Pinkbike Primer - Everything You Need to Know Ahead of EWS Zermatt
Round Seven, Grand Finale
A new venue for the series showdown.
In a break from the usual tradition, the racing of this year's EWS will not finish on the beaches of Finale but in the high Swiss Alps in Zermatt. In the shadow of the Matterhorn, Zermatt should still provide a fitting end to the series as it's trail network is considered one of the hidden gems of European mountain biking.
Zermatt is a brand new venue so will be a level playing field in the battle royale between Sam Hill and Florian Nicolai that has been building to a climax all season. It's been 2 months since the EWS racers last came to a high Alpine venue so getting into the swing of riding long, exposed stages with loose rocky switchbacks will be key. With overall positions on the line, being on your game from Stage 1 will be key.
Let's get into all the details for the weekend ahead:
Photo: Enduro World Series
The Course
Zermatt takes us back to a 1-day format with all 5 stages happening on Saturday. The stages make up 18km of riding with a total of 2,875m descending. On top of that there will be a further 28.4km of transfer riding with lifts making up the final 8km of the day.
STAGE 1: Lake Link - 3.73km, 473m descent
Loose rocks, fast, physical, switchbacks.
STAGE 2: Rock 'n' Roll - 3.16km, 527m descent
Roots, rocks, forest, tight.
STAGE 3: Smuggler's Run - 3.48 km, 499m descent
Rock slabs, open, loose rock.
STAGE 4: The Big Spoon - 3.03km, 599m descent
Switchbacks, Alpine, narrow.
STAGE 5: Overtime - 4.60km, 766m descent
Queen Stage. Alpine, forest, fast, flow.
What Happened at the Last Round
Richie Rude and Isabeau Courdurier both crushed the dust in Northstar to complete a repeat of their domination in Whistler just a fortnight before. For Isabeau this was another underline on her stunning 2019 season, she stormed to another victory but was beaten on the Queen stage and dropped points for the first time all year. For Rude it was his third win of the year and moved him into the top ten in the EWS overall despite missing the first 3 round of the year.
Behind Riche was another story to follow though as Sam Hill chased down his third consecutive overall title. A second place for him and an unlucky 13th for Florian Nicolai means the Frenchman's lead is now cut to just 60 points with one round to go.
Pro Men
1st. Richie Rude: 26:09.65
2nd. Sam Hill: 26:10.46
3rd. Mitch Ropelato: 26:30.21
4th. Martin Maes: 26:39.35
5th. Jesse Melamed: 26:56.08
Pro Women
1st. Isabeau Courdurier: 30:37.62
2nd. Noga Korem: 30:56.89
3rd. Andréane Lanthier Nadeau: 31:05.85
4th. Ines Thoma: 31:47.26
5th. Katy Winton: 32:05.63
See the full results here.
The Standings
With Isabeau's title wrapped up, all the focus will be on the battle between Sam Hill and Florian Nicolai this weekend. Nicolai has a 60 point advantage but has faltered with some stuttering late-season form while Hill has finished second at three of the last four races. It could all come down to the last stage of the series, which will be a Queen Stage, with a bonus 40 points being awarded to the winner.
MEN
1st // Florian Nicolai // FRA // 2800
2nd // Sam Hill // AUS // 2740
3rd // Kevin Miquel // FRA // 2470
4th // Edward Masters // NZL // 2380
5th // Adrien Dailly // FRA // 2373
6th // Dimitri Tordo // FRA // 2345
7th // Remi Gauvin // CAN // 2295
8th // Richie Rude // USA // 2110
9th // Robin Wallner // SWE // 2065
10th // Matt Walker // NZL // 2031
1st // Florian Nicolai // FRA // 2800
2nd // Sam Hill // AUS // 2740
3rd // Kevin Miquel // FRA // 2470
4th // Edward Masters // NZL // 2380
5th // Adrien Dailly // FRA // 2373
6th // Dimitri Tordo // FRA // 2345
7th // Remi Gauvin // CAN // 2295
8th // Richie Rude // USA // 2110
9th // Robin Wallner // SWE // 2065
10th // Matt Walker // NZL // 2031
WOMEN
1st // Isabeau Courdurier // FRA // 3740
2nd // Noga Korem // ISR // 2885
3rd // Andreane Lanthier Nadeau // CAN // 2180
4th // Morgane Charre // FRA // 2075
5th // Ines Thoma // GER // 1510
6th // Anita Gehrig // SUI // 1415
7th // Becky Cook // GBR // 1375
8th // Miranda Miller // CAN // 1285
9th // Bex Baraona // GBR // 1250
10th // Rae Morrison // NZL // 1180
1st // Isabeau Courdurier // FRA // 3740
2nd // Noga Korem // ISR // 2885
3rd // Andreane Lanthier Nadeau // CAN // 2180
4th // Morgane Charre // FRA // 2075
5th // Ines Thoma // GER // 1510
6th // Anita Gehrig // SUI // 1415
7th // Becky Cook // GBR // 1375
8th // Miranda Miller // CAN // 1285
9th // Bex Baraona // GBR // 1250
10th // Rae Morrison // NZL // 1180
Weather Forecast
Cool but dry conditions are expected in the high mountains all week.
