – Lo Barnechea, Chile
2. 31/1 March/April – Manizales, Colombia
3. 12/13 May – Olargues - Montagnes du Caroux, France
4. 30/1 June/July – Petzen - Jamnica, Austria/Slovenia
5. 21/22 July – La Thuile, Italy
6. 12 August – Whistler, Canada
7. 22/23 September – Ainsa - Sobrarbe, Spain
8. 29/30 September – Finale Ligure, Italy
MENTIONS: @EnduroWorldSeries
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I think most of the DH pits are for show... why do they need so much stuff?
That and the service schedules are different. A downhill race bike hits the gate in like new condition for a run that will last at most several minutes. An Enduro race bike is spending three days in hell and they don't have the time to baby them. I'm certain they start out pristine, and get tuned overnight between stages too. Or maybe not, are there any rules from the EWS regarding bike tuning and repair between consecutive days?
And I know they say every hundredth of a second counts (and it does) but I feel like a lot of the maintenance is for psychological comfort, not mechanical necessity: if your competitors all fit new bearings and bled their brakes, etc. and you didn't, then you lose by 0.01 seconds, it can really get in your head. The smaller the margin you lose by, the more it f#$@s with you.
The actual timed run is just one of the ingredients in a winning recipe.
I'm sure ego plays a role too though, everyone wants the biggest pit area for bragging rights. It is a competition after all. Another way to get in your rivals heads.
That and it's like comparing a formula 1 race to the Baja Rally, they're both races but the circumstances are vastly different.
I'm not disagreeing with you, just spit-balling.
Tramp will not like this shit! He must build this WALL in no time....
I guess I have to learn the world map again, I was like 93% sure that Colombia is in the southern hemisphere
in murica, national currency canadian pesos
Killer to see such a variety of venues but could we not snub the old west coast for a change?
However, perhaps people are reluctant to travel to the USA due to our current leadership. That I can understand.
@jurassicrider If your Name is connected to one of the stages are you local to olargues? do you know any Details? would be great to know. you frencies definatly know how to tape a good track would be a shame to miss out.
jurassic was a stage in epic Enduro so thats where that thought came from, but the question still stands is there a Epic Enduro 2018?
Makes me wonder if there are no proposals or are the venues just so bad in these continents (/sarcasm) :-/
I assume there will be a massive police operation to take care of all those riders and their expensive bikes, in Colombia you are kindly asked to get off your bike at gun-point (sadly).
Welcome everybody (y)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9D4V3JDHHk
NO 'MURICA WTF
It would be nice to race everywhere, but it's not really feasible. I'm sure that anywhere that has the terrain for an EWS round, the infrastructure to support it and puts in a good bid is well in contention, but I suppose that the details of the bids aren't exactly going to be published for obvious reasons.
I seem to remember that most competitors in the events are European too because the format had been around a few more years here (in an organised way anyway), so again it is done in a cost basis that most of the races are closer to the main base of entrants? Someone might want to fact check that for me! I would agree that it is somewhat chicken and egg though - you need to spread your events around to promote it worldwide, but then there are lots of local events everywhere and EWS are going to new places and countries each year so they are doing this to a limited extent - I think they are balancing it fairly well.
I think the key thing however is that they are hitting new countries, new spots and new trails every year. When was the last time the DH WC had more than one new track introduced onto the calendar, let alone a whole new country? It's definitely great to see the EWS exploring new areas where they can, and not reusing the same 8 rounds every year.
Also, how interesting does Petzen sound!? The long stage she are awesome to see/watch, and the underground transfers? That's seriously cool.
The main pressure I suppose is coming from the big professional teams in order to keep their budget in reasonable levels