Race Report: Big Mountain Enduro Stop #2 - Winter Park

The second stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series saw 500+ racers tackle 4 burly stages at the Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park, CO last weekend. With it being the largest BME event in history, spectators and industry supporters were out in full force and the action was non-stop.


Typical for July in Colorado, the weather was threatening on both practice and race days, bringing in afternoon storms, which created some delays until the gondola could re-start and get racers back up the mountain. With adversity at hand, the BME operations crew delivered once again, a flawless and world-class event and worked collaboratively with Mother Nature all weekend. And with rain, brings tacky conditions for racers to enjoy the tracks that much more.




In the stacked U21 Men field with over 70 racers, Christian Atkins finished in first, followed by Aiden Chapin in second and Will Doherty in third. The newly added Sport Category this year, which is aimed at your first-time racers, also boasted a hefty 51 participant field, proving that Enduro is growing and more people are getting involved in the sport. Word around the pits was that it was the busiest weekend in the bike park's history, demonstration a bright future for both Trestle Bike Park and the BME.


For the Pro Women, Clare Hamilton finished on the top step, followed by Stefanie McDaniel, Lia Westermann, Cooper Ott and Alicia Leggett. Those ladies showed consistency coming off the first stop in Santa Fe, which was a completely different style of race, being 2 big days of backcountry, full pedal transition stages. That is what makes Enduro so special, in that each venue provides unique challenges and terrain that showcases the best overall riders and all-around mountain bikers.






In the Pro Men field, Richie Rude was once again dominant, sweeping all 4 stages and following his pace from the past 2 weekends of the EWS over in France and Italy. Fellow teammates Shawn Neer, Carson Eiswald and Duncan Nason finished closely behind in respective 2nd, 3rd and 5th place positions, for a stacked Yeti podium. Coming in 4th place for Pro Men was Evan Geankoplis, who proved he could hang with the big dogs on any given day.








Who hit it the best?



Owner of BME, Brandon Ontiveros, stated, “I want to tip my hat off and congratulate our team for really stepping things up last weekend. The overall crew did an amazing job working together in creating a great racing experience for all who were in attendance. The Trestle Bike Park and Winter Park Resort staff also deserve a huge compliment; as they were on top of everything from admin, lift operations, trail building, medical support and communications. We look forward to partnering with their professional organization again next year and bringing this event back for 2020.”









Full results can be found here on the BME website: https://www.bigmountainenduro.com/schedule/bme-winter-park-co/

The next stop of the Yeti Cycles Big Mountain Enduro presented by Maxxis will kick off in Telluride, CO on July 27th. Racers will get to experience one of the most beautiful venues in Colorado tucked deep in the San Juan Mountains. This single day event will highlight some backcountry stages, mixed in with the freshly announced Telluride Bike Park, and a DH race taking place after the Enduro culminates on Saturday. Like all BME events this year, the Telluride event is close to being sold out, so get on it if you’d like to take part in the action.

Photos by Eddie Clark Media: https://www.eddieclarkmedia.com/