Photo Epic: Days 3 & 4 - Andes Pacifico 2020
With a focus on new stages and new regions for this year's Andes Pacifico, racers were treated to some never before ridden stages for both day three and four.
Day three, called Los Libertadores, started off on trails that were originally developed by dirt bikes and featured plenty of loose ruts and dusty bermed corners. Racers navigated through rock gardens and tried to avoid the sharp cacti that lined the sides of the trail. After lunch riders then went for a massive pedal up what was once a race stage in previous years to access an entirely new ridge not used in previous editions of the race. Fast and flowy was the name of the game as racers descended nearly two thousand meters spread over 15 kilometers.
A long drive to a new camp would have racers getting to bed quite late before day four which would offer up the highest elevations, the longest stages and a quick visit into Argentina. The first stage of the day, Los Leones, would straddle the border high in the Andes at nearly four thousand meters, and racers waiting to start actually lined up on the Argentinian side before dropping into Chile. At nearly 10 kilometers in length and with a vertical drop of 1,400 meters this would be the most physically demanding stage of the race. It was made even more special by the fact that all four of the stages had been built from scratch just for this race and had never been ridden by anyone other than the Andes Pacifico trail builders.
Of course, there was plenty of dust and sunshine, and when things settled down Pedro Burns and Florencia Espiñeira extended their already strong leads as the race heads into its final day. Behind them, the podium battles are still up for grabs with Romain Paulhan and Iago Garay quite close in the men's race and Kim Hardin and Paz Gallo almost too close to call in the women's.
The race will roll to the coast tomorrow for a well-deserved swim in the Pacific Ocean, but not before racers battle it out on another three long stages.
Dry as can be
Mixed in with the dust is a whole lot of loose rock
Be mindful not to drift too wide in the dusty corners
Nothing trailside is soft here
Fernando Riquelme with his signature aggressive style on day three
Big cactus... little rider
Florencia Espiñeira is miles ahead in the women's race
Chilean favorite Nico Prudencio on stage eight
Greg Callaghan has slipped from podium position but is still on the hunt
Day three's stages were super fast and flowy, many of which are normally ridden on dirt bikes.
Pedro Burns is very much in command of the race with just one day to go
Josh Lewis dropping a foot and having fun in the slippery conditions
Jorge Verdugo smashing rocks to start day three
Drifting about in the dust and loose rocks
Day three was the longest and hottest of the week. Racers were definitely feeling the fatigue by the end
Feed zones done right
Special permission was given to ride some special trails for this year's race
Headed to the top
Beautiful views into Argentina
A few months ago this trail didn't even exist. No riders can drop in from the border with Argentina and ride almost 10 kilometers down into Chile.
Loose Dog visiting Argentina for the first time
How's that for a start gate
Greg Callaghan skipped the long hike a bike and just flew in on his Red Bull wing suit
Iago Garay loves the loose surface here in Chile and currently sits 3rd
A lone spectator on stage 13
Livin ain't easy out here in the scorching sun
Romain Paulhan through some rare color in the Andes
Three kilometers down and seven to go on an amazing stage 12
Rock and roll
Former masters winner Felipe Vasquez on track and providing neutral race support for SRAM this year.
Paz Gallo is in a close battle with Kim Hardin for 2nd place with one day to go
Pablo Hobon on stage 12
The anti-grip
Serious dust requires a serious hose to clean things up
Romain Paulhan cooling off in the kid pool
Another beautiful night for tent life
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Anyone know why Santa Cruz doesn't really seem to care about EWS? They seem so committed to poaching/retaining the very best with the Syndicate, but generally don't have anyone in the top 20 at EWS races. There has been plenty of mobility on EWS teams lately. Anyone know why they haven't tried harder to reinforce theirs? Seems like being close to the top would be good publicity now that they've launched the Megatower.
So Scott is obviously a really talented rider, but he's not someone you'd be expecting to be the lead rider on a team that's anything like the Syndicate where you have a Top 5 and multiple Top 10 riders every year. The DH team has more riders in the WC Top 20 most years than the EWS team has members.
Don't mean to criticize Scott/Garay as riders, but it seems that as some makers with active race teams have amped up their enduro presence, supposedly hyper competitive Santa Cruz has not.