Photo: Enduro World Series
Wednesday, September 18 - Shakedown Day
Clouds and sunshine, a shower or thunderstorm in the afternoon // 14°C // 55% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Friday, September 20 - Practice - all stages
Intervals of clouds and sun // 15°C // 8% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Saturday, September 21 - Race Day - all stages
Sunshine and patchy clouds // 14°C // 13% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Weather forecast from Accuweather as of September 17.
The Schedule
Wednesday, September 18
• 10:30-13:00 Shakedown Day
Friday, September 20
• 09:45-17:45 Training - Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Saturday, September 21
• 07:30-18:00 Race - Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Note: All times are local and subject to change by the event organizer.
Follow Along
Pinkbike will be providing you with the best daily coverage from our team in Switzerland this week. Tune in to Pinkbike to catch photo epics, videos and results from practice and race day, as well as tech bits and news.
Following the Enduro World Series live can be a struggle with remote stages and hundreds of riders tackling trails at the same time. We're lucky to have Polygon rider Dan Wolfe bringing you behind the scenes action from each round LIVE through the Pinkbike Instagram stories this year. Find what's going down on course during training and race day through our Instagram. Be sure to follow @pinkbike to keep up with the action.
Pinkbike Predictions
 | Isabeau Courdurier has her title sewn up so she will now be able to go all out for the win and complete her perfect season. Given the level of riding she has been able to maintain on all continents, in all conditions and at all times this year, it would be stupid to bet against her achieving it. Noga Korem has finished 2nd at 3 of the last 5 rounds and could make it 4 from 6 in Zermatt as she starts to pull away from the rest of the chasing women's pack in the overall. Back in the high mountains of her home country, Anita Gehrig could well pull a surprise out of the bag and find herself back on the podium this year. In the men's race, Rude seems simply unstoppable at the moment. With a brace of victories in North America, we reckon he'll make it a triple in Zermatt and set himeself up as the favourite for the title next year. Behind him, Sam Hill will have the motivation of chasing down a third title and has to beat Florian Nicolai by 60 points to do so. Nicolai has faded as the season has gone on with a 9th and a 13th at the past two rounds but back in the familiar high mountains, he won't be giving up the overall without a fight. Maes came back strong with a 4th in Northstar, expect him to do well again here in Zermatt. |
ELITE MEN
1 // Richie RUDE
2 // Sam HILL
3 // Martin MAES
1 // Richie RUDE
2 // Sam HILL
3 // Martin MAES
ELITE WOMEN
1 // Isabeau COURDURIER
2 // Noga KOREM
3 // Anita GEHRIG
1 // Isabeau COURDURIER
2 // Noga KOREM
3 // Anita GEHRIG
Fantasy League
Don't forget to complete your EWS Fantasy team before the race starts on Saturday. If you don't know who to pick, check the Start List . There are prizes for each round, so if you haven't already, make sure to build your team today! If you've already got a team in the mix you're in the running to win the Grand Prize, so visit the Fantasy homepage to make sure you have the fastest team possible for Round 6.
The Fantasy Enduro League is Presented by Shimano.
MENTIONS: @shimano
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
Winning the Queen Stage gets you 40 extra points.
There are lots of possible combinations for Sam to win. If he wins the Queen Stage he only needs an extra 21 points to win.
m.pinkbike.com/news/who-can-win-the-overall-title-ews-zermatt.html
It has numbers on what it'll take for Sam to win.
So is it all riders striking and sitting out this day for climate change, or just Specialized?
I'll add the rest very soon.
Don't be too fooled by the colors, this round will be rocky, steep and grueling.
@konarider112: don't be fooled by these colors. All these trails are difficult, maybe except the very last flow trail.