2016 Cannondale British Enduro Series: Dyfi - Round 2 Saturday Practice

Round two of the Cannondale British Enduro Series kicked off with high hopes after the rapid downpours and freezing temperatures from round one at Ae Forest. Friday evening was hot, humid and everyone was in a great state of mind, eager to race and tackle the six challenging stages that Dyfi has to offer.

A new finish field in the centre of Machynlleth allowed the BES Crew to spread their wings and lay on an impressive finish arena dressed with the sponsors banners and flags that would also attract the locals into the event. The big news for this round was that Trek's Dan Atherton would be racing but unfortunately pulled out of the event after a few stages due to illness/fatigue. Never the less, there was another star of the sport present; the one and only Jerome Clementz...






This left Cannondale/SRAM's Jerome Clementz as the clear favourite going into the afternoon's seeding run which also counted towards the final race times. For the Elite Women, Trek’s Tracy Mosley would be the rider to beat this weekend.

Riders set off on the 50km loop for the four stages today that started several miles away from the event village. These ranged from three to seven minutes in duration. Three of the stages were natural courses that were cut deep into the Dyfi Forest with one trail centre style stage that still delivered a challenge to the UK's top enduro racers.






Rumours were rife that the longest of the stages, Stage 3, was to be cut short due to the challenging trail conditions. Deep ruts and sniper roots were plenty with every rider struggling to keep both feet on the pedals through this most technical top section. Come 18:30, during the rider briefing, the organisers announced that Stage 3 was to remain intact at the originally stated length. Fingers crossed we were in for a dry night with a small chance of some light showers followed by a glorious weather forecast.

After the four gruelling transitions and stages the riders rode the five miles back into town to refuel and hydrate before they tackled the 40-minute climb to the final stage of the day for seeding. This was a fresh track built on private land by the BES trail crew. With the morning's rain turning into a skating rink to start with, the course soon dried out with new roots exposing themselves at a rapid rate.













Seeding Results Here


Start times from the arena on Sunday.

Photos: Niall Read
Words: Taylor Smith and Niall Read

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MENTIONS: @Niall-Read / @Cannondale / @schwalbe / @Magura

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Racing and Events Cannondale